[Durham INC] FW: Durham Planning Department Quarterly-July 2011

Wed Jul 6 18:37:13 EDT 2011

Sorry if this is duplicating stuff that is already in your mailbox.  Regards, pat

Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2011 17:09:16 -0400
To: pats1717 at hotmail.com
From: RWadegriffin at gmail.com
Subject: Durham Planning Department Quarterly-July 2011

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

To visit the department web site Click here.

Intake Process Update

On January 1, 2011 the Planning Department implemented a new site plan and plat submittal process in an effort to improve customer service. The creation of a new Customer Service Center suite allowed the Planning Department to re-purpose the former “front counter” area into a new plan intake and distribution center. The revamped area provides a dedicated space designed for receiving, evaluating, and distributing plan submittals. Applicants can sit down with staff and review their submittal to ensure it is complete. Staff is able to enter the plans into the Land Development Office (LDO) tracking software during the submittal appointment and provide applicants with their case number, comments due date, and instructions for accessing the digital comments on the LDO. In addition, the area also acts as
a central plan distribution area where reviewing agencies can pick up their plans on a weekly basis.

With the opening of the new intake area, submittal opportunities have expanded from two Thursday mornings a month to every Tuesday and Thursday morning. Preliminary and Final Plats, Simplified Small, Simplified Large, Minor and Major Site Plans can now be submitted twice a week by appointment. All plans are distributed weekly to all the reviewing agencies, reducing the prior waiting time between submittal windows. More frequent submittal options result in plans being submitted and reviewed more efficiently. Submittal appointments may be made by calling(919) 560-4137 ext. 28254 or by email at Joanne.Gordon at durhamnc.gov . Appointments may be made up to one week in advance,
but no later than 48 hours in advance. Submittals for Architectural Reviews, Administrative Site Plans, Exempt Plats, and re-reviews of all site plan types are accepted any day without appointment. These submittals may be made directly at the Planning Department Customer Service Center, Suite G301 on the Ground Floor of City Hall.

Commercial Infill District and West Chapel Hill Street Zoning

Thank you to everyone who participated in the various public meetings and showed support for this project by attending the Planning Commission meeting in February. The text amendment and the zoning map change were approved by the City Council on June 20, 2011. The text amendment was then approved by the County Board of Commissioners on June 27, 2011. For more information, please click the "READ MORE" tab.

FEATURED ITEM

Urban Open Space for Durham

A very gracious thanks to all of you who were able to participate in our Downtown Open Space charrette at Golden Belt on June 8.  More than 45 people attended the charrette, with a wide range of viewpoints, opinions, and insights regarding the location and types of open space in Downtown.  Staff will be working hard over the summer to synthesize the five open space scenarios that were shared at the charrette, and plans on
publishing the results of that synthesis later this summer.

 If you have any questions or comments
about the Durham Urban Open Space Plan, contact  Helen Youngblood at (919) 560-4137 or by email at Helen.Youngblood at durhamnc.gov .  Also, for more information, visit the project’s web page by clicking on the "Read MORE" tab below.

Finally, we want to make sure that you all are aware of the upcoming next phase of the Durham Urban Open Space Plan: the Compact Neighborhood Tier.  There are three areas within the Urban Open Space Plan that comprise the Compact Neighborhood Tier: the area around Duke University Medical Center, the Ninth Street area, and the area around the intersection of Alston Avenue and Main Street.  The Planning Department will be
holding two charrettes for these areas that will be similar to the Downtown charrette in an effort to gather the same great quality of information and ideas that came out of the Downtown charrette.  The dates, times, and locations of those events will be announced later this summer.

Mixed Use Update

Durham’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) allows for the Mixed-Use (MU) zoning district as a planned district. Planned districts allow a certain level of flexibility to encourage high-quality design. They also encourage efficient use of land and public services. When a zoning map change is proposed for a planned district, a development plan is required from the applicant. The MU district is allowed
within the Suburban, Urban, or Compact Tiers.

The MU district exists to provide innovative opportunities to place a variety of compatible uses into a single development unified by its design features. Developments in this district provide amenities, walkways, and open spaces to increase pedestrian activity. The goal is to decrease reliance on cars and encourage use of public transit, enhance the beauty of Durham, and improve the overall welfare and quality of life for Durham's residents.

