ORD-2006-023 -Proposal to Amend the Joint Planning Area Zoning Atlas for the Rusch Hollow Site on Zieger Lane JPA-CH-Z-1-06

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4 The applicant has requested that the site be rezoned from Residential- 1(R -1) to the Residential - Special Standards - Conditional (R -SS -C) zoning district. The applicant is requesting the rezoning so that an affordable triplex may be built on the lot that is currently zoned R -SS -C. The "conditional" designation means that, if the rezoning is approved, no development may occur on the property unless the Chapel Hill Town Council approves a Special Use Permit. The Town approved a Special Use Permit in November 2003 for the Rusch Hollow development which must be amended in a separate process to include the 10,431 square feet being rezoned. If a Special Use Permit issued for a Conditional Use District is abandoned, revoked, or becomes void, the conditional use zoning also becomes void and the property reverts to its previous zoning classification. Summary of the Chapel Hill and Joint Planning Area Land Use Plans A Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan was adopted in 1986. Chapel Hill has since adopted a new Land Use Plan in May 2000 which Orange County adopted as an amendment to the 1986 Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan effective October 1, 2003. The application site is located adjacent to and south of Lot 3 in the Rusch Hollow development. The Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan as amended in this location is designated as "Low Residential ", 1 -4 units per acre. The accompanying Special Use Permit application shows a site layout for a triplex. Although the proposed rezoning allows density greater than the density envisioned by The Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan, the overall density of the Rusch Hollow development will not be greater than the 17 units approved by the County Commission and the Town Council in 2003 Zoning Atlas Amendments Zoning determines the type and intensity of uses and development that are allowed on a piece of land. A Zoning Atlas Amendment involves a change to the current zoning, and thus the permitted types and intensity of land uses. In accordance with the Town of Chapel Hill's Land Use Management Ordinance, a rezoning may be requested in two ways: general use and conditional use rezoning requests. A general use rezoning request is a proposal to change the zoning to a different zoning district in which any of several kinds of developments and uses are permissible. A conditional use rezoning request is a proposal to allow development and uses only with (1) specific limitations, and (2) the approval of a Special Use Permit. The Rusch Hollow rezoning application is a conditional use rezoning request. Consequently, if the Rusch Hollow conditional use rezoning request were to be approved, the applicant would still need to receive approval for a Special Use Permit application from the Town of Chapel Hill, prior to the proposed development actually occurring on the site. The zoning designation of a property determines the range of land uses and development intensities permitted on the property. Article 4.4 of the Town of Chapel Hill's Land Use Management Ordinance establishes the intent of Zoning Atlas Amendments by stating that, "In order to establish and maintain sound, stable, and desirable development within the planning 4