2.   Land Development Consent Agenda (any land development consent agenda item pulled for discussion will be discussed at the beginning of the land development discussion portion of the agenda, which is item F on this agenda)

a.   Rezoning 05-REZ-05 (Dellinger Planned Development Amendment)
Property is located north of Dillard Drive between Piney Plains Road and Meeting Street and contains 32.17 acres. The request proposes to eliminate building setbacks and streetscape buffers, and includes a statement to ensure compliance with Cary ’s Activity Center Design Guidelines. Staff and the Planning and Zoning Board recommend unanimous approval of this item. (Mr. Bob Benfield)

STAFF RECOMMENDATION

Staff believes that this request adequately meets the rezoning criteria set forth in the Land Development Ordinance (3.4.1 (E)) and recommends approval.

1. This request is consistent with the current Town of Cary Land Use Plan .
2. Adequate public services can be provided to the parcel (i.e. police, fire, utilities etc.)
3. The proposed rezoning is unlikely to have a significant impact on the natural environment.
4. The proposed rezoning will not have a significant adverse impact on other property in the vicinity.
5. The proposed zoning classification is suitable for the property.

PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD ACTION

The Planning and Zoning Board voted 9 to 0 to recommend approval of the request.

• No concerns were mentioned or discussed.
• The Planning Board concurred with staff that compliance with Activity Center Design Guidelines would be appropriate for the Dellinger PDD.  (The Dellinger PDD is located within the Crossroads Regional Activity Center .)

CHANGES SINCE PUBLIC HEARING

There have been no changes since the public hearing.

LOCATION

North of Dillard Drive between Piney Plains and Meeting Street , and south of the intersection of Piney Plains Road and Dillard Road .

Cary ’s Activity Center Design Guidelines require that buildings be located close to adjoining streets.  The building setback from roadway right-of-way could be as little as 10’, with a pedestrian plaza provided between the building and back-of-curb of the adjoining street.  The streetscape would normally be transformed into a pedestrian plaza, with street trees and ornamental trees located along the plaza.

The Guidelines also recognize there may be instances where parking would be located between a building and an adjoining roadway.  The Guidelines limit the amount of parking between the building and roadway to no more than one double-loaded bay.  All other parking would be located to the side or to the rear of the building.  A sufficient streetscape area would be required where parking would adjoin a roadway so that adequate screening of the parking area could be provided.  The intent is to properly screen parking areas and parked vehicles from off-site views.

The Guidelines provide flexibility in building setbacks and streetscape widths to encourage optimal building placement for pedestrian interaction along adjoining roadways and from building to building, and to encourage parking to the side or to the rear of buildings to lessen visual impact.

APPLICANT’S JUSTIFICATION STATEMENT

When the Town of Cary approved the Dellinger PDD, there were no activity center guidelines.  The Dellinger PDD is located within a regional activity center.  Now that the design guidelines have been adopted, the Town wants to see development within activity centers built to activity center design standards, and the current requirements in the PDD document would prohibit this from happening.  The proposed amendment will allow the Dellinger PDD to develop under the Towns Activity Center Design Guidelines.

ACTION: Mayor Pro Tem Smith moved to approve the consent agenda; Ms. Dorrel provided the second; council granted unanimous approval.

(NOTE: There is no planned development document associated with this request.)

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b.   Site Plan 05-SP-044 (Frantz Automotive Service Center)
The plan proposes the addition of a one-story customer waiting room to the front of the existing building, the addition of a one-story two-bay garage building to the rear of the existing building, the renovation of the existing front building elevation, the installation of sidewalk, and the dedication of 2.5 feet of right-of-way along the property frontage. The amount of parking required and proposed is 34 spaces. Staff and the Town Center Review Commission recommend unanimous approval, including the following variances: (1) that sidewalk be located back of curb along the roadway frontage of the site; (2) that a variable width travel aisle (23’ to 18’) be allowed within the western parking lot; and (3) that an offset alignment of the western drive/on-site travel aisle be retained. (Mr. Bob Benfield)

STAFF RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends approval of the plan with the following deviations to Town Standards:

• That sidewalk be located back of curb along the roadway frontage of the site;
• That a variable width travel aisle (23’ to 18’) be allowed within the western parking lot; and
• That an offset alignment of the western drive/on-site travel aisle be retained.  

TOWN CENTER REVIEW COMMISSION ACTION

The Town Center Review Commission unanimously recommended approval of the plan as presented by staff.  The recommendation included:

• That sidewalk be located back of curb along the roadway frontage of the site;
• That a variable width travel aisle (23’ to 18’) be allowed within the western parking lot; and
• That an offset alignment of the western drive/on-site travel aisle be retained. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The plans propose the addition of a one-story customer waiting room to the front of the existing building, the addition of a one-story two-bay garage building to the rear of the existing building, the renovation of the existing front building elevation, the installation of sidewalk, and the dedication of 2.5’ of right-of-way along the property frontage.  The amount of parking required and proposed is 34 spaces.  

