Regular Meeting
The Holly Springs Town
Staff Members Present:
Planning Board Members Present: Matt
Johnston, Joe Signoretti, Joe Fanjoy, Raymond Cordon, Lisa Martin and Glen
Myrto.
2 and 3. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited, and the
meeting opened with an invocation by Rev. Ross Carter of the
4.
Agenda Adjustment: The
Motion By: Dickson
Second By: Atwell
Vote: Unanimous
Items Added to the
Agenda: None.
Items Removed from
the Agenda: Item 7e.,
appointment of Martin Buckwald to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee
to serve a term of October, 2006-June, 2009.
Consent Agenda
Items Moved to Regular Business: None.
Other Changes: None.
5.
Ms. Owens thanked the Council for
the opportunity to come before the Council and to be a part of the community.
Action: None.
6a. Public
Hearing: Special Exception Use 06-SEU-05,
Mr. Zawadski said that according to the UDO, in order to
utilize temporary mobile classrooms, a Special Exception Use must be granted by
the Town Council. The Town Board must
base its decision on whether the applicant is making “progress toward
accomplishing the goals of development indicated on the site plan within a
reasonable period of time.”
Mr.
Zawadski said the plan meets the setbacks, parking and landscaping requirements
of the UDO. He said the building construction
materials will be beige Hardiplank and gray shingles that will match the colors
of the existing building. He said there
is a five-foot sidewalk connecting the modular classroom to the parking
lot.
With
that explanation completed, Mayor Sears opened the public hearing to accept
sworn testimony and qualified evidence.
Under oath administered by the Deputy Town Clerk, the following provided
testimony to be recorded: None.
There
being no further testimony, the public hearing was closed.
Mr.
Zawadski said that staff and the Planning Board recommend approval with
conditions. He said the Planning Board had
the following comments at their
·
Discussed the
limited value of road widening before the permanent structure was built.
·
Questioned why
the installation of a temporary classroom would not be considered phase 2 and
require street improvements as this will increase the traffic entering and
exiting this site.
·
Questioned if
the Town completes the road improvements before the church is required to, will
the church be required at that time to pay for their share of the improvements.
·
Discussed the
information stated by Sunrise United Methodist Church that the permanent Phase
2 building may not be in place until 2012- is this really a “temporary”
classroom?
·
Raised concern
about the possibility of the classroom not ever being removed from the site.
·
Raised concern
about the vague timeline for the building of the permanent structure and that a
more specific and solid timeline should be presented to the Town Council.
·
Discussed the
location of the modular classroom and visibility from the street.
·
Discussed the
building elevations and their concerns that the elevation that faces the road
is the least attractive and that there is no buffering between the street and
the building.
·
Discussed the
requirements of Condition 1.b. regarding the paving of the parking lot
Rev.
Ross Carter of the
Mr.
Carter explained that phase 2 will be the next capital campaign to fund the
construction of the classroom buildings in fall of 2009, which will be paid out
in fall of 2012. He said the next
construction building phase is to begin during the three-year period after
2009, in hopes of the bank funding the project.
Mr.
Miller compared the proposed
There
were much discussion regarding the time frame of three years maybe six years
for a temporary modular unit to be located on site was too long and the Council
members agreed that a lesser time frame would be more suitable.
Mr.
Carter suggested that the Town set a three-year term on the special exception
use permit with the provision that the church could renew it at the end of the
three-year period and provide the Town with a plan showing that progress is
being made toward the next phase.
Councilman
DeBenedetto asked at what time frame the modular unit will be removed from the
property after the construction of phase two.
Mr.
Carter said the unit will be removed 30 days after receiving the certificate of
occupancy of phase two.
Councilman Atwell discussed one of the conditions for
approval that all the previous plan approval conditions apply to this project,
such as the road improvement for Sunset Lake Road (half of a 74’ btb on 100’
There were discussions among
There
were discussions among the Council Members and the applicant regarding the road
widening improvements for the
Ms.
