Minutes 08-21-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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opportunity now and in the future to co-locate county services on one campus which is centrally located, convenient, accessible to the residents of southern Orange County, and located on the public transit line." She felt that kind of statement, placed in this context, is important. Commissioner Gordon stated their having the 34 acre campus gives them an unprecedented opportunity to locate their county services in one place. If they're smart about it, and she believes they are trying to be, and make plans for now into the future for 25 years, they can have something they don't have in Hillsborough. People have to go all over town in Hillsborough for these services. She feels it goes beyond the cost of buying land someplace else. Also land in the future is going to be expensive and harder to find the best spot. It also goes beyond that to the heart of why it's so important to plan for this campus now because they can co-locate all the services and with a destination like that, there are symbiotic relationships. There is one place to go to, the buses are already going there, and they could run the bus line more often. She said they were lucky to get this 34 acre campus because they weren't necessarily looking for it. It's a great opportunity not only to save their money by not buying additional land but it's irreplaceable by locating all the county services at one destination. She feels putting this type of overarching framework before the Town Council sets a context of why it's so important for them to move forward and plan now for delivering these services. Commissioner Jacobs asked the difference between the paved surfaces in square feet in A versus B not counting the development areas. Mr. Redfoot replied he did not have that information but could get it. Commissioner Jacobs said Chapel Hill Transit has complained for years about the road going into that property but a curving road has a traffic calming effect. He asked what they would do to calm traffic versus having a straight shot into that parking lot. Mr. Redfoot replied there are certain things they can do as pedestrian safety is a concern. As they locate more uses and more people coming onto the site, it will become more of an issue, and as buses are coming through the site, they need to take that into consideration. He explained when the buses come through the site, they have to cross over the line and have a difficult time maneuvering through the site. They are trying to make it safer and they can do things like raised crosswalks and try to slow people down. He believes once they get a certain mass of people there, and hopefully flows of pedestrians, it would be a good source of natural traffic calming as well. It is a difficult balance to accommodate buses and not allow the vehicles. Mr. Waldon added that the master plan they're going to bring back to the Board in October will have a map that shows the geography of the site but will also be accompanied by a set of design guidelines which will include instruction for how to design the infrastructure and the individual buildings. It will have the standards for storm water management. Now they will also address traffic calming, pedestrian safety, and vehicle speed. Mr. Waldon added these are still very conceptual and while they may appear as a straight line on the map, there could be a meandering to it that would have softer curves than what is currently shown. Commissioner Gordon referred to the developed area where they showed the amount of floor area ratio in Option A versus B. She wanted to make clear the floor ratio area in the developed area is different and said it's important to highlight that. There is 390,000 square feet of development area in Option B but Chapel Hill happens to have 350,000 square feet of floor area ratio. She had emailed that question and got a definition back which may be good to put in so people reading won't think Chapel Hill only allows 350,000 and this has 390,000. Commissioner Gordon also stated with regard to which plan, it is important to get as much as they can while still adhering to their principles. They want to preserve the natural areas, respect the site, but develop what makes sense. To her, Option B is the best option, or some version of it, and it would allow them to co-locate the services in this area. She has walked the site and most or all of Option B has areas that are developable. She also said it's important to note that developable area is not just buildings but includes everything such as landscaping. If this is the site into the foreseeable future, as long as they can be true to their environmental principles, they should develop this campus on all the land that is truly developable which to her is Option B. Chair Pelissier expressed her support of Option B, not just because of the greater development area, but she likes the traffic flow as it appears it will be much smoother. It is a much clearer plan and they need to take into account they have no idea exactly how many buildings they will actually need. She would like the greatest amount of flexibility possible which she feels is Option B. Commissioner McKee agreed with Chair Pelissier on the flexibility of the plan but thinks they do not need to get bogged down in square footage or paved surface area or anything else at this point. They