ZONING AND LAND USE PLAN COMPLIANCE

Current Zoning:  Town Center

Sub District:  Mixed Use Development (MXD)

Town Limits:  The property is inside Cary ’s town limits.

Land Use Compliance:  The Land Use Plan allows for Mixed Use Development (commercial, office, and/or residential development).  

LANDSCAPE

The plan complies with all landscape requirements.  In addition to existing landscaping around the building and along the western side of the site, the plans would also provide for street trees, shade trees within the parking area, screening of the parking area along West Chatham Street , and landscape screening along the northern side of the site adjacent to the railroad right-of-way.  

BUILDING ELEVATION

Building Height:  24’ (maximum height)
Building Size:  Existing building: 3,787 sq. ft.
                        Proposed waiting room and garage additions: 1,630 sq. ft.
Building Materials and Colors:  Existing building façade alteration: Burgundy brick; gray mortar; light beige cast stone, E.I.F.S.; metal wall panels and coping; black canopy decking, canopy supports, front overhead doors and aluminum storefront.  All other building sides would be painted light beige to match the secondary façade color.

TRAFFIC

No Traffic Impact Study is required.  

TRANSPORTATION

The Town’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan requires an ultimate 53’ back-to-back cross section for this segment of West Chatham Street .  The 53’ dimension consists of one lane in each direction with parallel parking on each side.  Sufficient pavement currently exists, therefore, additional roadway widening is not required.  West Chatham Street is located within 60’ of the right-of-way.  However, since the ultimate right-of-way width is 65’ wide, the plan includes an additional 2.5’ of right-of-way along the property frontage (one-half of the remaining 5’ of right-of-way).  

Items deviating from Town Standards requiring Town Council approval:  

Sidewalk adjacent to back-of-curb -

Town Standards specify that sidewalk shall typically be a minimum distance of five (5) feet off the back of curb.  Due to existing site improvements, to the limited site area, and to the

Comprehensive Transportation Plan proposal for future on-street parallel parking for Chatham

Street, staff supports the proposal of sidewalk construction adjacent to the back-of-curb.  

Reduced on-site travel aisle width -

Town Standards require a minimum twenty-three (23) foot travel aisle for two-way traffic on-site.   The western parking travel aisle meets the minimum 23-foot width required at the beginning of the aisle.    The existing retaining wall and the building are not parallel to the western property line and the two converge moving from the front to the rear of the property, thereby narrowing the drive to approximately 18’ in width at two proposed landscape planters.  The proposed planters are the required minimum size and are configured to be 18’ in width to match the depth of adjoining parking spaces.  The 23-foot dimension cannot be met, therefore, without reducing the planter sizes, reducing the minimum parking stall depth, or rebuilding both the existing retaining wall and the building to construct them parallel to the western property line.

According to the owner, the site currently functions adequately and has in the past.  Since there is no change in use of this property, the owner anticipates that the current configuration will continue to function adequately.

Although staff would prefer that our minimum standard be met, because this is an existing

developed site, because the use is remaining the same, and because the owner has stated that the existing site configuration has and will continue to function adequately, staff supports the request to allow the western parking lot travel isle width to remain at a reduced-variable width.  

Offset driveway/on-site travel aisle -

According to the owner, the existing western drive entrance has to date functioned adequately without incident.  The current location allows plantings between the handicap-accessible path from the parking space to the sidewalk along Chatham Street .  If the drive entrance were relocated westward to align with the travel aisle in the western parking lot, the southwestern streetscape area would be dramatically reduced or eliminated.  The owner feels that the current situation provides a better disconnect between pedestrians and parked cars.  

Although staff feels that aligning the drive and the on-site travel aisle would provide safer vehicular movement, because this is an existing developed site, because the use is remaining the same, and because the owner has stated that the existing configuration has and would function adequately for the use, staff supports the request to leave the configuration as-is with an offset driveway/travel aisle alignment.  

UTILITIES

This development has access to Cary water and sewer services and would be required to comply with Town utility policies and standards.  

STORM WATER

The project complies with Cary ’s storm water requirements.  The denuded area of the project is less than 12,000 sq. ft.  Therefore, a Cary grading permit will not be required and the project will be exempt form nitrogen removal requirements.   

PROPERTY OWNER NOTIFICATION AND CONCERNS

Adjoining property owners were notified during staff's initial review of this plan.  Staff has received no inquiries objecting to the request regarding this proposed development.  

ACTION: Mayor Pro Tem Smith moved to approve the consent agenda; Ms. Dorrel provided the second; council granted unanimous approval.