A Mixed Use Update Visioning Workshop was held on Tuesday, May 24, at the main branch of the Durham County Library. Twenty four attendees participated in the group discussion and agreed on nine guiding principles that will be used in updating our policy and ordinance standards for future mixed use developments. These principles include:
Attract a variety of people
Encourage density
Emphasize a good pedestrian experience
Include a variety of uses
Create spatial and visual appeal
Accommodate a system of multi-modal choices
Incentivize diverse housing
Adapt over time
Promote a healthy environmentStaff will draft revisions over the summer and plans to present an update this Fall. For more information visit the web page by clicking on the "READ MORE" tab below. To provide any general comments, email mixeduse at durhamnc.gov .

Ninth Street Plan Zoning Change

The Ninth Street Plan, adopted by City Council on November 17, 2008, sets a community vision for future development along Ninth Street and in the surrounding area. The process of implementing the policies in the adopted Ninth Street Plan 
includes creating a new zoning district for the area. The first open house was held in April 2010 to get community input on this new zoning district.  Staff has spent significant time over the last year drafting the ordinance, getting feedback and holding meetings with the community, the most recent meeting being in June. The proposal is slated to move into the public
hearing and adoption process in August or September.

Proposed regulations from the June meeting are available through the "READ MORE" tab below.  If you have questions, please contact Lisa Miller (919-560-4137, ext. 28270 or lisa.miller at durhamnc.gov) or Aaron Cain (919-560-4137, ext. 28226 or aaron.cain at durhamnc.gov).

Culture of Service

The Durham City/County Planning Department, in concert with the City’s overall Culture of Service (COS) Program, has created a COS team of their own. The Planning Director has ordered that the team take the lead for the department in working to find more ways to integrate the Culture of Service principals. As displayed in the diagram in this story, those principals are Service to Self, Service to Co-workers, and Service to
Community. With the full cooperation of the department’s executive team, the COS team has arranged a cleanup day for the department as well as for several members of staff to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity worksites such as the Gerard Street Site pictured to the right. (Pictured Left to right (top): Kathleen Snyder, Wade Griffin, Cynthia Jenkins, Teri Danner, Alex Waddell,(bottom) Ralphele Reels, Julia Mullen.)
The Department also gathered over 125 pounds of food for Backpack Buddies, a program that is a part of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.

Current Culture of Service programs include ongoing support of
Habitat for Humanity. This includes a group of employees who will be taking part in Habitat for Humanity's nighttime bike ride through Downtown Durham on July 16. The department will also choose a Durham school to donate school supplies for the coming school year.

The Department is continually working to reinforce these principals to better both ourselves and the community.

Staff Acknowledgements

The Durham City-County Planning Department would like to take a moment to show appreciation for some of its staff for both longevity and great work. The city recently held a luncheon to honor staff members' years of service. At that luncheon,  retired Planner Alex Waddell, (not pictured) was honored for 30 years of Service. Assistant Director Keith Luck (center left) was honored for 25 years of service, Planning Supervisor Teri
Danner (right) was honored for 20 years of service, and Planning Supervisor Sara Young (center right) as well as Planner Wade Griffin (left) were both honored for 10 years of service.

The City also recently held a luncheon for employees that were given the City's STAR Award for excellence. Planning Director Steven L. Medlin, AICP, won a STAR for open communication, while a group consisting of (left to right in photo) Sara Young, Aaron Cain, Joseph Carley, Lisa Miller, Amy Wolff,  Anne Kramer, Wade Griffin, and Alex Waddell (not pictured) won a STAR Award for Teamwork for all the work
they did in bringing the Downtown Zoning to fruition.

A hearty thank you and congratulations to all of our talented and devoted employees.

IN THIS ISSUE

Intake Process Update

Commercial Infill District and West Chapel Hill Street Zoning

Featured Item: Urban Open Space for Durham

Mixed Use Update

Ninth Street Plan Zoning Change

Culture of Service Efforts

Staff Acknowledgements

Hot Items

Stay in Touch

Planning Terms

Staff Profile

HOT ITEMS

As of April 27, 2011, Durham City Council has adopted an ordinance that restructured the fees charged by the Durham City-County Planning Department to reinstitute the 4% technology surcharge for Transportation Impact Analysis review. All other fees remain unchanged. These fee changes are set to become effective as of July 1, 2011. For more information on this, click the "READ MORE" tab below. 

