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~^ } <br />~l <br />chapel Watch Village- ZAA Statement ofJust~tion <br />May 20, 2003 <br />Page S of S <br />Theme: Work toward a balanced transportation system... <br />The Town's Comprehensive Plan discusses the need to pursue an aggressive, new approach <br />to transportation. This approach shifts the emphasis from the automobile to other means of <br />travel -walking, biking, transit, and park-and-ride - in order to achieve acommunity-wide, <br />multi-modal transportation system. As previously noted, this site is uniquely located <br />adjacent to an underutilized Town Park and Ride lot, on a bus route, and adjacent to the rail <br />line that runs southward through the Horace Williams tract to downtown Carrboro and <br />Chapel Hill (and has the potential to be used for mass transit purposes in the future). <br />Furthermore, land is reserved for a future greenway trail, known as the Rail Trail, that will <br />eventually expand the Town's walking and bicycling network. <br />In summary, the location of this site epitomizes the aggressive approach to transportation that <br />is emphasized in the Comprehensive Plan, and maximizes the opportunities that will entice <br />individuals to get out of their cars and utilize other means of travel. <br />Theme: Complete the bikeway/greenway/sidewalk systems... <br />A prevalent theme in the Town's Comprehensive Plan is the need to complete Chapel Hill's <br />town-wide network of sidewallcs, bikeways and greenways. By design, the site layout for <br />Chapel Watch Village, as proposed in the accompanying Special Use Permit, is proposed to <br />offer bicycle and pedestrian circulation both internal to the development, as well as to <br />neighboring developments. In particulaz, the extensive sidewalk network within the Chapel <br />Watch Village development is proposed to connect to the sidewalk network in the Larkspur <br />subdivision, offering neighborhood connectivity. Furthermore, the Chapel Watch Village <br />development proposes to set aside land along the rail line for a future greenway trait, in <br />accordance with the Town's Greenways Master Plan, and provides suitable trail linkage <br />opportunities to that greenway trail once it exists. <br />Conclusion <br />As correctly envisioned by the Town of Chapel Hill's Comprehensive Plan and accompanying <br />Land Use Plan, the Eubanks Road corridor is a future growth area capable of handling a future <br />Mixed Use development and a proposed Town Public Works facility. Accordingly, the Chapel <br />Watch Village site emerges as an excellent site to offer medium density housing, at the upper <br />end of the targeted range of density. Acknowledging these elements, combined with the limited <br />amount of rental housing in this general area, the developer is proposing to develop the subject <br />site as a medium density residential use, with a maximum density of 8.06 dwelling units per acre <br />on the site, in accordance with the purposes and themes of the Comprehensive Plan and <br />accompanying Land Use Plan. <br />~~ <br />