STAFF REPORT SUBJECT: DATE: Application for Master Land Use Plan Modification Southern Village Master Land Use Plan (Project No. 12-101) May 22, 2013 (Community Design Commission) May 23, 2013 (Transportation Board) May 28, 2013 (Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board) June 4, 2013 (Planning Board) INTRODUCTION This memorandum addresses the application for Southern Village Master Land Use Plan Modification which would amend the 312 acre Southern Village Master Land Use Plan boundary. The proposal includes removing 1.8 acres from the Southern Village Master Land Use Plan boundary. The parcels are identified as all or portions of Orange County Parcel Identifier Numbers 9787-05-9854 and 9787-15-6928. BACKGROUND 1993 Southern Village Master Land Use Plan was approved for the 312-acre Southern Village site. PROPOSAL A public hearing and Town Council action is necessary to change the boundary of the Southern Village Master Land Use Plan boundary. The applicant is proposing to reduce the Master Land Use Permit Boundary in order to submit an application, for a hotel/residential development, on a portion of the area proposed to be disencumbered from the Master Land Use Plan boundary. The Town staff has reviewed this application for compliance with the themes from the Comprehensive Plan, and offers the following evaluation: Comprehensive Plan: The following are themes from the 2020 Comprehensive Plan: May Conform No. Comprehensive Plan Themes 1 A Place for Everyone 2 Community Prosperity and Engagement 3 Getting Around 4 Good Places, New Spaces 5 Nurturing Our Community 6 Town and Gown Collaboration
For information on how this proposed development addresses these and other goals, objectives, and strategies of the Comprehensive Plan, please refer to the applicant s Statement of Justification, part of the attached application materials. The Land Use Plan, a component of the Comprehensive Plan, designates the site as part of a Future Focus Area #6. The adopted Land Use Plan indicates low density residential (1-4 units per acre) for this site. The South 15-501 Discussion Group has identified the following principles for the area: Preserve and enhance natural resources including water quality and stormwater; Recognize and honor the spirit of the Southern Small Area Plan from the early 1990s; Ensure that there is significant community process and community benefit in all future development plans; Minimize traffic impact on neighborhoods surrounding the study area and along 15-501 Minimize the impact of development on schools; Plan collaboratively for the 15-501 corridor with Orange County and Chatham County (including transit planning); Improve bicycle and pedestrian connectivity among neighborhoods, schools, community facilities, parks, and across 15-501 Plan for increased use of transit; Preserve and enhance the Green Gateway ; Respond to demonstrated needs of the greater Chapel Hill community. Effect of Boundary Change: The proposed boundary change would reduce the Southern Village Master Land Use boundary by 1.8 acres. With this land area reduction, the Southern Village development would remain in compliance with land use intensity regulations such as building setbacks and floor area ratios. FINDINGS The applicant s materials are included as attachments to this memorandum. All information submitted at the public hearing will be included in the record of the hearing. Based on the evidence that is submitted, the Council will consider whether or not it can make each of three required findings for the approval of a Master Land Use Plan. The three findings are: Finding #1: That the proposed development would maintain the public health, safety, and general welfare; Finding #2: That the proposed development would maintain or enhance the value of contiguous property, or be a public necessity; and Finding #3: That the development would conform to the Comprehensive Plan. Following the public hearing, we will prepare an evaluation of the evidence submitted in support of and in opposition to this application. 2
RECOMMENDATION Staff Recommendation: We recommend that the advisory boards review the application and make a recommendation to the Town Council. We recommend that the advisory boards recommend that the Council adopt Resolution A approving the Southern Village Master Land Use Plan Modification application with conditions. ATTACHMENTS 1. Resolution A 2. Resolution B 3. Applicant s Combined Materials, Including, Developer s Statement, Statement of Justification, Project Fact Sheet, Reduced Plans 4. Area Map 3
