TITLE: Title
Public Hearing- Schematic Design for The 203 Project - Future Home of the Orange County Southern Branch Library, Carrboro Recreation and Parks Spaces, The ArtsCenter, and WCOM Radio
PURPOSE: The purpose of this item is to provide the Board with an opportunity to receive a presentation on schematic designs and public input and to endorse “The Commons,” the recommended scheme.
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DEPARTMENT: Town Manager, Planning, Finance
CONTACT INFORMATION: David Andrews 919-918-7315, dandrews@townofcarrboro.org <mailto:dandrews@townofcarrboro.org>; Patricia McGuire 919-918-7327, pmcguire@townofcarrboro.org <mailto:pmcguire@townofcarrboro.org>; Arche McAdoo 919-918-7439, amcadoo@townofcarrboro.org
INFORMATION: The presentation will focus on three schematic designs for development of the 203 S. Greensboro property, with one, “The Commons,” recommended as the design which best achieves the project vision and user programmatic needs as identified by the Boards and community stakeholders. P+W’s project design team has been working towards a schematic design that incorporates existing and potential interrelationships and opportunities/synergy resulting from combining different users in one building. Design exercises at the public input sessions and online have provided input on site layout, building massing, and travel and parking choices on and to the 203 S. Greensboro property. In addition to the noted principal building users, the Orange County Southern Branch Library, The ArtsCenter, Town Recreation and Parks spaces, WCOM radio, the design includes space for teen center and virtual justice center. A seed library has also been included within the library area.
Input from various youth/teen interests has informed the sizing of the teen center space in the building. The Board may wish to direct staff to coordinate meetings between various youth groups to work on specifying details of the space. Groups that may be part of such a meeting could include the Town’s Youth Advisory Board, Recreation and Parks Youth Council, Chapel Hill Carrboro NAACP Youth Council, Youth Community Group, and Youthworx on Main
A range of preliminary, rough order of magnitude cost estimates for the designs have been prepared. These designs all incorporate structured parking on-site and project additional off-site parking. Information on the full parking program for building users and those who presently park in the public parking lot at this location is anticipated to be presented at an October Board of Aldermen meeting. A report on short term parking during construction of the project, is scheduled for the September 17th meeting of the Board of Aldermen.
Supporting Information and Next Steps. Staff of the project partners, Orange County, The ArtsCenter, WCOM Radio and the Town have been working with the selected design firm, Perkins + Will, on obtaining public input, and building program requirements since June. Information on the project’s outreach strategies, input sessions and progress, and upcoming activities and schedule is summarized below.
Outreach Strategies. Rachel Heggen, Town Communications Manager, has served as the lead, with other partners linking to the Town website and connecting via other platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Nextdoor, and newsletters. Outreach has included print and electronic methods, signs and site banners, social and traditional media via newsletters, newspapers and local radio stations. Flyers have been distributed to businesses, Farmers’ Market patrons, residential institutions, and community centers. Signs were posted on the site, and around Town prior to the July and August input sessions. Project partners have tagged one another and other Carrboro and Orange County community organizations, including the school districts, fire departments, IFC, El Centro, Chapel Hill Chamber of Commerce, Southern Village, OC Arts Commission, PTA Thrift Store, YouthWorx on Main, Club Nova, Carrboro Business Alliance, etc. The communications POCs will be meeting in August and early September to evaluate and refine outreach methods in preparation for the planned September 20th public meeting. Demographic and geographic information has been collected at three of the four public sessions and in the online surveys to guide targeted strategies for reaching and obtaining input from people representative of the Town and the partner groups’ populations.
Input Sessions and Progress. Four input sessions on three separate days have been held for the project. One offering of the first session was provided. Three offerings of the second session were provided on two different days and at different times and locations, noted below:
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Wednesday, June 13 |
Town Hall Board Room |
7-9 pm |
60 1 |
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Monday, July 23 |
Century Hall |
7-9 pm |
75 2 |
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Saturday, August 4 |
Town Hall Board Room |
12-2 pm |
35 2 |
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Saturday, August 4 |
Oasis of Love Tabernacle |
4-6 pm |
12 2 |
1. Geographic/demographic information was not collected at this meeting.
2. Estimate of participants observed at meetings. Voluntary sign-in.
Input surveys that duplicated the input session exercises have been provided online after each round of sessions. Demographic and geographic information gathered online in relation to the first input session may be found in the July and August input session presentations on the project website <http://www.townofcarrboro.org/1151/The-203-Project>. Demographic and geographic information from the July and August sessions are presented in tabular form in Attachment C.
Upcoming Activities and Schedule. The project schedule seeks completion of the building in 2020. It is an aggressive and optimistic schedule. Following the September 4th public hearing, a public meeting is planned for September 20th where participants will be able to examine and discuss in small groups the project design. Advisory board meetings normally occurring that evening will be redirected to the project meeting. 100 percent schematic design drawings are projected for delivery on October 12th. A joint meeting of the Board of Aldermen and Board of County Commissioners is scheduled for October 25th. Staff are outlining additional actions to facilitate both Boards considering the design during this period, with a focused meeting of the Board of Aldermen on the parking program anticipated during this time. A neighborhood drop-in style meeting is projected for November 29th, followed by a Joint meeting of the Aldermen and Commissioners on December 4th. Public meetings/hearings on the building finish details in early January to early February would provide for incorporation into the zoning permit plans. An approved zoning permit is projected by mid-March, followed by the preparation of site and building construction drawings. Completion of a guaranteed maximum price by the construction manager by late April would allow sufficient time for review and approval by the Local Government Commission, and for issuance of a building permit to allow construction to begin by mid-August 2019. In order for the project to proceed on schedule, the various stakeholders will need to remain committed to the milestones identified above, particularly in relation to discussion topics such as youth center details and parking.
FISCAL & STAFF IMPACT: More detailed cost estimation will be completed in September in conjunction with completion of the 95 percent schematic design. The Town is engaging a Construction Manager at Risk to assist with this process. A capital project ordinance adopted on June 20, 2017, available at <https://carrboro.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3080797&GUID=393D9697-ADFA-408E-A377-2D3B62146F5A&Options=ID|Text|&Search=Greensboro> . Multiple staff members are participating in the design effort.
RECOMMENDATION:r Staff recommends that the Board receive the presentation and public input and endorse “The Commons,” the recommended schematic design.