TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Zoning Commission
FROM: Demetrios Moutos - Planner I
DATE: May 14, 2024
RE:
Title
P24-23. Rezoning of multiple properties from Single Family Residential 10 (SF-10) and Limited Commercial (LC) to Office and Institutional (OI), located on the north side of Village Drive between Roxie Avenue and Owen Drive, totaling 7.54 acres ± and being the properties of Cumberland County Hospital System Inc., NGOASONG LLC, James G. Davis, and Village Commercial Properties, LLC.
end
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
5 - Lynne Greene
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
Strategic Operating Plan FY 2022
Goals 2027
• Goal II: Responsive City Government Supporting a Divers and Viable Economy
o Objective 2.1 - To ensure a diver City tax base.
o Objective 2.4 - To sustain a favorable development climate to encourage business growth.
• Goal III: City invested in Today and Tomorrow
o Objective 3.2 - To manage the City’s future growth and strategic land use.
Executive Summary:
Over the past twenty-five years, the Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and its associated medical services have expanded substantially, necessitating a reassessment of land use to support continued growth and integration with the surrounding community. The Hospital Area Plan and Overlay Ordinance, implemented in 2010, was a proactive measure addressing key concerns such as managing rapid regional growth, resolving land use conflicts, and enhancing development quality to support this medical hub. Key issues identified include significant traffic congestion and the need for higher-quality development that aligns with the area’s evolving role as a healthcare nucleus.
This report advocates for the rezoning of multiple properties from Single Family Residential 10 (SF-10) and Limited Commercial (LC) to Office and Institutional (OI) to accommodate uses more suitable to the current and future needs of the area. This transition is supported by the Cumberland County Hospital System’s acquisition of most properties in question, which aligns with the strategic goal of facilitating effective land use around major institutional centers.
Background:
Owner: Cumberland County Hospital System Inc., NGOASONG LLC, James G. Davis, and Village Commercial Properties, LLC
Applicant: City of Fayetteville
Requested Action: LC and SF-10 to OI
REID #s: 0416855119000, 0416855294000, 0416856279000, 0416951815000, 0416951690000, 0416956888000, 0416957971000, 0426060010000, 0426061055000, 0426062099000, 0416966493000, 0426065138000, 0426066230000, and 0426066239000
Potential Council District: 5 - Lynne Greene
Status of Properties: Various businesses, vacant lots, single-family structures, parking lots, etc.
Size: 7.54 acres ±
Adjoining Land Use and Zoning:
• North: OI - Medical Center and Offices
• South: SF-10, OICZ, OI, and LC - Retail, Medical Offices, Single-family
• East: CC - Retail and Medical Offices
• West: SF-10 - Single-family, religious institution
Annual Average Daily Traffic 2022: Village Drive - 15,000
Postcards Mailed: 227
Land Use Maps and Plans:
The 2040 Comprehensive Plan, adopted on May 26, 2020, designates this area for Office/Institutional development, encompassing light industrial sites, offices, flex spaces, and large institutions. The Hospital Area Plan also supports this zoning to accommodate the area’s growth as a medical hub.
Issues/Analysis:
History:
According to a story in the Fayetteville Observer from January 2019, construction began on Cape Fear Valley Hospital in 1954. The 200-bed hospital opened in June 1956, but admissions remained low until the early 1960s because “doctors wouldn’t come out here; it was too far from downtown.” Today, the Cape Fear Valley Health System is the eighth-largest system in North Carolina, serving a broad range of patients and providing comprehensive healthcare services.
In 1968, aerial photography showed that all parcels between Conover Drive and Roxie Avenue contained single-family residential structures. Over the years, significant changes occurred:
• Between 1982 and 1995, Conover Drive and Owen Drive parcels were converted into parking lots. Additionally, one structure was removed to create an entrance to the hospital across from Conover Drive.
• Between 2001 and 2008, two buildings on the corner of Owen Drive and Village Drive were demolished to expand the hospital's main campus.
• By 2011, some homes, including 3526 Village Drive, had been converted into medical offices. In 2011, 3410 Village Drive was rezoned to OI (Office/Institutional), and in 2012, it received a Special Use Permit to operate an office use in the Hospital Overlay within 100 feet of a residence.
• Further removals and conversions continued through 2021, leading to only a few remaining single-family homes.
Today, the Cumberland County Hospital System owns all but three parcels on the north side of Village Drive between Owen Drive and Roxie Avenue.
Surrounding Area:
Within the Hospital Area Overlay, the surrounding area is characterized by various medical offices, retail establishments, the Cape Fear Valley Medical Center’s main campus, and single-family housing on the periphery. The Bordeaux Shopping Center is located on the opposite side of Village Drive, at the corner of Village Drive and Owen Drive.
Breakthrough Physical Therapy and an office for the North Carolina Department of Revenue occupy a building at 3401 Village Drive, a new structure erected between 2017 and 2021, replacing a daycare. The rest of the uses on this short block between Fargo Drive and Conover Drive are single-family residences, with properties zoned Office/Institutional (OI) two parcels deep.
3505 Village Drive was redeveloped between 2010 and 2013 and zoned OI/CZ. This conditional zoning aimed to facilitate coordinated redevelopment, acknowledging the hospital’s activity and emergency entrance noise. The applicant collaborated with staff to mitigate impacts on both the neighborhood behind and the corridor's function and appearance. Substantial buffers, a landscaped streetscape, coordinated access, and an urban building pattern were provided, creating a protective edge for the neighborhood. The rezoning was approved in March 2010.
