Planning Commission

Town Hall TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Planning Commission Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Meeting Minutes Jonathan Mitchel, Chair John Rees Elizabeth Losos, Vice Chair Louie Rivers Wesley Mcmahon Stephen Whitlow Chuck Mills Tuesday, October 18, 2022 7:00 PM Virtual Meeting Language Access Statement Virtual Meeting Notification Board members will attend and participate in this meeting remotely, through internet access, and will not physically attend. The Town will not provide a physical location for viewing the meeting. The public is invited to attend the Zoom webinar directly online or by phone. Register for this webinar: URL After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar in listen-only mode. Phone: 301-715-8592, Meeting ID: 852 0010 5180 Opening Roll Call Staff Liaison: Jacob Hunt Council Liaison: Camille Berry Present 6 - Vice-Chair Elizabeth Losos, Wesley Mcmahon, Chuck Mills, Chair Jonathan Mitchell, John Rees, and Stephen Whitlow Absent 1 - Louie Rivers Secretary reads procedures into the record Approval of Agenda Page 1 of 4 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes October 18, 2022 Announcements Petitions Approval of Minutes 1. October 4, 2022 Meeting Minutes [22-0772] A motion was made by John Rees, seconded by Elizabeth Losos, that the Council approve the October 4th, 2022 meeting minutes. The minutes were approved 6-0. Old Business New Business 2. Conditional Zoning Modification - 800 S. Merritt Mill Road [22-0773] Residential-Special Standards-Conditional Zoning District (R-SS-CZD) A motion was made by John Rees, seconded by Stephen Whitlow, to forward a recommendation of approval to the Town Council for Resolution A and Ordinance A. The motion was approved 6-0. 3. Parkline East Village Coordination Report [22-0774] • On October 18, 2022, the Planning Commission ("PC") received a presentation from Town planning staff on the Parkline East Village development framework. The PC chair had requested information about this planning effort for the PC's awareness. During the presentation, staff invited feedback from the PC. Below is a summary of feedback provided. • Members are excited by this holistic neighborhood planning initiative, deeply appreciate and applaud staff's efforts, and believe the output thus far has great value. • Questions and concerns from PC members focused on two general areas: o Internal retail amenities. Members discussed the importance of internal neighborhood retail amenities (e.g., food/beverage service, pharmacy, fitness center), as well as the challenges posed. The following points were made: § Retail and/or other internal amenities are important for increasing the proportion of internal-to-external trips. The nearby Wegmans is an excellent start but does not seem sufficient by itself to drive robust pedestrian activity. § The feasibility of retail amenities is partly a function of neighborhood density. That said, the Town could choose to provide incentives or subsidies for retail uses, or to insist on specific amounts of retail space, even if cross-subsidies between residential and commercial uses are Page 2 of 4 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes October 18, 2022 needed to achieve this. Retail space may be viewed as essential infrastructure, similar to roads. § Developers are accustomed to providing private amenities for their residents (fitness facilities, pools, etc.) but not necessarily coordinating the development of shared amenities across projects. § It might be difficult to recruit food service vendors given the proximity to Wegman's. § The focus should perhaps be on creating "third places" (i.e., places other than home and work where people gather), as opposed to concentrating more narrowly on retail uses. That said, retail uses can be important components of third places. o External bike/pedestrian connectivity. Internal bike/pedestrian connections seem generally well developed in the plan, but external connections seem more tentative and mostly undeveloped -- particularly connections to Blue Hill, UNC Eastowne (across 15-501), and Danzinger Drive (across I-40). These connections present serious challenges and may require costly projects to address, such as bike/pedestrian bridges over high-volume roadways. Absent high quality external connections, Parkline East Village could become an island accessible almost exclusively by car (even for purposes of accessing other properties in close proximity), which seems inconsistent with the Complete Community vision. In this context, it was noted that plans for the Parkline (i.e., old BCBS) building are not clear, but any pathway to Blue Hill would need to go through that property. In addition, a future connection to Danzinger Drive, while obviously challenging, could be transformational for regional commuting. • The following points also came up: o It was noted that higher buildings could free up more open space at the ground level. Heights could transition down near the existing single family neighborhoods. o There is interest in replicating this kind of nimble, staff-driven, neighborhood-scale planning process for other neighborhoods likely to be built out in the foreseeable future. 4. Planning Commission Applications and Interviews [22-0775] Gabriel Scott and Aaron Shah were interviewed by the Planning Commission as applicants to open Commission seats. Commission Discussion Greenways Working Group Discussion [TMP-4703] Members discussed the possibility of forming a subcommittee to collect information and potentially develop a report about strategic options for moving forward with an ambitious greenways plan of the sort being discussed in the Complete Community project. Members expressed a strong desire to understand the practicalities involved, make this information available to the wider community, and otherwise move the issue forward. Relevant aspects to be studied could include the potential magnitude of the greenway network, surface types and other design matters, prioritization of specific segments, processes and strategies for acquiring needed rights of way, funding requirements and strategies (including sources of funds), appropriate sequencing of greenway Page 3 of 4 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes October 18, 2022 construction and surrounding development, professional services requirements, and suggested next steps. Members discussed reaching out to the TCAB with a view to forming an inter-board working group. Members also discussed their desire to leverage and complement, and not duplicate, expertise and efforts of esteemed Town transportation and parks staff. The commission agreed that the next step is for Messrs. McMahon and Mitchell to discuss with Town staff (including relevant managers) the commission's desire to advance this topic and how the commission's activities could complement those already undertaken or planned by staff. Members agreed to revisit this subject at the commission's next meeting, after the discussions with staff have taken place. Adjournment Next Meeting - November 1, 2022 Order of Consideration of Agenda Items: 1. Staff Presentation 2. Applicant’s Presentation 3. Public Comment 4. Board Discussion 5. Motion 6. Restatement of Motion by Chair 7. Vote 8. Announcement of Vote by Chair Public Charge: The Advisory Body pledges its respect to the public. The Body asks the public to conduct themselves in a respectful, courteous manner, both with the Body and with fellow members of the public. Should any member of the Body or any member of the public fail to observe this charge at any time, the Chair will ask the offending person to leave the meeting until that individual regains personal control. Should decorum fail to be restored, the Chair will recess the meeting until a genuine commitment to this public charge is observed. Unless otherwise noted, please contact the Planning Department at 919-968-2728; planning@townofchapelhill.org for more information on the above referenced applications. See the Advisory Boards page http://www.townofchapelhill.org/boards for background information on this Board. Page 4 of 4