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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br />C L A R 1 ® M <br />In this Executive Summary we offer discussion of our understanding of this <br />project, a summary of our proposed organizational structure, and a brief <br />description of our proposed approach. Details follow in the proposal. <br />PROJECT UNDERSTANDING <br />Timing is good for this initiative. The Seymour Senior Center and the Southern <br />Human Services Center have been highly successful, and have become key <br />assets to the quality of life in Southern Orange County. Demands for services <br />and facilities continue to grow. This site was purchased by the County and <br />developed in two stages so far, all with the understanding and expectation that <br />there is room on the site for additional facilities as need and opportunity arise. <br />With discussions currently focusing on Chapel Hill's future as part of that <br />community's 2020 Comprehensive Plan, with road improvements to Homestead <br />Road under construction and being planned, with the University's ongoing <br />pursuit of development of the adjacent Horace Williams site as Carolina North, <br />and with discussions about enhanced transit service underway, it is a strategic <br />time to update the Master Plan for the Southern Orange Campus. <br />We are very familiar with the planning and visioning <br />for this site and areas around it that have taken place so <br />far. We visited the Chapel Hill Planning Department to <br />review the files for this site (including the Special Use <br />Permit and Master Plan for this site prepared by Orange <br />County and approved by the Town in 2005, shown at <br />left), and subsequent revisions and updates to the <br />planning for this site (example, the 2006 Concept Plan <br />shown on the page to the right). <br />We have also reviewed the status of planning for <br />Carolina North (including review of the Development <br />Agreement that has been executed between Chapel Hill <br />and the University) which has significant implications <br />for this Southern Orange County Campus site. We have been assembling these <br />pieces as the starting point for preparation of this new Master Plan. <br />This project will involve a combination of reviewing the County's <br />facility needs, best - practice land development and design <br />strategies, land use planning, and transportation planning - all <br />within the context of important principles of resiliency and <br />sustainability. One of the things that this Clarion Team is very <br />good at is "connecting the dots." We have a multidisciplinary <br />team that has worked together successfully on other projects. We <br />can prepare the Master Plan that is needed for this site, with an <br />understanding of the importance of maintaining the integrity of <br />existing adjacent areas and coordinating with other development <br />initiatives. Transitions between residential and non - residential <br />areas are always critical, and we know how to address that issue. <br />Southern Orange Campus [,!aster Plan <br />Page 5 <br />