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Consider a Resolution Endorsing Shaping Our Future: A Transportation and Land Use Initiative and Call a Legislative Hearing to Consider Updating the Town’s Comprehensive Plan to Include Shaping Our Future: A Transportation and Land Use Initiative on April 19, 2023.
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Staff: |
Department: |
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Caroline Dwyer, Transit Planning Manager |
Transit |
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Matt Cecil, Transit Development Manager |
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Diedra McEntyre, Principal Planner |
Planning |
Overview: Chapel Hill Transit’s (CHT) North-South Bus Rapid Transit (NSBRT) project leverages a significant federal investment to meet Council’s Complete Community and Climate Action priorities. The NSBRT enjoys high levels of support, locally and regionally; is a key component of the region’s transportation strategy and long-term vision; and plays a role in the University’s transportation and sustainability plans. NSBRT is also much more than a transit investment; it is an investment in active transportation, safety, congestion mitigation, equity, environmental stewardship, smart growth, and economic development. Specifically, the project includes:
• A multi-use path (MUP) along most of the corridor
• Pedestrian safety improvements (including enhanced sidewalk connections to/from station areas and neighborhoods)
• Signal improvements; and
• Complete streets elements.
In 2020, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) awarded CHT nearly $600,000 through the “Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development Planning” grant program. CHT initiated Transit-Oriented Development Planning (TOD) planning for the NSBRT corridor in 2022, coordinating with a planned Land Use Management Ordinance (LUMO) update, at the request of Council. Shaping Our Future: A Transportation and Land Use Initiative is aligned with, and guided by, previous plans and Council policy directives including the recently adopted Complete Community framework. This initiative is a first step towards integrating best practices for more sustainable land use and development and catalyzing great placemaking in locations with the best transit access. Now complete, Shaping Our Future incorporates robust community engagement, a market analysis, an accessibility analysis, illustrative TOD station area concepts, and implementation recommendations providing staff and Council with a starting point for discussions and decisions related to the future LUMO Update.
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Recommendation(s): |
1. That the Council adopt the resolution endorsing the recommendations of Shaping our Future: A Transportation and Land Use Initiative for the purpose of considering of an amendment to the comprehensive plan
2. That the Council adopt the resolution setting the legislative hearing for April 19, 2023, to consider updating the Town’s comprehensive plan to include Shaping our Future: A Transportation and Land Use Initiative
Key Issues:
• Shaping our Future is the culmination of a multi-year, integrated planning effort
• Shaping our Future promotes best practices supporting more sustainable land use and development
• Shaping our Future established a long-term (2040) comprehensive vision and strategy for TOD in the NSBRT corridor
• Shaping our Future guides future policy development, regulatory recommendations, and tests the development capacity of station areas
• Shaping our Future recommends policy and regulatory tools based on community goals, transit needs, and market feasibility
• Shaping our Future demonstrates a commitment to implementing meaningful actions promoting TOD
Fiscal Impact/Resources: TOD Planning Funding (Grant)/ Town General Fund - LUMO
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Attachments: |
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• Draft Staff Presentation |
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• Resolution |
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• Resolution |
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• Shaping our Future: A Transportation and Land Use Initiative (dated 02-XX-2023) |
A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF SHAPING OUR FUTURE: A TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE INITIATIVE FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSIDERING OF AN AMENDMENT TO THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN (2023-02-22/R-9)
WHEREAS, the Town of Chapel Hill seeks to increase access to multimodal transportation options; increase transit ridership; improve multimodal connectivity, and enhance transportation safety; and
WHEREAS, the Town’s “Complete Community” framework, adopted in 2022, explicitly identifies Transit Corridors as priority locations for “Where to Grow;” and
