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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 12-07-1999 - 9bs c 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: December 7, 1999 Action Agenda Item No. j - b SUBJECT: Correspondence to Chapel Hill Town Council Regarding Greene Tract DEPARTMENT: County Manager /Planning PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT- Draft 1217/99 Letter to CH Town Council John Link or Rod Visser, ext 2300 Proposed Rezoning Process Schedule Craig Benedict, ext 2585 11/18/99 Letter from Mayor Waldorf TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Greene Tract Map Hillsborough 732 -8181 Chapel Hill 968 -4601 Durham 688 -7331 Mebane 336- 227 -2031 PURPOSE: To discuss the form and substance of proposed correspondence to the Chapel Hill Town Council concerning rezoning of a portion of the Greene Tract. BACKGROUND: At several meeting this fall, most recently the November 22, 1,999 work session, the Board of Commissioners has discussed the steps involved in the rezoning of a 60 acre portion of the Greene Tract, as provided for in the recently approved solid waste management interlocal agreement. The County's Planning staff, in collaboration with the Chapel Hill planning staff,' have developed a proposed schedule of activities that would lead to that rezoning and would keep on track the proposed transfer of solid waste management responsibility from the Town to the County on March 20, 2000. A draft letter has been pIrepared that would formally communicate to the Chapel Hill Town Council the BOCC's proposals and concerns regarding the rezoning process. The Board may wish to discuss and revise the proposed letter and provide direction to staff regarding the final version to be sent to the Town Council. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no direct financial impact associated with the preparation and transmission of this letter. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board discuss the proposed letter and provide direction to staff regarding the final version to be transmitted to the Town Council. December 7, 1999 The Honorable Rosemary Waldorf, Mayor Town of Chapel Hill 306 N: Columbia St. Chapel.Hill, NC 27516 Dear Rosemary: At the most recent work session of the County Commissioners on November 22, we discussed some of the steps that will be necessary to accomplish the planned transfer of solid waste management responsibility from the Town to the County on March 20, 2000. Of particular importance to our two boards is the completion of all steps that will lead to rezoning a portion of the Greene Tract, as provided for in the solid waste management interlocal agreement, to permit certain solid waste management facilities and activities.' We acknowledge the preference expressed by the Town Council in your November 18 letter that sites other than the Greene Tract be considered for future solid waste activities. I think it is fair to say that the Board of. Commissioners would .likewise prefer not to use the Greene Tract for solid waste activities. When the time comes for siting decisions, we will certainly consider all reasonable alternatives. However, the interlocal agreement was drawn up in its final form to reflect the reality that the Board of Commissioners best choice may be to. use a portion of the Greene Tract for solid waste facilities essential to our collectively meeting our established solid waste reduction` goals. County staff has developed the attached possible timetable to review a zoning application for the Greene Tract. With the March 20 handover date as a planned deadline, staff have worked backwards through the zoning application process to establish other public meeting requirements such as the joint planning area public hearing (JPAPH). Town and County zoning processes are somewhat different, but they will of necessity intersect at the JPAPH, which is proposed to take place on February 21,-2000. At the request of the Board of Commissioners, the Solid Waste Department is collaborating with the County's Environment and Resource Conservation Department to contract for several surveys of the Greene Tract. These include biological resources, archeological, and cultural surveys of the entire 169 -acre parcel that will help determine the most appropriate 60 -acre site for the eventual 'material handling district. The exact 60 acre delineation of the DRAFT 3 proposed zoning area will not be known until approximately March 1, 2000, so we propose for the first stages of review that the 169 acre area (less a portion that is explained below) be considered with a clear statement that only 60 acres will be designated before final adoptions. We also