RESOLUTION A (Approving the Southern Village Master Land Use Plan Modification) A RESOLUTION APPROVING AN APPLICATION FOR A MASTER LAND USE PLAN MODIFICATION FOR THE SOUTHEN VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT (PROJECT NO. 12-101) BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that it finds that the Master Land Use Plan Modification, in the form of a boundary change, proposed by Bryan Properties, with the new boundary excluding all or portions of the following Chapel Hill Parcel Identifier Numbers 9787-05-9854 and 9787-15-6928. If drawn according to Southern Village Area Map drawing dated December 1, 2012, and with the conditions listed below would: 1. maintain or promote the public health, safety, and general welfare; 2. maintain or enhance the value of contiguous property; and 3. conform with the Comprehensive Plan. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Town Council hereby approves the application for a Master Land Use Plan Modification for the Southern Village Development in accordance with the plans listed above and with the conditions listed below: Stipulation Specific to the Development 1. Master Land Use Plan Boundary Amendment: That the boundary amendment, as depicted on the attached Southern Village Area Map dated December 1, 2012, reducing the Master Land Use Plan area of approximately 312 acres by 1.8 acres, be recorded in the Orange County Register of Deeds Office. 2. Vested Right: This Special Use permit constitutes a site specific development plan establishing a vested right as provided by the N. C. G. S. Section 160A-385.1 and Appendix A of the Chapel Hill Land Use Management Ordinance. 3. Continued Validity: That continued validity and effectiveness of this approval shall be expressly conditioned on the continued compliance with the plans and conditions listed above. 4. Non-Severability: That if any of the above conditions is held to be invalid, approval in its entirety shall be void. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council hereby approves the application for a Master Land Use Plan Modification for the Southern Village Development. This the day of, 2013. 4
RESOLUTION B (Denying the Southern Village Master Land Use Plan Modification) A RESOLUTION DENYING AN APPLICATION FOR A MASTER LAND USE PLAN MODIFICATION FOR THE SOUTHEN VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT (PROJECT NO. 12-101) BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that it finds that the Master Land Use Plan Modification, in the form of a boundary change, proposed by Bryan Properties, with the new boundary excluding all or portions of the following Chapel Hill Parcel Identifier Numbers 9787-05-9854 and 9787-15-6928, as proposed by Bryan Properties. Subject to the conditions listed below would not: 1. maintain or promote the public health, safety, and general welfare; 2. maintain or enhance the value of contiguous property; and 3. conform with the Comprehensive Plan. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Town Council hereby denies the application for a Master Land Use Plan Modification for the Southern Village Development. This the day of, 2013. 5
MASTER LAND USE PLAN APPLICATION TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL Planning Department 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd phone (919) 968-2728 fax (919) 969-2014 www.townofchapelhill.org Parcel Identifier Number (PIN): Date: Section A: Project Information Section A: Project Information Project Name: Property Address: Zip Code: Use Groups (A, B, and/or C): Existing Zoning District: Project Description: Section B: Applicant, Owner and/or Contract Purchaser Information Applicant Information (to whom correspondence will be mailed) Name: Address: City: State: Zip Code: Phone: Email: The undersigned applicant hereby certifies that, to the best of his knowledge and belief, all information supplied with this application is true and accurate. Signature: Date: Owner/Contract Purchaser Information: Owner Contract Purchaser Name: Address: City: State: Zip Code: Phone: Email: The undersigned applicant hereby certifies that, to the best of his knowledge and belief, all information supplied with this application is true and accurate. Signature: Date: 6
The Master Land Use Plan conveys the general intent and system of development. It is a conceptual plan that illustrates and defines land use areas for residential, office, commercial, open space, and special facilities or other land uses. General circulation patterns, both vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle, are identified and indicated on the conceptual plan. The following must accompany your application. Failure to do so will result in your application being considered incomplete. For assistance with this application, please contact the Chapel Hill Planning Department (Planning) at (919)968-2728 or at planning@townofchapelhill.org. For detailed information, please refer to the Description of Detailed Information handout. Application fee (refer to fee schedule) Amount Paid $ Pre-Application Meeting with appropriate staff Digital Files - provide digital files of all plans and documents Mailing list of owners of property within 1,000 feet perimeter of subject property (see GIS notification tool) Mailing fee for above mailing list Amount Paid $ Written Narrative describing the