WHEREAS, the Town of Chapel Hill adopted a Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) route in 2019 for the North-South Bus Rapid Transit (NSBRT) route, located along Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.; and
WHEREAS, the Town seeks to maximize the impacts of the capital investment in the NSBRT while meeting community housing, economic development, placemaking, equity, and sustainability goals in the NSBRT corridor and within one-half mile of NSBRT station areas (“transit-oriented development” or TOD); and
WHEREAS, the long-term success of high capacity transit projects like NSBRT depend on transit-supportive land uses in corridors and in station areas; and
WHEREAS, the goals, principles, and outcomes of transit-oriented development (TOD) are closely aligned with the Town’s policy, growth, and development objectives; and
WHEREAS, in 2019 the Town engaged stakeholders, neighborhood interest groups, general public, the private sector and institutions, identifying transit-oriented development (TOD) station area development typologies for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.; and
WHEREAS, in 2020, the Town adopted Charting Our Future a Future Land Use Map (FLUM), identifying five Focus Areas accommodating a substantial share of Chapel Hill’s future growth, including the NSBRT corridor, and also updated the Town’s Comprehensive Plan to include the FLUM; and
WHEREAS, in 2020, Chapel Hill Transit was awarded a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Transit Oriented Development Planning Grant to define a framework for transit-supportive development and design principles in the NSBRT corridor; and
WHEREAS, the Town has simultaneously undertaken a Land Use Management Ordinance (LUMO) audit and visioning, investigating existing content and processes, and generating recommendations for implementing TOD and promoting high-quality development and design in the NSBRT corridor, in FLUM focus areas, and in the community, overall; and
WHEREAS, the Town has engaged stakeholders, neighborhood interest groups, general public, the private sector, and institutions through successive rounds of multi-level, multi-technique engagement processes; and
WHEREAS, the TOD planning and LUMO audit and visioning, collectively known as Shaping Our Future: A Transportation and Land Use Initiative includes a market analysis, equitable accessibility and mobility assessment, development capacity assessment, and an implementation strategy identifying critical tasks, timelines, and responsible parties for recommended strategies.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council accepts the recommendations of Shaping Our Future: A Transportation and Land Use Initiative, as described in the February 22, 2023 meeting materials, for the purpose of consideration of an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan incorporating some or all the plan’s recommendations, as appropriate. A legislative hearing for consideration of such amendment will be duly called by separate resolution.
This the 22nd day of February, 2023.
A RESOLUTION CALLING A LEGISLATIVE HEARING TO CONSIDER UPDATING THE TOWN’S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO INCLUDE SHAPING OUR FUTURE: A TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE INITIATIVE ON APRIL 19, 2023 (2023-02-22/R-10)
WHEREAS, the Town of Chapel Hill’s “Complete Community” framework, adopted in 2022, explicitly identifies Transit Corridors as priority locations for “Where to Grow;” and
WHEREAS, the Town has developed Shaping Our Future: A Transportation and Land Use Initiative, a land use management ordinance (LUMO) audit and vision and transit-oriented development (TOD) plan; and
WHEREAS, the Council adopted a resolution accepting the recommendations of Shaping Our Future: A Transportation And Land Use Initiative, for the purpose of consideration an amendment to the comprehensive plan to the Comprehensive Plan incorporating some or all of the plan’s recommendations, as appropriate, on February 22, 2023.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council call a Legislative Hearing for consideration of an update to the Town’s Comprehensive Plan to include Shaping Our Future: A Transportation and Land Use Initiative on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
This the 22nd day of February, 2023.
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The Agenda will reflect the text below and/or the motion text will be used during the meeting. |
presenter
PRESENTER: Caroline Dwyer, Transit Planning Manager
RECOMMENDATION:
1. That the Council adopt the resolution accepting the recommendations of Shaping our Future: A Transportation and Land Use Initiative for the purpose of considering of an amendment to the comprehensive plan
2. That the Council adopt the resolution setting the legislative hearing to consider updating the town’s comprehensive plan to include Shaping our Future: A Transportation and Land Use Initiative on April 19, 2023.