propose that this request for rezoning be given expedited review. The Board of Commissioners also requests that the Town Council entertain an expedited process to consider text amendment changes regarding the buffers specified in the recently established materials handling district. We believe that a requirement for a 200 foot perimeter buffer that would be designated within the 60 acre portion of the Greene Tract, particularly as that would apply to the 60 acre portion of the Greene Tract under consideration, would unnecessarily constrain the County in making the best possible use of the property. By way of example, there is already extensive buffering in place along the railroad track on the eastern portion of the tract and in the northwest portion of the property adjacent to the Neville Tract. In developing the formal rezoning request, we propose that the 169 acre parcel noticed for possible rezoning be reduced by a 100 foot area around its perimeter in certain places, as noted on the attached map. This will reduce the likelihood of a rezoning protest petition by creating what is essentially and practically a 100 foot buffer in the areas surrounding the Greene Tract, adjacent to areas where the adjacent property owners would ,want such a buffer. Presumably, the buffers that are or will be adopted by the Council surrounding the 60 acres could be located in this 100 foot perimeter area. ` We also propose that the buffer requirement elsewhere be limited to 100 feet and not be required adjacent to the Neville Tract and the railroad. Please review the proposed schedule with the Town Council and your administration to determine the feasibility of this timeline. The County Manager and his staff are available to meet with the Town Manager and his staff to discuss the scheduling and substance of this proposal. We appreciate your cooperation and look forward to accomplishing a timely and effective transfer of solid waste management responsibilities on March 20, 2000. Sincerely, Alice M. Gordon, Chair Board of County Commissioners Enclosures xc: John M. Link, Jr., County Manager y DRAFT 4 PROPOSED REZONING PROCESS SCHEDULE RURAL TRANSITION (RT -1) TO MATERIALS HANDLING DISTRICT JAN 18 BOCC ADVERTISEMENT OF JPA PUBLIC HEARING - - JAN CHAPEL HILL ADVERTISEMENT OF JPA PUBLIC HEARING FEB CHAPEL HILL PLANNING BOARD REVIEW OF REZONING FEB 21 JPA PUBLIC HEARING MAR 1 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION OF ..REZONING MAR CHAPEL HILL TOWN BOARD REVIEW AND ADOPTION OF REZONING MAR 14 BOCC REVIEW AND ADOPTION OF REZONING (New Meeting) MAR 20 BOCC ACCEPTS SOLID WASTE OPERATIONS (PROPOSED) MAR 21 REGULAR BOCC MEETING L��LS� V LS �) NOV 1 9. 1999 ETA cAIS TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL 306 NORTH COLUMBIA STREET CHAPEL HmL, NORTH CAROLINA 27516 OFMCE of ttffi MAYOR (919) 968 -2714 5 Attachment l ip / 16BANKS RdAD r _ 1 ' +`\mil• i 1•'' Y 1 1 1 \`\ 1 j'• ( \• ! \ trig \ � `\ � / � 1 i � �; \\ r ; • ! � � ` \� .\ � \\ `\ 520 Ir \ ` ♦ I IRA Lc OA WO A 550 t� 510 '-ft r/ i i 11 r LIJ -_- - -` 1 � � i, -' Gam_ -► ' � \t 1 1 f ++ ii ' 00199 • FA a LoA /.-, J_n_-t4� S. A V,I MOSES CAREY, JR., CHAIR ORANGE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS STEPHEN H. HAUdOT/S, V /CE CHAIR P.O. BOX MARGARET W. BROWN ALICE M. GORDON ,200 S. CAMERON STREET BARRYJACOBS HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. 27278 December 9, 1999 The Honorable Rosemary Waldorf, Mayor Town of Chapel Hill 306 N. Columbia St. Chapel Hill, NC 27516 Dear Rosemary: At the most recent work session of the County Commissioners on November 22, we discussed some of the steps necessary to accomplish the planned transfer of solid waste management responsibility from the Town to the County on March 20, 2000. Of particular importance to our two boards is the completion of all steps that will lead to rezoning a portion of the Greene Tract, as provided for in the solid waste management interlocal agreement, to permit certain solid waste management facilities and activities. We acknowledge the preference expressed by the Town Council in your November 18 letter that sites other than the Greene Tract be considered for future solid waste activities. The Board of Commissioners would likewise prefer not to use the Greene Tract for solid waste activities. When the time comes for siting decisions, we will certainly consider all reasonable alternatives. However, the interlocal agreement reflects the reality that the Board of Commissioners' best choice may be to use a portion of the Greene Tract for solid waste facilities essential to our collectively meeting our established solid waste reduction goals. The County staff has attached a proposed timetable