Orange County NC Website
2 <br /> r <br /> The draft plan for the Horace Williams property includes a development with a <br /> mix of land uses, including housing, office,commercial,academic,research, <br /> health care, public assembly, utilitarian,and active and passive recreation areas. <br /> A transportation corridor is proposed to be located through the center of the <br /> property,which could offer an opportunity for a future fixed-guideway transit <br /> facility,bicycle, and pedestrian facilities. The corridor is proposed to include two <br /> transit nodes surrounded by mixed use development districts,where land use <br /> intensity is concentrated; these areas are called University Villages. The town <br /> planning committees appointed by Chapel Hill and Carrboro reviewed the draft <br /> plan and their comments are included as attachments. <br /> Concurrent with the University's planning process,the Chapel Hill Town Council <br /> directed the Planning Board to draft language for a new zoning district to be <br /> applied to large undeveloped tracts of land. The Council hired a consultant, <br /> Dwight Merriam of the law firm of Robinson& Cole,to assist in drafting a new <br /> zoning district applicable to large tracts like Horace Williams and Mason Farm. <br /> On June 17, 1996,the Town Council held a public hearing on the proposed <br /> zoning district as well as the potential rezoning of the Horace Williams property. <br /> Because of a protest petition filed by UNC, the Council decided to consider <br /> establishing a collaborative process for further discussion and refinement of the <br /> proposal with a tentative deadline of March 15, 1997. <br /> Of significance to Orange County is the fact that 34%of the 973 acre Horace <br /> Williams tract extends into the Chapel Hill and Carrboro Joint Planning <br /> Transition Areas; and all of the 57 acre Horace Williams home site lies in the <br /> Carrboro Transition Area. These properties are classified as Future UNC <br /> Development and Public/Private Open Space respectively in the Joint Planning <br /> Area Land Use Plan. Low-density residential zoning has been applied by the <br /> towns in these areas as per the terms of the Joint Planning Agreement. Any <br /> rezoning of UNC land in the transition areas would require approval by Orange <br /> County and the towns for their respective areas. <br /> Upon review of these materials, Orange County may wish to request a more in- <br /> depth presentation by the University's consultants. Johnson, Johnson, and Roy <br /> are tentatively scheduled to return with the final land use plans for Horace <br /> Williams and Mason Farm in November, 1996. At that time,the University <br /> Board of Trustees may adopt master land use plans for both tracts. <br /> The County may also want to request involvement in Chapel Hill's collaborative <br /> process to prepare a new zoning district since it might ultimately be applied in the <br /> area and the County shares joint approval authority. <br /> RECOMMENDATION: As the Board decides. <br />