proposal Statement of Justification Digital photos of site and surrounding properties Concept Plan Summary from Community Design Commission and Town Council, if applicable Phasing Plan (if applicable) indicating phasing boundaries and phasing notes Stream Determination - necessary for all submittals Jurisdictional Wetland Determination if applicable Resource Conservation District Encroachment Exemption or Variance (determined by Planning) Jordan Buffer Authorization Certificate or Mitigation Plan Approval (determined by Planning) Reduced Site Plan Set (reduced to 8.5"x11") Pl Plan Sets (15 copies to be submitted no larger than 24 x36 ) Sets (8 Plans should be legible and clearly drawn. All plan sets sheets should include the following: Project Name Legend Labels North Arrow (North oriented toward top of page) Property Boundaries with bearing and distances Scale (Engineering), denoted graphically and numerically Setbacks Streams, RCD Boundary, Jordan Riparian Buffer Boundary, Floodplain, and Wetlands Boundary, where applicable 7
Area Map a) Project name, applicant, contact information, location, PIN, & legend b) Dedicated open space, parks, greenways c) Overlay Districts, if applicable d) Property lines, zoning district boundaries, land uses, project names of site and surrounding properties, significant buildings, corporate limit lines e) Existing roads (public & private), rights-of-way, sidewalks, driveways, vehicular parking areas, bicycle parking, handicapped parking, street names. f) 1,000 foot notification boundary Existing Conditions Plan Detailed Site Plan a) Slopes, soils, environmental constraints, existing vegetation, and any existing land features b) Location of all existing structures and uses c) Existing property line and right-of-way lines d) Existing utilities & easements including location & sizes of water, sewer, electrical, & drainage lines e) Nearest fire hydrants f) Nearest bus shelters and transit facilities g) Natural drainage features & water bodies, floodways, floodplain, RCD, Jordan Buffers & Watershed boundaries a) Existing and proposed building locations b) Description & analysis of adjacent land uses, roads, topography, soils, drainage patterns, environmental constraints, features, existing vegetation, vistas (on & off-site) c) Proposed setbacks d) Driveway locations 8
Request for Master Land Use Plan Modification Modification of Southern Village Master Land Use Plan March 15, 2013 Applicant: Bryan Properties, Inc. 400 Market Street, Suite 115 Chapel Hill, NC 27516 9
Project Narrative This is a request for a modification of the Southern Village Master Land Use Plan, first approved by the Town of Chapel Hill in 1993 and modified on October 22, 1996. A copy of the 1996 modification is attached. This modification is being requested in tandem with our application for a Special Use Permit for Southern Village Hotel. That application seeks approval for a 130-room hotel. The site for that SUP is 4.14 acres between US 15-501 South and the existing Southern Village Apartment District. We are asking that this site be rezoned to MUV-A. This redevelopment project site includes three lots with single-family homes (zoned Residential-2) and a vacant lot. In addition to these properties, the project site includes approximately 0.28 acres that currently sits inside the northeastern boundary of the Southern Village Apartments SUP. The Town of Chapel Hill has approved a recombination plat which removes 1.80 acres from a Southern Village Apartments parcel, creating a new lot. At the recommendation of Chapel Hill Planning, we are asking that the line of the Southern Village Apartments SUP be adjusted to exclude this 1.80 acres, so that a portion of it can be part of a new SUP for the Hotel. At the recommendation of Chapel Hill Planning, we are also asking that the line of the Southern Village Master Plan be adjusted to exclude this 1.80 acres, so that the Master Plan and Apartment Special Use Permit boundaries will be identical. In addition, in this request for modification, we ask that a portion of the 50 landscape buffer along the proposed new boundary with the requested MUV-A zone be eliminated, and that no buffer be required where it overlaps into our SUP project boundary. The portion of 50 landscape buffer we are asking to be eliminated serves no good purpose and in fact would be undermine the goal of creating a walkable, village atmosphere that encourages residents and hotel guests to walk to the Village Center. Attached is a map showing the existing SUP boundary, the existing Master Plan boundary, and our proposed change. 10
