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Discuss On-Street Parking Regulations in the Burch Kove Neighborhood.
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Staff: |
Department: |
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Matt Sullivan, Chief |
Fire |
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Chris Blue, Chief/Executive Director of Community Safety |
Police |
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Lance Norris, Director |
Public Works |
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Kumar Neppalli, Traffic Engineering Manager |
Public Works |
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Tommy Gregory, Fire Marshal |
Fire |
Overview: On-street parking in the Burch Kove neighborhood has created conditions that prevent the safe traverse of emergency and other service vehicles through the neighborhood. Staff have met with community members, assessed the conditions and developed several recommendations that attempt to balance community safety interests and requirements of the North Carolina Fire Code with the community need for parking.
Staff will provide an overview of current parking conditions in Burch Kove, discuss related fire code requirements and provide potential solutions that will address the issues. Council input and feedback will provide direction for the development of an ordinance establishing parking restrictions.
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Recommendation(s): |
That the Council provide direction related to parking regulations in the Burch Kove neighborhood.
Background and Key Issues
• An application to develop Burch Kove, a Planned Unit Development-Housing (PD-H), was submitted to the Town of Chapel Hill in February of 2006. Council approved the development in May of 2007. At the time of approval the development was located in our Extra Territorial Planning Jurisdiction.
• The development consists of 72 units (duplex) and pool/pool house over 19.5 acres.
• The Town of Chapel Hill annexed the development in October of 2014. Since annexation, all streets within the neighborhood are Town right-of-way.
• Over the past 18 months, the Town has received multiple concerns about on-street parking in the neighborhood. In addition to impeding emergency vehicle access, school buses and delivery vehicles have also experienced problems traversing the neighborhood.
• Currently parking occurs on both sides of the street. This practice has not been addressed by Town ordinance; however, the neighborhood covenants prohibit on-street parking.
• After review of the development documents that were submitted with initial application materials and the neighborhood covenants, it appears that when developed it was the intention of the developer that each unit only have two parking spaces. This was accomplished with a single car garage and driveway or a driveway and an on-street parking space.
• In September, after discussions with the neighborhood association and some residents and at the request of the neighborhood association, staff were prepared to propose an ordinance prohibiting all on-street parking in the neighborhood. The potential substantial impact created by this action, coupled with additional inquiry from some neighbors highlighted the need for additional communication, its impacts upon neighbors and potential solutions.
• With the assistance of the Burch Kove neighborhood association, Town Staff held a community meeting in the neighborhood on September 24, 2019. 33 of the 72 households were represented at this meeting. Representatives from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools also attended the meeting to discuss the parking impacts upon school bus routes. The meeting provided an opportunity for Town staff to provide information concerning emergency and service vehicle access issues and for neighbors to discuss personal impacts and propose solutions. In addition to increased general awareness the following topics surfaced during the conversation:
o Impacts upon families with differently-abled students
o Parking impacting egress of individual unit owners
o Access requirements of the North Carolina Fire Code
o Restrictions in the Neighborhood Covenants
o The necessity of safe and unimpeded emergency and service vehicle access
o The possibility that non-residents are parking in the neighborhood
o Parking for visitors and temporary guests
o Impacts of complete no-parking upon homeowners who either by usage or by lack of a garage (Home Trust properties) are limited to one parking space on their lot
o General concerns surrounding traffic safety and vehicular speed
o An informal agreement among some neighbors to communicate directly with vehicle owners who are parking in a manner that impedes the quiet enjoyment or safety of other residents
• Staff received at least three follow-up phone calls after the meeting from neighborhood residents who wanted to ask additional questions or had other ideas.
• North Carolina Fire Code requires a 20’ wide unimpeded roadway for a fire engine and a 26’ wide unimpeded roadway for fire aerial apparatus. The types of buildings in Burch Kove require only fire engine access.
Fiscal Impact/Resources: Cost for the purchase and installation of the new signs is minimal.
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Attachments: |
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• Draft Staff Presentation |
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The Agenda will reflect the text below and/or the motion text will be used during the meeting. |
presenter
PRESENTER: Matthew J. Sullivan, Fire Chief
RECOMMENDATION: That the Council provide direction regarding parking regulations that will allow emergency and other service vehicles to safely traverse the Burch Kove neighborhood.