Agenda - 11-06-2002 - 9a - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 Implications of Locating Public Facilities Requiring Urban Services in Southern Chapel Hill Township Local government decisions on the location of public facilities can have serious and far-reaching consequences for future land use and development patterns. This is particularly true of elementary, middle, and high schools. In addition to their primary function as centers of learning during the daytime, schools also host many after- hours cultural and athletic events. As a community focal point, they can serve as a catalyst for residential development in the surrounding area. Such development may be entirely appropriate if it is consistent with local plans for growth and the infrastructure is in place to support that growth. Because of their size and the number of people utilizing them, school facilities require access to municipal water and sewer service. These utilities should either exist at the site when construction begins or be easily extended as part of the development process. The desirability of locating a school in an urbanizing area served with water and sewer is often complicated by the inability to assemble the required acreage in such an area or the excessive cost of such acreage if it exists. This can prompt decision-makers to search for an affordable site in outlying areas and petition for extension of water and sewer lines to serve the school. Again, this may be appropriate if the area in question is part of a future utility service area and identified for growth at greater than rural densities. Otherwise, building a school in an outlying area and extending utilities can potentially lead to inefficient and unintended patterns of residential development. Sites suitable for the construction of public school facilities in the Chapel Hill- Carrboro urban area are becoming scarcer and more expensive. The implications of locating future school facilities in southern Chapel Hill Township requires an understanding of several interrelated agreements and plans, all of which are predicated on a clear demarcation of urban and rural land use patterns. Briefly, these include Orange County-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Joint Planning, the Chapel Hill Comprehensive Plan, and the Water and Sewer Management, Planning, and Boundary Agreement. Orange County-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Joint Planning In 1984, the Town of Chapel Hill and Orange County entered into a Joint Planning Agreement that called for the development of a land use plan for areas immediately surrounding Chapel Hill and Carrboro, but outside the extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJ) of the two towns. These areas outside of town planning jurisdictions were known as Joint Planning "Transition Areas." The staffs and Planning Boards of Chapel Hill and Orange County (initially, the Town of Carrboro was not a party to the Joint Planning Agreement) proceeded to develop a land use plan and on October 13, 1986, the Town of Chapel Hill and Orange County adopted the Joint Planning Land Use Plan. Following efforts to streamline the review process for developments in the transition areas, Carrboro joined Chapel Hill and Orange County as a participant in Joint Planning on November 2, 1987.