TITLE: Title
Request-to-Set a Public Hearing on the Draft Text Amendment and Conceptual Master Plan to Establish the Old NC 86-Eubanks Road Site Specific, Flexible Zoning District and the associated Map Amendment to Rezone Approximately Seven Properties to the New FLX District
PURPOSE: The purpose of this item is for the Board of Aldermen to consider setting a public hearing for the proposed Site Specific Flexible, Zoning District for the northeast corner of Old NC 86 and Eubanks Road for September 24, 2019. Amendments to the text and official zoning map of the Land Use Ordinance are legislative decisions; the Board must receive public comment prior to reaching a decision.
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DEPARTMENT: Planning
CONTACT INFORMATION: Christina Moon - 919-918-7325; Patricia McGuire - 919-918-7327; Nick Herman - 919-929-3905
INFORMATION: Adam and Omar Zinn, the owners of Parker Louis, LLC, have submitted a request to have seven parcels located along the north side of Eubanks Road rezoned to a new Site Specific, Flexible Zoning District (FLX). The establishment of a FLX district involves the creation of a standalone ordinance and conceptual master plan describing, in detail, the regulations and performance standards applicable to the district and the drafting of these materials is intended to be iterative. The preliminary materials-draft ordinance and conceptual master site plan-are not yet complete (Attachments B-D). The purpose of this agenda item is for the Board to consider setting a public hearing for September 24th and referring the matter to the advisory boards for the September 5th joint advisory board review meeting. The proposed schedule would allow the Zinns to continue working on the project during the summer months to add additional information to the draft materials as well as to incorporate any specific direction from the Board. Staff would anticipate at least one public drop-in information session before the public hearing as well.
Staff has identified areas in the draft ordinance where more work is needed, such as developing criteria for expanding the FLX district, reviewing the parking standards, and adding more specificity with regard to affordable housing. The Zinns have provided images of residential and nonresidential buildings that represent the type and style of building that they would anticipate using for this district and this information can be described as architectural standards for inclusion in the draft ordinance (Attachment F). Comments from the advisory boards have been complied and are attached for information (Attachment G); the Zinns have expressed their interest in incorporating a number of these requests into the project.
The FLX district is also distinct from other Carrboro districts in that one of the prerequisites for consideration is that the property in question must have been the subject of a Town sponsored site specific planning study. Staff has not yet been able to complete a detailed comparison of the Zinn’s proposal with the DAD concept plans because the conceptual master plan is not yet finished. An initial review indicates that the FLX proposal appears to be consistent with certain aspects of the five DAD concept plans such as: diversity of housing choices-single family and multi-family, architectural design-village feel, variety of land uses, elements of central common areas and internal bike-ped infrastructure. The current FLX proposal, however, includes more residential density and more built upon area overall. Some of this reflects the anticipation that the extent of the wetlands area (a wetlands study is currently under review with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)) is less that what was identified by GIS mapping at the time of the DAD workshops. The LUO lists hardwoods as well wetlands as primary natural constraints intended to be preserved as open space, which for residential developments should consist of 40 percent of the site. The LUO includes provisions for open space reductions for other Town priorities such as affordable housing. This will likely be a topic for further analysis as the conceptual master plan is fleshed out.
The Zinns have also submitted a petition for voluntary annexation for all of the parcels identified for inclusion in the proposed FLX District. A public hearing to consider this request is provided as part of a separate agenda item (19-244).
FISCAL & STAFF IMPACT: Public hearings involve staff and public notice costs associated with advisory board and Board of Aldermen review.
RECOMMENDATION:r Staff recommends that the Board consider the resolution provided (Attachment A) setting a public hearing for September 24, 2019 and referring the text amendment to Orange County and the text and map amendments to the Planning Board and other advisory boards.