Northerly topics at Town Council tonight

At tonight's Chapel Hill Town Council meeting they will be reviewing the Northern Area Task Force Report, which proposes a large number of significant changes to limit development and encourage more pedestrian-oriented growth. I still haven't spent as much time as I'd like digging into it. What do y'all think of the recommendations?

Also, I think the Rogers Road neighbors and their friends will be petitioning the Council. I don't know what their request is, but it may be about the Transfer Station which will be before the Council for a Special Use permit soon.

The Chapel Hill News wrote up a nice overview of the northern area suggestions, I'm posting the whole thing because I'm in a hurry.

GOAL 1: A landmark gateway that "announces" Chapel Hill at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Weaver Dairy Road.

Objectives:

* Require architecturally interesting buildings, public art, and design features fashioned as community gathering places
* Design crosswalks as a signature feature
* Create balanced architectural design that stresses continuity for both the east and west sides of the intersection
* Install wayfinding signage or art that directs residents and visitors to key destinations
* Design entry way signs so that it is a feature that incorporates Chapel Hill's values
* Consider longer term traffic control options such as pedestrian bridges and roundabouts

• • •

GOAL 2: To protect the integrity of existing neighborhoods while accommodating transit-oriented development

Objectives:

* Protect existing residential neighborhoods with adequate buffers that minimize the light, noise, and visual impacts of new development and that preserve property values
* Limit the height or design of new buildings adjacent to existing residential development in order to provide a transition area and avoid shadow effects
* Balance building density and scale with impact on existing neighborhoods
* Maintain and or improve affordable housing options in the area
* Ensure that the cumulative impact of development does not result in crowding and congestion in the area
* Reduce vehicular impact on residential neighborhoods

• • •

GOAL 3: Development that protects, restores, and enhances the environmental quality of the area

Objectives:

* Identify and protect significant trees and tree stands in the area
* Protect Booker Creek headwaters and RCD that lead to Lake Ellen, Eastwood Lake, and Eastgate shopping center
* Protect and provide adaptive reuse of historic, architecturally, or culturally significant buildings and features where possible
* Recommend new developments to include accessible public open space
* Encourage innovative on-site stormwater management, for example limit impervious surfaces, utilize vegetative roofs and harvest rainwater
* Design development to mitigate noise impacts from I-40
* Require innovative "green" development through energy efficient site planning, architecture, urban design, and maintenance respecting standards such as LEED, Healthybuild, and ASHRAE
* Use development to restore degraded habitats
* Bury existing and new electric power lines to allow for a full tree canopy
* Develop lighting standards that respect both the natural and human environmen

• • •

GOAL 4: Development that supports an active pedestrian environment and promotes transit use

Objectives:

* Concentrate commercial development in nodes and at existing commercial centers
* Establish minimum densities in order to ensure transit supportive development
* Regulate building height: Appropriately scaled, multi-story, mixed-use buildings
* Design buildings that are oriented and proximate to the transit corridors to maximize access to transit and transit use
* Encourage niche pedestrian oriented commercial development such as hotels, clothing stores, book stores, cafes, bakeries, gyms, galleries, pre-schools, and a farmer's market
* Discourage automobile oriented uses such as drive-in/drive-through services, gas stations, automobile services and repair, and car washes
* Design the ground floor level of mixed-use buildings to be capable of occupation by both residential or non-residential use
* Limit residential development close to I-40 to protect health and wellbeing of residents

• • •

GOAL 5: A highly connected bicycle and pedestrian system that provides safe, efficient, and attractive travel options

Objectives:

* Complete the bicycle and sidewalk system along corridors (Weaver Dairy Rd., Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Homestead Road and Eubanks Road)
* Avoid fragmentation caused by requiring separate developers to install sidewalks at different times
* Provide pedestrian amenities along sidewalks, such as benches, lighting, and shade with landscaped streetscapes
* Ensure safer crossing of major corridors through ground level street improvements
* Connect existing development to new development with walking and bicycle trails
* Stripe bicycle lanes per Town design manual cross section on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Weaver Dairy Road, Homestead Road and Eubanks Road
* Create meandering sidewalks for aesthetic appeal in appropriate locations
* Design varied and aesthetically interesting tree lawns, sidewalks and building setbacks that reflect the scale of the street

• • •

GOAL 6: A comprehensive transportation system that promotes bicycling, walking, and the use of transit

Objectives:

* Promote a pedestrian oriented environment by controlling the amount, placement, and design of parking
* Provide opportunities for transit oriented retail
* Create aesthetically pleasing shaded streetscapes
* Endorse and promote the NC 86/ Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Corridor Study recommendations
* Provide safe, informative, and inviting bus stops
* Improve the road network to provide more connections and safer turning options (e.g. Perkins and Weaver Dairy Road, Westminster and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard).

• • •

GOAL 7: Guidelines that promote the design of safe, comfortable, active, and visually interesting buildings and streetscapes.

Objectives

* n Promote day and evening ground level pedestrian activity by including public space and attractive destinations
* Design upper floor residential accommodation to overlook public space and create eyes on the street
* Use lighting to create a safe and inviting environment for pedestrians
* Articulate building forms to reflect the existing scale of residential and smaller commercial buildings. Provide varied roof lines to add architectural interest.
* Continue pedestrian and bicycle paths into residential and commercial developments
* Limit setbacks to draw buildings close to the street
* Provide breaks in building frontages through green spaces and plazas
* At small commercial sites with two or more businesses, include a public plaza facing the street, with outdoor seating where appropriate.
* Landscape corners of major intersections to attract and buffer pedestrians from the street while providing pedestrian access to development
* Create a master landscape plan to encourage harmonious design
* Provide a landscaped streetscape along the corridors to create shade between roadways and buildings fronting the street. Building setbacks should be sufficient to allow for tree planting
* Increase minimum tree circumference for trees required to be planted by developers from 21/2" to 4"
* Provide parking and circulation on the interior away from the street
* Locate site loading and service areas behind buildings and use landscaping and decorative fencing to screen views from adjacent streets and pedestrian ways.