Agenda 04-11-2001 late - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 At the end of the Council's February 7, 2000 work session the Council directed the staff and consultant to make adjustments to the draft plan in response to the public comments and Council statements. The Council asked that this revised plan come to the Council at its March 27, 2000 meeting for possible adoption. On March 27 the Council decided to hold three additional public information meetings at locations around Chapel Hill on the draft Plan in response to a citizen petition. The Town Council subsequently adopted the Comprehensive Plan, including a new Land Use Plan, on May 8; 2000. The Plan is organized around twelve major themes, each growing out of the community values that have been identified and which,' taken together, form a strategy for Chapel Hill's future. These themes are: • Maintain the Urban Services Area / Rural Buffer Concept • Participate in the regional planning process • Conserve and protect existing neighborhoods • Conserve and protect the natural setting of Chapel Hill • Identify areas where there are creative development opportunities • Encourage desirable forms of non- residential development • Create and preserve affordable housing opportunities • Cooperatively work with the University of North Carolina • Work toward a balanced transportation system • Complete the bikeway /greenway /sidewalk systems • Provide quality community facilities and services • Develop strategies to address fiscal issues Last fall, the Chapel Hill Town Council formally requested that this Joint Public Hearing be convened, and that the Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan be amended to reflect Chapel Hill's new Land Use Plan for Chapel Hill's Transition Areas. Summary of Joint Land Use Plan — Joint Plannin Transition Area The Chapel Hill Joint Planning Transition Area (Northwest Area) is generally the land outside the Town limits and south of Interstate 40, including a portion of the land north of Weaver Dairy Road, the land west of Airport Road (N.C. 86), and the land north of the University of North Carolina's Horace Williams Tract and Homestead Road. The western boundary of the area generally follows Rogers Road. A rail line bisects the northwest area, and a large parcel of property in the center of the area (known as the Greene Tract) is jointly owned by the Town of Chapel Hill, the Town of Carrboro, and Orange County. According to the land use classification system outlined in the Joint Planning Land Use Plan, transition areas "are in the process of changing from rural to urban uses or are already urban in use; are developed at or suitable for urban-type densities; and are now provided or are projected to be provided with urban services. Transition Areas are denoted as a subclass or overlay -type of land use classification, providing a link with the basic land use categories of the Orange County Land Use Plan but permitting the development of a more detailed series of underlying land use plan categories" (pages 58 -59). 2