TITLE: Title
Discussion of public use and maintenance of private streets as it relates to the Whispering Hills HOA
PURPOSE: The purpose of this agenda item is to provide the Board of Aldermen with an update on the issues identified by the Whispering Hills HOA, staff assessment of current conditions, collected data, and potential next steps.
body
DEPARTMENT: Planning, Public Works
CONTACT INFORMATION: Zachary Hallock, 919-918-7329, zhallock@townofcarrboro.org; Trish McGuire, 919-918-7327, pmcguire@townofcarrboro.org; Joe Guckavan, 919-918-7427, jguckavan@townofcarrboro.org; Tina Moon, 919-918-7325, cmoon@townofcarrboro.org
INFORMATION: This issue was previously presented to the Board of Aldermen on January 25, 1994, where the Board referred the issue back to the HOA to petition its members and conduct their own traffic counts. The agenda item and associated staff reports from this meeting has been included as Attachment B. The minutes from that meeting can be found as Attachment C.
In the spring of 2018, Town staff were informed of the issue related to maintenance and upkeep of Lantern Way by the Whispering Hills HOA. They make the argument that due to the fact that Daffodil Lane, S Peak Street, and Lantern Way form a connected route between Old Pittsboro Road and King Street, which public traffic is utilizing their streets as an alternate route to avoid any one of: traffic congestion in Downtown, traffic congestion along NC Hwy 54, or construction delay caused by the S Greensboro roundabout project.
Staff met with the HOA representatives on October 26, 2018 and began assessing what could be done to meet the concerns of residents. Traffic counts along King Street and Daffodil Lane were collected in February 2019 and April 2019, in order to assess the current conditions of traffic volumes along the streets internal to the Whispering Hills development. The traffic counts collected in April indicate that about 100 trips (out of a total of around 380 trips) entering at either King St or S Peak St are not turning off of Lantern Way. It cannot be assumed that these are traveling through, as they may be otherwise ending somewhere along Lantern Way. The counts collected in February 2019 show that on average, approximately 170 vehicles travel through the King Street entrance and 595 vehicles travel through the Daffodil Lane entrance each day. Furthermore, a street such as Lantern Way which serves less than 100 residences and sees a daily volume of less than 800 vehicles, conforms to the existing standards for a subcollector street as defined by the Town’s Land Use Ordinance. The HOA has expressed interest in a solution which addresses their concerns with increasing maintenance costs associated with upkeep on a private street which they claim is carrying vehicle traffic for the general public.
The street section for consideration is a portion of South Peak Drive and Lantern Way, between Daffodil Lane and King Street, approximate 830 linear feet of roadway with the typical section having a pavement width of roughly 18 feet. Staff review of these existing roadway conditions show that the street width and available right of way is too narrow to bring the street up to the Town’s current subcollector street standards. However, the width is wide enough to meet the standards for North Carolina Powell Bill funding.
Staff have identified three potential options to address this issue moving forward:
1) Defer to the previous decision made by the Board in 1994
2) Direct the HOA to develop a cost estimate to bring the street up to standard, and consider accepting the street once this has occurred
3) Direct Town staff to develop a cost estimate for current and future maintenance of the street, and consider a cost sharing agreement with the HOA for all current and future maintenance
FISCAL & STAFF IMPACT: There is no impact associated with receiving the report, but
RECOMMENDATION:r Staff recommends that the Board receive the report, discuss the issue, and consider the resolution [Attachment A] to direct staff on how to address the street maintenance issues raised by the Whispering Hills HOA.