STAY IN TOUCH

Contact Us

Organizational Directory Sign-Up Form

Take Our Customer Service Survey

Subscribe to this Newsletter

USEFUL LINKS

Comprehensive Plan

Customer Service Center

Land Development Office

Staff Directory

Unified Development Ordinance

Zoning Atlas

PLANNING TERMS

Here we take a moment to define what are common terms for planners, but may make no sense to the rest of the world.

"Zoning Overlays"
Almost everyone is familiar with the existence of Historic properties. However, many people do not know the reason for, or understand the use of, Zoning Overlays in general, such as an Historic District Overlay. Overlays exist in many places in many different forms. Overlays are unlike use-based Zoning, which simply deals with general use, setbacks, etc. The key difference being that the overlay is a set of regulations designed to further restrict and/or enhance the base zoning district. Typically, in cases where the rules of a base zone conflict with those of an overlay, the stricter rule will apply. As with Historic overlays, most overlays serve a very particular purpose. 
Durham’s Neighborhood Protection Overlays, just as is the case with Historic Overlays, exist to protect the cultural and architectural fabric of a given area.
Durham’s Transitional Office Overlay, which is designed to work as a transition between residential areas and major roads, serves a similar purpose by maintaining more constrained requirements on height, etc. next to a residential area. There are other types that also serve as a buffer. An example is Durham's Major Transportation Corridor Overlay, which is designed to limit signage and help in beautifying the main highway routes through Durham County while decreasing potential distractions for drivers. 
Some overlays exist specifically to limit growth in certain areas and protect people and the environment.
Around most airports in the United States you’ll find overlays that require height limits, use limits, etc., for anything being built in those areas. Airport Overlays exist to protect people from immediate hazards whereas others exist to protect us long-term by protecting the environment we live in. The strongest examples of this would be our Watershed Protection Overlays. They are the earliest overlays that Durham adopted as well as the ones that arguably have the most impact. 
In all their varying forms, overlays are a uniquely powerful tool in guiding the development of a city.

STAFF PROFILE

Please join us in welcoming our newest staff addition. Alysia Bailey-Taylor is our new Development Review Supervisor. She has over 11 years experience in the planning profession. That experience ranges from reviewing development plans, neighborhood revitalization planning, managing small area plan efforts, and comprehensive planning.  Ms. Bailey-Taylor has also managed the Brownfields Program for the City of Raleigh, which involved a $400,000 EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant and a $1 million Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund.  She started her career with a small architectural firm working on school renovations, churches, and day care centers.  She then moved on to work for the Wake County Planning Department where her primary
focus was on subdivision review.  Ms. Bailey-Taylor later spent several years with the Town of Holly Springs Planning Department where she supervised and was responsible for a wide range of planning activities, served as liaison to the Planning Board and Board of Adjustment, and played a key role in the conversion of the town’s Subdivision and Zoning Ordinance to a Unified Development Ordinance.  She has spent the last seven years of her planning career with the City of Raleigh Planning Department where she worked on a range of projects, including the city’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan Update, several small area plans, coordinating a better linkage between the city’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and the Comprehensive Plan, and managing the city’s Brownfields Program.  Mrs. Bailey-Taylor is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners,
the American Planning Association, and served as co-chair for the North Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association’s Diversity Committee for four years.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Florida Agricultural and Technical University, and a Masters of Public Administration from North Carolina Central University. She is also a native of Durham and is very happy to be working in her hometown. 

Published by Durham City/County Planning Department - 101 City Hall Plaza - Durham, NC 27701 - 919-560-4137

 This message was sent to pats1717 at hotmail.com from:
 Wade Griffin | Durham City County Planning
101 City Hall Plaza | Durham, NC 27701

 Email Marketing by

					Manage Your Subscription

															 | 

					Forward To a Friend

				View this message in the iContact Community:

					View message

					Comment on this message

						Receive as RSS

				Share this message with others:

					del.icio.us

					Digg

					reddit

					Facebook

					StumbleUpon

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://rtpnet.org/pipermail/inc-list/attachments/20110706/54b1b68a/attachment.html>