SUMMARY MINUTES OF A WORK SESSION

OF THE CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL

MONDAY, JANUARY 22, 2001, AT 5:30 P.M.

 

Mayor pro tem Lee Pavão called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.

 

Council members present were Flicka Bateman, Joyce Brown, Pat Evans, Bill Strom, Jim Ward, and Edith Wiggins. Council Member Kevin Foy was absent, excused. Mayor Rosemary Waldorf arrived at 6:15 p.m.

 

Staff members present were Town Manager Cal Horton, Assistant Town Managers Sonna Loewenthal and Florentine Miller, Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos, Assistant to the Manager Bill Stockard, Planning Director Roger Waldon, and Town Clerk Joyce Smith.

 

Mr. Waldon introduced consultant Mark White of Freilich, Leitner, & Carlisle, who would be discussing the Development Ordinance revision project with the Council.  He said also present was Larry Frasier, an engineer with Jordan, Jones, & Goulding, who would be working with Mr. White.

 

Mr. White said he had reviewed the Town’s Comprehensive Plan report from Mr. Lane Kendig, the Town’s former consultant, and the minutes related to the Development Ordinance of the Council and the advisory boards in order to familiarize himself with the background.  Mr. White then discussed the major issues:

 

1.                  How to make the Development Ordinance more “user friendly,” with the Council becoming involved in the application process for development at a much earlier stage, in order to bring issues and expectations to the attention of the developers before large expenditures become involved.

2.                  Stormwater management and how it is handled in the community, such as low-impact development and innovative ways to treat stormwater, such as bioretention.

3.                  Affordable housing as a part of new developments, and how it could be managed in conjunction with growth management policies.

4.                  Vertical mixed use development.

5.                  Parking, parking needs, and parking maximums for developments.  Mr. White said they would be looking at ways to tighten up the land development regulations and the development codes for more predictability.

 

Council Member Strom asked if it would be possible to relax the regulations, such as sewer lines and curbs and gutters, for those areas outside of the Urban Services District.  He wondered if this might encourage developers to put land into the land trust and possibly encourage more affordable housing.

 

Council Member Brown asked Mr. White for a copy of the issues he had discussed.  She said that public comment did not indicate that the process was adversarial, but, instead, brought out many new ideas.  She asked what the Council’s early review of a proposed development would do to the Council’s ability to approve or not approve development proposals.  Mr. White responded that the ordinance could be written so that the Council had complete discretion to deny a proposal even if in compliance, or it could be written to tie the hands of the Council.  He said the purpose of early review would be to bring the neighborhoods affected together with the Council to ensure that their comments were heard at the early stages, so that the developers could foresee a problem and possibly solve them before they become an issue.

 

Council Member Ward asked about performance zoning and what it would mean for the Town, addressing individual situations in different ways and giving flexibility on the developer’s part.  He said he would like to know if there were opportunities for sustainability.  Council Member Ward said that in the parking policies he would like to see some pressure for the development of mass transit.  He asked if there was anything the Town could do to protect mature upland forests, and if there was anything more the Town Engineering staff could do to upgrade their designs to get more water off the roads.

 

Council Member Brown asked if the consultants had seen the map showing land left within the Urban Services area that was undeveloped, and asked what would that mean that would be different from the past.  Mr. White responded that there were differences and changes in the priorities because the lot patterns and building patterns were different in the older neighborhoods.  He said the Comprehensive Plan outlined plans to bring older developments, such as strip malls, into compliance with the new development ordinances, by giving incentives to convert to being more sensitive to the new urban design mixed use concepts, with pedestrian and transit-friendly plans.  Mr. White said this would take some of the pressures off the other developable lands.

 

Council Member Evans said that redevelopment would be a large issue.  She said that many people were concerned about the reevaluation of their homes and the future tax increases.  Council Member Evans said she would like to see some economic sustainability, and how the Town could supply the growing commercial needs of the growing community within Chapel Hill.

 

Council Member Ward asked what things could the Town do for redevelopment projects to have opportunities for improvement over the standards that had been in place when the property was first developed.  He asked what could be done to allow the Town to have different ranges of affordable housing.  Mr. White responded that North Carolina required amortization of non-conforming uses, and that could be applied in redevelopment.  He said most communities require affordability at 80% income.  If lower affordability is required, he said, this would require deeper subsidies from the developer.  Mr. White added the Town could add a requirement that a designated percentage of the new development might need subsidies other than that from the developer.  He said there had to be an enforceable measure for any inclusionary zoning program, to keep the units affordable.

 

Council Member Bateman asked if there was a way to make rental office space affordable to non-profits.  She said there were a number of non-profits seeking assistance from the Council for more funding.  Mr. White responded that he had never seen it written into a code, but he would look into the issue to see what might be possible.

 

Council Member Brown asked if the Development Ordinance could be tied into the existing resources, such as water and sewer, solid waste disposal, or road capacity.  She asked if, in a community such as Chapel Hill, there was such a thing as non-subsidized affordable housing.  Mr. White said there was, but the cost of production would need to be reduced, such as less density and more cost-efficient infrastructure.  He said that manufactured housing was a very low-cost form of housing.

 

Council Member Brown said there was a density bonus in the Town’s existing ordinance, but she did not think it had ever been used.

 

Council Member Strom asked how the Council would be preceding from the point of this meeting.  Mr. White said initially they would outline a proposed draft ordinance, showing how the ordinance would be structured, and reorganized in a way to make the ordinance easier to read.  He said he wanted to make sure that all the comments and concerns expressed had been addressed.  Mr. White said the staff would be meeting with people throughout the community, bringing these comments back to the consultants.  After that, he said, a final ordinance would be proposed for adoption.

 

Mr. Waldon said the packet the Council had received contained many comments from the Council and the advisory boards, and that many of the comments could not be addressed in a development ordinance.  He said there would be a report from the staff about how the comments had been addressed.

 

Council Member Strom said that as many elements as possible should be taken out of the Design Manual and made prescriptive, to more directly state the Council’s goals and wishes, and the consultants should be as clear and specific as possible in order to make the ordinance work better.

 

Mr. Horton said the staff would endeavor to stay on the schedule.

 

The meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.m.