Bobber explained to the Council the differences between the zoning districts
and conditions of the
Action #1: The
A special exception use may only be
granted upon the presentation of sufficient evidence to enable a written
determination that:
a. The proposed use
will not be injurious to the public health, safety, comfort, community
moral standards, convenience or general welfare;
b. The proposed use
will not injure or adversely affect the adjacent area;
c. The proposed use
will be consistent with the character of the district, land uses authorized
therein, and the Town of
d. The proposed use shall conform to all development standards of the
applicable district (unless a waiver of such development standards is requested as
part of the special exception use petition
and approved as set forth above, in which case the proposed use shall conform
to the terms and conditions of such waiver).
e. Access drives or driveways
are or will be sufficient in size and properly located to: ensure
automotive and pedestrian safety and convenience, traffic flow as set forth in
Section 7.09 – Pedestrian Circulation and Vehicular Area Design; and, control
and access in case of fire or other emergency;
f.
Off-street parking areas, off-street loading areas, trash
enclosures, trash pick-up and removal, and other service areas are located so
as to be safe, convenient, allow for access in case of emergency, and to
minimize economic, glare, odor, and other impacts on adjoining properties and
properties in the general neighborhood;
g. The lot,
building or structure proposed for the use has adequate restroom facilities,
cooking facilities, safety equipment (smoke alarms, floatation devices, etc.),
or any other service or equipment necessary to provide for the needs of those
persons whom may work at, visit or own property nearby to the proposed use;
h. Utilities, schools, fire, police and other necessary
public and private facilities and services will be adequate to handle the needs
of the proposed use;
i.
The location and
arrangement of the use on the
site, screening, buffering, landscaping, and pedestrian ways harmonize with
adjoining properties and the general area and minimize adverse impacts; and,
j.
The type, size,
and intensity of the proposed use (including
but not limited to such considerations as the hours of operation and numbers of
people who are likely to utilize or be attracted to the use) will not have significant adverse impacts on adjoining
properties or the neighborhood.
Motion By: Atwell
Second By: DeBenedetto
Vote: Unanimous
A copy of Special Exception Use
application 06-SEU-05 entered into the record by the applicant and addressing
the findings of facts is incorporated into these minutes as addendum pages.
Action
#2: Having made findings of fact that the project meets the requirements to
be granted a Special Exception Use, the Council approved a motion to approve
Special Exception Use #06-SEU-05 for Sunrise United Methodist Church Modular
Classroom as submitted by Thompson and Associates, project number
1)
Note all
previous plan approval conditions apply to this project:
a)
Road
improvement for Sunset Lake Road (half of a 74’ btb on 100’ ROW) will need to be completed with this phase unless an
exception is granted by the Town Council. (This item needs to be clarified by
the Town Council due to the original condition being unclear with respect to
time).
a) The
completion of the Holly Springs United Methodist Church road widening
improvements to Sunset Lake Road are to be coincide with the construction of
the Sunset Lake Road and Optimist Farm Road intersection realignment project.
b)
Paving of the
Phase 1 parking lot (including curbing and guttering) shall be installed at
Phase 3 or in five years whichever comes first.
2)
The modular
classroom shall be removed within 4 years from the date of approval or when the
C.O. of Phase 2 is issued, whichever occurs first.
A
one year extension may be granted by the Planning Director if active site
improvements and/or installations are being made towards the completion of a
permanent Phase 2.
Motion By: Atwell
Councilman DeBenedetto and staff discussed condition “1b”
that condition needs to be included in the motion, because the curb and gutter
improvements of the parking lot is not completed at this time. Ms. Goodson asked regarding the added
condition of the church’s road improvements coincide with the construction of
the
Mr.
Miller requested the Town Council to revisit the need of condition “1b” regarding
the installation of the curb and gutter.
He said the proposed location of the curb and gutter is on the high side
of the property adjacent to the buffer and
Councilman
Atwell amended his to motion to replace the original condition “1.a)” with the
added condition for the
Second By: DeBenedetto
Vote: Unanimous
6b. Public
Hearing:
She
explained that the HSBP-PUD was developed by the original property owner to
create a master development plan for the remaining acreage of the
business/industrial land in this area for marketing and development
purposes. She said the PUD zoning
designation was requested because the zoning ordinance that was in place at the
time of preparing the PUD did not easily accommodate the creation of master
plans or the proposed mix of uses that were envisioned for the area.
Ms.
Bobber said that the owner had to create the master land use plan that
specifies the specific land uses/districts for various parcels within the PUD,
as well as the zoning regulations that would accompany the proposed districts
for the PUD. She said the HSBP-PUD did
not realize any development for four years.
In July 2006, Novartis announced that they would be developing 167 acres
of the 248 acre development. As Novartis
has been preparing their development plans for the site, they determined that
the HSBP-PUD regulations need to be updated and modified to ensure that the
vision of the PUD will be realized. In
addition, the original PUD plans had become outdated due to changes in the open
space and roadway network locations.
