Agenda - 03-17-1998 - 9c - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Plan Overview This report has examined the environmental conditions of the study area, established goals and objectives for the area, and identified several building blocks for various land use patterns that could be used in the Northwest Area. Building on these criteria, this section presents a long -range plan for the Northwest Area. In formulating the plan, the Work Group also considered three alternative plans for the area (see Appendix). The consideration of all four of these plans produced the final recommended plan. The recommended plan combines all of the planning concept "building blocks ": Protection of Existing Neighborhoods, Affordable Housing, Open Space, Greenways, the Village Pattern, the Employment Campus, and the option of a Transportation Corridor. The Recommended Plan One of the first steps in formulating a plan was the protection of existing residential neighborhoods. In particular, the plan seeks to protect the Northwood neighborhood and the Rogers Road and Billabong Lane areas. Based on the fact that the northwest area contains some of the little land left in Chapel Hill that is suitable for office, commercial or retail use, and considering that the area has easy access to an interstate interchange, an Employment Campus is shown along Eubanks Road and Millhouse Road. The Employment Campus is intended to support the Town's Comprehensive Plan Goal of encouraging a local economy characterized by varied scale and types of educational, research, professional, commercial and service activities. In particular, the Comprehensive Plan suggests a local economy including 1) office, institutional, and commercial employers of small to medium scale, located in conveniently accessible centers and areas efficiently serviced by public utilities, services, and transit, avoiding strip development, and 2) small -scale professional, commercial and service employers in low- intensity developments designed to minimize conflicts with adjacent residential development. The development of an Employment Campus in this area also supports the Comprehensive Plan's Economic Goals of promoting employment in areas central to major transportation systems, with surrounding higher - intensity residential uses. In particular, the Comprehensive Plan supports such a mix of uses in the N.C. 86 and Interstate 40 area. This Employment Campus land use represents a new category that would be primarily characterized by small -scale flex -space and office uses appropriate to the area. In particular, the Campus would serve as a destination that would attract employees for the duration of the work day. This new land use will require a new zoning category that will promote well- designed, functional places of employment. Some secondary uses that may be considered as part of the "employment campus" concept are service - oriented uses, research and development uses, and medical facilities. In keeping with the Town's adopted Comprehensive Plan Goals, the plan reflects the Town's existing mixed use land use on the land east of N.C. 86 and north of Weaver Dairy Road. Mixed Use zoning calls for a mix of commercial, office, and residential in this area. Based on the large amount of commercial square footage (259,200 s.f.) that has been approved as part of the Chapel Hill North development, the proximity of existing residential neighborhoods, and in support of the Town's Entranceway Protection Goals, the plan reflects an Office - Institutional land use for the lots at the southeast intersection of N.C. 86 and Weaver Dairy Road. Northwest Small Area Plan Page 35 25