Statement of Justification The applicant, Bryan Properties, Inc., submits the following information as evidence that this requested Special Use Permit modification meets the four Special Use Permit findings of fact. Finding # 1: That the use or development is located, designed and proposed to be operated to as to maintain or promote the public health, safety and general welfare. This requested modification -- to adjust the northeastern boundary of the Southern Village Master Plan to 1.80 acres and to eliminate a portion of the 50 landscape buffer -- will have no different impact on the public health, safety and general welfare than the current uses operating under the Master Plan approved in 1993 and modified in 1996. Finding # 2: The use or development complies with all required regulations and standards of this chapter, including all applicable provisions of articles 3 and 5, the applicable specific standards contained in the supplemental use regulations (article 6), and all other applicable regulations. Article 3 Zoning Districts, Uses and Dimensional Standards This modification to remove 1.80 acres from the Southern Village Master Plan does not seek a change in zoning, uses or dimensional standards; it is merely a boundary shift. Article 5 Design and Development Standards This modification makes no request for additional built space. Therefore, issues related to site layout and design, RCD, recreation, buffering, landscaping, tree canopy, access and circulation, parking, solid waste collection and recycling, utilities and stormwater management are not affected by this modification. Finding # 3: That the use or development is located, designed and proposed to be operated so as to maintain or enhance the value of contiguous property, or that the use of development is a public necessity. 11
The proposed changes to the Southern Village Master Plan area -- removal of 1.80 acres and relief from the buffer requirement along the Southern Village Apartments boundary -- would maintain the value of contiguous properties. Our companion proposal, to build a hotel adjacent to Southern Village Apartments, would incorporate a portion of this 1.80 acres into a project that would enhance neighboring properties. To the south along US 15-501, an individual owns two land parcels that include a total of six residential units. These tracts lie between our proposed development site and the Market Street entrance to Southern Village. Our proposal, if completed, would bring higher land and property values to our redevelopment site. The three rental homes that we have contracted to purchase, plus the vacant lot that we have purchased, have a combined Orange County tax value of $429,939 and our development has a projected value of $15 million. The adjacent owner s property values would rise as a consequence of our development because its potential as a more intense commercial or residential use would be enhanced. In providing public water and sewer to our site, we will bring access to these services close to these adjacent properties. Southern Village Apartments value would be enhanced by the improvement of the property we propose to develop. The current condition of the properties we have under contract does not add value to its neighbors. In contrast, our proposal would enhance property values for neighboring properties. Finding # 4: That the use or development conforms with the general plans for the physical development of the town as embodied in this chapter and in the comprehensive plan. This modification request to adjust the Master Plan boundary to exclude 1.80 acres is a minor, technical adjustment and would leave the Southern Village Apartments and the developed Southern Village community unchanged. Therefore, all the facts cited for compliance with Finding 4 at the time of original approval and at the time of modification still obtain. In tandem with our application for a Hotel Special Use Permit, this minor modification to adjust the Master Plan boundary would support goals of the 2020 Comprehensive Plan in the following ways: 12
1. Strengthens existing local businesses. 2. Supports commercial tax base. 3. Promotes connectivity of all types -- social, economic and physical, through walkability. 4. Compatible with transit use. 5. Efficient use of public facilities. 6. Strengthens mixed-use area. Photographs from Existing Site Janet Allen Property from 15/501 James Paliouras Property from 15/501 Timothy Holleman Property from 15/501 From Barksdale Drive into site 13
ADJACENT PROPERTIES Jim Allen Property south of site Jim Allen Property south of site Creekside Crew Property north of Site 14
DATA APPLICANT BRYAN PROPERTIES 400 MARKET STREET, STE. 115 CHAPEL HILL, NC 27516 PROJECT AREA EXISTING ZONING REZONING: 4.14 AC. SPECIAL USE PERMIT: 3.48 AC. R-2, R-5-C, NC-C 12/12/12 1000' FROM SOUTHERN VILLAGE BOUNDARY OPEN SPACE OPEN SPACE OPEN SPACE OPEN SPACE OPEN SPACE 15 EB OU AG ILL HE R M RO 'F NV 00 2 EXISTING RESIDENTIAL LAND H UT SO OU T 10 3 MS 5 N ER GE A LL VI 4 RY DA UN BO P:\projects\So.Village_06111\15-501 Hotel site\15-501 Hotel Area Map 3.dwg, 12/11/2012 3:04:33 PM, DWG To PDF.pc3 1 15-9 6 DOGWOOD ACRES A 50 1 SITE 10 7 ND AR B 18 8 Y C VILLAGE12 16 CENTER 11 17 D E RO 13 22 0' F 14 SOUTHERN VILLAGE APARTMENTS 19 100 OPEN SPACE N E W S SCALE: 1" = 500' SCALE: 1" = 350' 15