Ms.
Bobber said that the proposed amended HSBP-PUD modernizes the format of the
plan to meet the current Holly Springs UDO format by having the district
regulations in a separate document and incorporating the plans as part of a
written PUD document. The majority of
the plan sheets have been updated and modified due to changes in the base map
data and all of the districts have been updated to provide clarification of the
regulations that are specified within the PUD and the regulations that are to
continue to follow the Town’s UDO.
Ms.
Bobber explained that a Planned Unit Development district is utilized to create
a unified development and set forth a unique set of zoning regulations for the
development therefore, a detailed site plan is not provided, only the
dimensional and “zoning” standards for each area.
Ms.
Bobber explained to the Council Members the difference between a minor
amendment and a major amendment. She said
minor amendments to a PUD master plan are modifications to a PUD which has
already received approval from the Town Council which do not involve:
·
an increase in height, area, bulk, gross
density or intensity of land uses;
·
the designation of additional land uses;
·
the reduction in the depth of perimeter yards
or reduction in the Plant Unit Value of landscape buffers or screening;
·
the addition of driveways or access points to
the proposed PUD; or,
·
reduction in the amount of parking spaces for
any use below the minimum number required by this UDO.
She
said the major amendments involve the following:
·
removal of the designation of certain lands as
Open Space- in written district regulations adds requirement that all parcels
as developed are to provide 10% of their parcel as open space;
·
increases the area designated as manufacturing
due to the change in the alignment of Green Oaks Parkway;
·
C-8.0: Open Space, Buffer and Landscaping Plan
(previously Sheet C-11.0);
·
removal of the designation of certain lands as
Open Space- in written district regulations adds requirement that all parcels
as developed are to provide 10% of their parcel as open space.
Ms. Bobber reviewed the following PUD master plan amendments:
Mixed Use, Office, & Light Industrial Districts:
Special
Exception Uses- added research & development laboratories.
Signs-
add additional ability to use the Town’s incidental signage regulations for
pedestrian signage within business campuses.
Manufacturing
District:
Special
Exception Uses- added research & development laboratories.
Accessory
Uses- eliminates screening requirements for accessory uses more than 300’ from
public right-of-way.
Temporary
Uses- allows the director of planning to provide extensions of temporary uses
beyond the time limits of the UDO.
Signs-
add additional ability to use the Town’s incidental signage regulations for
pedestrian signage within business campuses.
Ms. Bobber reviewed that
are miscellaneous amendments to the regulations to include the following:
Fences: Allow the use of barbed wire for side a rear lot lines
and 10’ fences in the front yard in the manufacturing district.
Trash Containers: Eliminates
screening requirements for trash and recycling containers that are more than
500’ from a public right-of-way.
Development Plan review process: Changes
to the review process for buildings located more than 1000’ from a public
right-of-way despite the distance of the lot from the right-of-way. Such buildings shall be reviewed by the Technical
Review Committee (TRC) and authorizes the TRC to grant waivers that would
typically be granted by the Town Council.
Covenants/Property Owner’s Association: Changes
the requirements to not require a POA to be formed unless common open space is
created and allows owners of parcels 60 acres or greater to opt out of such
association.
Ms. Bobber explained that
the PUD district is not
intended for use with subdivisions or
projects which can be developed
under the General Use districts of
the UDO, other than the PUD district,
as a matter of right or by requesting approval of a development plan or a special
exception use.
She
said that approval of the Planned Unit Development district does not grant
approval for construction or development of the property. Once the master plan for the Planned Unit
Development is approved, the developer will be required to submit detailed
subdivision plans and development plans as development occurs to ensure compliance
with the approved PUD master plan and other adopted Town Ordinances and
Policies.
Mayreen Wong of Novartis gave a presentation giving a
brief history, the mission statement, the division and key factors about
Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics. She reviewed
the preliminary plan of phase 1, the current
project site layout and the future campus layouts.
Council
DeBenedetto asked Ms. Wong about the Novartis construction will contain energy
efficient environment devices.
Ms.
Wong said yes they are an environmental friendly company.
There
were discussion about the requirements of public and private open space and if
Novartis would consider dedicating open space as public use.
Ms.
Wong said that would not be a consideration for Novartis, because it would be a
security issue.
Ms.
Wong introduced Steve Mitchell to the Town Council at this time who works for
Novartis.