to review a zoning application for the Greene Tract. With a March 20 handover as a planned deadline, the staff has worked backwards through the zoning application process to establish other public meeting requirements such as the joint planning area public hearing (JPAPH). Town and County zoning processes are somewhat different, but they will of necessity intersect at the JPAPH, which is proposed to take place on February 21, 2000. At the request of the Board of Commissioners, the Solid Waste Department is collaborating with the County's Environment and Resource Conservation Department to contract for several surveys of the Greene Tract. These include biological resources, archeological, and cultural surveys of the entire 169 -acre parcel that will help determine the most appropriate 60 -acre site for the eventual 'materials handling district'. The exact 60 -acre delineation of the proposed zoning area will not be known until approximately March 1, 2000, so we propose that during the first stages of review, including the February 21 JPA public hearing, that the 169- acre area (less a portion that is explained below) be considered with a clear statement that only 60 acres will be designated before final adoptions. We also propose that this request for rezoning be given expedited review. You Count In Orange County (919) 245-2130 . FAX(919) 644 -0246 The Honorable Rosemary Waldorf, Mayor December 9, 1999 Page 2 The Board of Commissioners also requests that the Town Council entertain an expedited process to consider text amendment changes regarding the buffers specified in the recently established materials handling district. We believe that a requirement for a 200 -foot perimeter buffer within the 60 -acre portion of the Greene Tract, particularly as that would apply to the 60 -acre portion of the Greene Tract under consideration, would unnecessarily constrain the County from making the best possible use of the property. The 60 -acre property would effectively be reduced by about 53% with the imposition of a 200 -foot perimeter buffer. By way of example, there is already extensive buffering in place along the railroad track on the eastern portion of the tract and in the northwest portion of the property adjacent to the Neville Tract. In developing the formal rezoning request, we propose that the 169 -acre parcel noticed for possible rezoning be reduced by a 100 -foot area around its perimeter in certain places, as noted on the attached map. This will reduce the likelihood of a rezoning protest petition by creating what is essentially and practically a 100 -foot buffer in the areas surrounding the Greene Tract, abutting areas where the adjacent property owners would want such a buffer. Presumably, the buffers that are or will be adopted by the Council surrounding the 60 acres could be located in this 100 -foot perimeter area. We also propose that the buffer requirement elsewhere be limited to 100 feet and not be required adjacent to the Neville Tract and the railroad. Please review the proposed schedule with the Town Council and your administration to determine the feasibility of this timeline. The County Manager and his staff are available to meet with the Town Manager and his staff to discuss the scheduling and substance of this proposal. We appreciate your cooperation and look forward to accomplishing a timely and effective transfer of solid waste management responsibilities on March 20, 2000. Sincerely Moses Carey Jr., Chair Board of County Commissioners Enclosures xc: John M. Link, Jr„ County Manager PROPOSED REZONING PROCESS SCHEDULE RURAL TRANSITION (RT -1) TO MATERIALS HANDLING DISTRICT JAN 18 BOCC ADVERTISEMENT OF JPA PUBLIC HEARING JAN CHAPEL HILL ADVERTISEMENT OF JPA PUBLIC HEARING FEB CHAPEL HILL PLANNING BOARD REVIEW OF REZONING FEB 21 JPA PUBLIC HEARING FEB CARRBORO TOWN BOARD REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF REZONING MAR 1 ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION OF REZONING MAR CHAPEL HILL TOWN BOARD REVIEW AND ADOPTION OF REZONING MAR 14 BOCC REVIEW AND ADOPTION OF REZONING (New Meeting) MAR 20 BOCC ACCEPTS SOLID WASTE OPERATIONS (PROPOSED) MAR 21 REGULAR BOCC MEETING - ' .• a / i i j 1♦ `-' r' /' r' i // I ,;�1• `— � � - -.` � � AttSC.Ilme2lt 5 IHDF�iLt 1 J 16MANKS RdAD � fife` _. • I � f i ♦ l 11 r i� \ � 11 l 1 / / � IAI 1. \N All _ •SJ ,, 1y�e/£ ..c •• '\ `♦ 1 1 1 .�� r' - \` \J, 1 1 1 — V'r 71 f}' ; `\� ` �� ♦♦ `� 520 4 %� ,1\ �� ` \♦ ` PMVUE GRE •" ' ' X30 • .?• {• \�.�; ..' �' yam• •"+►'�* �•�'O `} % �Y k ` -7 — � � \ , ; ,mil /1/8 -3 • °: J /I i % i $ \ ` . ♦` +� =_ =f �.�� is / J 540 X550 \� r • • "� ` `` �- L_ .*._ — %� �—` \\ 520 - - - - -.� It ,.;:y• L t y � �m lea ' E,1 a /