Agenda - 04-08-1998 - 2a - Laserfiche WebLink

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O ~ ~~ Staff Analysis Memorandum - JPA 2-98 page 2 By late 1993, the planning process was underway, with Town staff providing support to the 31-member Small Area Plan Work Group. In February 1996, a public hearing on the Small Area Plan for Carrboro's Northern Study Area -Proposed Draft for Presentation was held. Due to the issues raised during the hearing, the Board of Aldermen proposed that a facilitated planning conference be held, at which a consensus plan would be developed. A Steering Committee made up of elected officials and residents of the study area was established to plan the workshop. The planning conference took place on two Saturdays, approximately one month apart, in the Spring of 1997, with staff of the Orange County Dispute Settlement Center serving as facilitators and Randall Arendt of the Natural Lands Trust providing professional planning assistance. As the plan primarily affected development in the unincorporated portions of Carrboro's planning, jurisdiction, funds for the conference were provided by all three parties to the Joint Planning Agreement, Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Orange County. Approximately 150 citizens participated in the process. The original plan was revised in accordance with the consensus of the participants and the Facilitated Small Area Plan for Carrboro's Northern Study Area (NSA) was finalized. The Facilitated Small Area Plan for the Northern Study Area Carrboro's Northern Study Area encompasses all of the Transition Areas covered by the 1987 Joint Planning Area Land Use plan and portions of the ETJ and town limits (see attached map). The study area is characterized by residential activity, with a small commercial node, specified in the JPALUP, at the Calvander intersection. The existing plan established the transition areas adjacent to the town's urban areas as those areas were in the process of changing from rural to urban uses, or were already urban in use and were projected to be provided with urban services. The town's 1977 Land Use Plan, Land Use Ordinance and other policy documents specified those portions of the study area as suitable for residential development. Since 1987, additional portions of the study area have been developed at urban densities of between one and three units per acre. In February 1992, the Board of Aldermen for the Town of Carrboro determined that a comprehensive planning effort was needed for those areas of the town's jurisdiction which are expected to receive the bulk of any growth and development occurring in the coming years. The new plan places primary emphasis for development in the study area on residential activity, although no site-specific proposals are included. The Facilitated Plan proposes the use of net, rather than gross, residential density calculations, with reductions based on natural constraints such as floodplains, steep slopes, and utility easements. The plan also proposes to cluster a bulk of the new residential development by encouraging village- scale development, conservation of environmentally sensitive areas, density bonuses for affordable housing meeting certain development criteria, and neighborhood- and community-scale commercial centers. The overall target density for the northern Study Area is approximately the same as the current density of the town: 2.1 dwelling units per acre. The target density for mixed-use areas is approximately five dwelling units per acre. These development management options have been selected in order to minimize