With
that explanation completed, Mayor Sears opened the public hearing to accept
input. The following comments were
recorded:
Howard
Upperman of
Mayor
Sear said in phase one the plant is proposing to hire approximately 350
employees.
Mr.
Upperman said that his second concern was about his property values if they
would decrease or increase in value, being that the property in the
There
being no further input, Mayor Sears closed the public hearing.
Action: The
Motion By: Atwell
Second By: Womble
Vote: Unanimous
7. Consent
Agenda: The Council approved a motion to approve all
items on the Consent Agenda. The motion
carried following a motion by
7a. Minutes - The Council approved
minutes of the Council’s regular meeting held on
7b. Resolution 06-43, Annexation A06-13 – The
Council adopted Resolution 06-43 directing the town clerk to investigate the
sufficiency of annexation petition A06-13 and setting a public hearing on the
question of annexation for
7c.
7d. Zoning
Vested Rights Public Hearing - Oct. 3, 2006 – The
Council set a public hearing on the question of zoning vested rights for
Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2006.
8. Gable Ridge
Culvert – Ms. Sudano explained that
this request is to consider an amendment to the Kimley Horn and Associates
contract to complete the design of a “revised scope” culvert project along
Gable Ridge Lane, to include the following:
preparing and providing construction drawings for slip lining the
damaged lower portion of the existing CMP (approx 100 ft) with a 54” high
density polyethylene pipe (HDPE),
replacing the remaining portion of existing CMP (approx 325 ft) with 54”
HDPE, and adding a new 66” smooth-wall CMP (aluminized steel) running parallel
to the existing CMP pipe. She said that over the past few months, Town
staff met with the property owners and KHA to answer certain questions that subsequently
arose about both the costs and the alternative that was selected or endorsed by
the Town Council.
Ms. Sudano said staff recommends awarding the amended contract
to Kimley Horn & Associates in the amount of $61,000, includes contingency
and related budget amendments.
Mr. Dean said that he had issues with the pipes and would
like to get more information before making a decision, because the pipes will have
a structural impact on the Guess and Johnson houses. He said that he would like to pursue the
detention on the golf course before moving forward with the installation of the
pipes.
There were much discussion among staff and the Council
Members to table this request until the Town receives more information on the
detention calculations and receives the property owners consent or start the
condemnation process on the golf course property that will be used as
detention. Ms. Sudano said that the
Council can table this proposal and bring both proposals back to the Council at
the same meeting. She said the only hold
back on the detention contract is the property owner of the golf course has not
given the Town written consent to use the portion of property for
detention.
Action:
The Council approved a motion
to table the Kimley Horn & Associates contract for professional services
for the
Motion By: VanFossen
Second By: Atwell
Vote: Unanimous
9a. Sunset Oaks Developer Agreement – Ms. Sudano said this request is for approval of an
amendment to the Sunset Oaks developer agreement that was approved in May
2003. She explained that the amendment is
for delaying the requirements for the intersection improvements at the
Ms. Sudano said that the road improvements are to add a
turn lane and re-alignment of the
Ms.
Sudano said that the timing will coordinate well with the planned improvements
at the intersection of the
There was discussion among Ms. Sudano and Councilman
Atwell about the inclement conditions during the winter months that it’s not
the best time of the year for constructing road improvements and the NC DOT has
restrictions in their regulations regarding paving in bad weather conditions.
Councilman DeBenedetto asked if there’s a delay in the
road improvements at the Sunset Lake Road and Optimist Farm Road intersection, would
that delay the installing of the traffic signal until spring of next year. Ms. Sudano said the plan was to work with the
developer to install the traffic signal at the same time of the realignment and
road improvements were made at that intersection.
Ms.
Sudano explained that the Town has received some phone calls about the traffic
problems at that intersection. She said the
Town can accelerate the installing of the traffic
signal with temporary wooden poles and replace the temporary poles with the
permanent traffic light next spring similar to those at the
The
Council and staff discussed the time line for the realignment project and the
installation of the signal. Ms. Sudano
said that there are two developers working simultaneously on the road
improvements and realignment projects, first is the
Council
Atwell said that he was concerned about the increase of certificate of occupancy’s
(CO’s) from 300 to 500. He said at the
time of the public hearing one of the main concerns from the citizens who live
in that area was the increase in the traffic and road conditions on
There
were discussion among the Council Members regarding the current traffic
conditions and that it has became a safety issue, it was the consensus of the
Council to keep the road improvements and traffic signal at the intersection of
Sunset Lake Road and Optimist Farm Road on schedule or to accelerate those
improvements as quickly as possible.
Councilman
DeBenedetto suggested to ask the developer with the approval of the extension
of CO’s would he assist funding the traffic light at that intersection. Ms. Sudano said that she would ask the
developer.
Councilman
DeBenedetto and staff discussed the results if this request was denied. Ms. Sudano said that the developer would have
to complete the road improvements as scheduled and the Town would acquire a professional
services agreement for the traffic signal design for that intersection.
Councilman
VanFossen said that at the public hearing he remembered the citizens commented where
the traffic impacts to the east of the Sunset Oaks project not at the
intersection of
Action:
The Council made a motion to deny
the request to amend the Sunset Oaks development agreement to delay the
intersection improvements at
Motion By: Atwell
Second By: Dickson
9b. Green
Ms. Sudano said that as the
Ms. Sudano explained that this project will be a challenge
due to the environmental and permitting requirements.
She said that simultaneously, some of the pre-design
tasks will be started. She said that once
those items have been finalized, an amendment to the contract will be required
to add permitting and approval tasks as well as a schedule.
Ms.
Sudano said that staff recommends awarding the contract to Kimley Horn & Associates in the amount of $436,500 to include a
5% contingency of $22,000, totaling in the amount of $458,500. She
said that this is a partial agreement an addendum with addition cost for
environmental testing will be submitted at a later time.
Action:
The
Motion By: Dickson
Second By: Womble
Vote: Unanimous
A copy of the amended Kimley Horn &
Associates contract is incorporated into these minutes as addendum pages.
9. Public
Comment: At this time, an
opportunity was provided for members of the audience who had registered to
speak to address the Council on any variety of topics not listed on the night’s
agenda. None.
10. Other
Business: Mr. Schifano said the request is for the Council
to consider approval of a resolution requesting NC DOT to reduce the speed
limit on the
Mayor Sears asked if this request went through the proper
chain of command for consideration. Ms.
Sudano said that the developer originally made the request to the engineering
department and the Town made the request to the NCDOT to reduce the speed limit
on that road. She said NC DOT denied the
request, because the road did not meet their regulation requirements for speed
reduction.
Action: The Council approved a motion to adopt a
Resolution to request the North Carolina Department of Transportation to reduce
the speed limit to a safe and reasonable speed for Old Holly Springs-Apex Road
(SR 1153) from the narrow bridge to New Hill Road be reduced from 55 mph to 35
mph.
Motion By: Dickson
Councilman
Atwell said that he had an issue with reducing the speed limit to 35 mph and if
that’s the best solution or would 45 mph be more of an appropriate speed limit
for that road.
Mayor
Sears said that the developer of Twelve Oaks is requesting the speed limit of
35 mph.
Ms.
Sudano explained that the speed limits drives the sight distances criteria for
new entrances for subdivisions, crosswalks and road development standards.
Mr.
Schifano said that by default the General Statute allows a city to post a speed
limit sign for 35 mph within the city limits unless otherwise posted outside
the city limits is 55 mph. He said the
Town has the authorization by the General Statutes to control the speed regulation
within its’ own city limits. He said
that
Second By: VanFossen
Vote: The
motion carried following a vote of 3-2 vote.
Councilmen VanFossen, DeBenedetto, and Dickson vote for. Councilmen Womble and Atwell voted against.
A
copy of Resolution 06-44 is incorporated into these minutes as an addendum
page.
11. Manager’s
Report: Mr. Dean invited the Council Members to the economic
update meeting, Wednesday, Sept. 20, at
Councilman
Atwell asked Mr. Dean to research the temporary sign enforcement, he said over
the weekend there were real estate and other types of signs all over town.
Mr.
Dean invited the Town Council to sign up for a visit to Shearon Harris Nuclear
Plant within the next two weeks.
Councilman DeBenedetto, Womble, Atwell and Mayor Sears showed interest
in attending the tour of the plant.
Mayor
Sears reported that he was attending the TAC meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 20,
and would be sharing his views on toll roads and the 501 Bypass
12. Closed
Session: None.
13.
Adjournment: There being no further business for the evening, the
Respectfully Submitted on
_________________________________
Linda R. Harper, CMC, Deputy
Town Clerk
Addendum pages as referenced in these minutes follow
and are a part of the official record