The remaining uses between Stockton Drive and Roxie Avenue on the south side of Village Drive are single-family residential zoned SF-10. West of these properties is the Welmar Heights subdivision, also zoned SF-10. Cape Fear Church of Christ, the Bordeaux Public Library, and Mary McArthur Elementary School lie further down Village Drive to the west. The Cape Fear Valley Medical Center’s main campus abuts the subject properties to the north.
Rezoning Request:
Land within the City is generally classified by the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to be within one of many base zoning districts. Land may be reclassified to one of several comparable zoning districts in accordance with Section 30-2.C.
The City of Fayetteville is seeking to rezone sixteen parcels currently zoned Single Family Residential 10 (SF-10) and Limited Commercial (LC) to Office and Institutional (OI). This district accommodates small-scale, low-intensity professional and business offices, institutions, and limited personal service and supporting retail uses. It also allows single-family detached, single-family attached, and multi-family residential uses close to each other, subject to design and compatibility standards (see 30-4.D Accessory Uses).
OI districts are generally situated near residential neighborhoods, serving as a buffer or transition between these neighborhoods and more intense business districts. Uses within the district are subject to design standards outlined in Article 30-5: Development Standards. As OI districts often evolve from primarily residential areas, office/institutional uses should align with surrounding residential uses in terms of design, scale, and character.
Straight Zoning:
The request is for a straight rezoning from Single Family Residential 10 (SF-10) and Limited Commercial (LC) to Office and Institutional (OI).
The reclassification of land to a base zoning district without conditions allows all uses permitted in that district, as shown in the Use Table in the UDO. The Zoning Commission cannot impose conditions or restrictions on the range of allowable uses, use standards, development intensities, or other development standards.
Land Use Plan Analysis:
Hospital Area Plan and Overlay Ordinance:
As previously noted, the subject properties fall within the Hospital Area Overlay, which aims to protect public health, safety, and welfare by reducing conflicts between residential and non-residential land uses and encouraging high-quality, compact development. This includes enforcing specific zoning and building standards, such as those for building dimensions, parking, landscaping, and buffering, to ensure that new developments are well-integrated and enhance the area's aesthetic and functional appeal.
The Hospital Area Plan and Overlay Ordinance, adopted on December 13, 2010, designates these properties as Area 2 and Area 8. Area 2 includes both the north and south sides of Village Drive, west of Conover, while Area 8 encompasses the main hospital campus.
The analysis provided in the plan highlights a significant land use conflict between the hospital and the Bordeaux neighborhood, exacerbated by the “recent” relocation of the emergency entrance to Village Drive. This move has increased noise disturbances and, along with heavy traffic, has diminished the quality of life for residents. Additionally, this area has seen a surge in rezoning activities.
Recommendations from the Plan are as follows:
1. Zoning: Designate both sides of Village Drive for office use to shield homes from direct commercial exposure. Where feasible, zone properties two lots deep on the south side to allow for deeper site development.
2. Land Consolidation: Encourage the merging of adjoining lots to improve parking, landscaping, and buffering capabilities.
3. Building Design: Erect two-story buildings with substantial buffers to mitigate noise from the hospital.
4. Aesthetics: Develop new buildings that will serve as attractive gateways, enhancing the area’s overall image.
5. Land Use Transition: Gradually shift from residential to office use, providing relief to current residents and property owners along Village Drive.
These recommendations remain as pertinent today as they were in 2010. The redevelopment of the south side of Village Drive has already commenced in alignment with these guidelines. The current rezoning request focuses solely on the north side, predominantly owned by the Cumberland County Hospital System and primarily used for medical offices, parking lots, or remaining vacant.
Traffic concerns persist, with Village Drive's configuration allowing for speeds well above the posted limit of thirty-five miles per hour, despite its designation as a seven-lane road (including a short turn lane). Observations during a recent site visit revealed the challenges faced by pedestrians, including construction workers, patients, and hospital staff, attempting to cross the road to the Bordeaux Shopping Center.
Village Drive exemplifies a "stroad," a problematic hybrid of a street and a road that poses safety risks and efficiency issues, commonly providing access to car-oriented businesses like strip malls and drive-throughs. This layout is inefficient and hazardous, necessitating a shift towards more pedestrian-friendly infrastructure.
Given these conditions, Village Drive is unsuitable for single-family residential frontage and should continue to develop with office and retail spaces that can act as buffers from the traffic.
Future Land Use Plan:
According to the 2040 Future Land Use Plan, this proposal achieves the following goals:
• Goal #1: Focus value and investments around infrastructure and strategic nodes.
• Goal #2: Promote compatible economic and commercial development in key identified areas.
• Goal #4: Foster safe, stable, and attractive neighborhoods.
• Goal #6: Compliment and capitalize on the strategic importance of military installations, educational institutions, and medical institutions.
Under the plan’s Land Use Policies and Strategies section, this proposal aligns with the following:
LU - 1: Encourage growth in areas well-served by infrastructure and urban services, including roads, utilities, parks, schools, police, fire, and emergency services.
• 1.2: Encourage more intense uses, a greater mix of uses, and denser residential types in key focal areas.
o Regional Centers and Community Centers
o Neighborhood Mixed Use
o Downtown
• 1.6: Require adequate infrastructure to be in place before or in tandem with new development.
o This includes road infrastructure such as roads, turn lanes, and sidewalks as well as public services such as parks, schools, water/sewer, police, fire, and emergency services.
LU - 2: Encourage strategic economic development
• 2.1: Encourage economic development in designated areas.
o Encourage economic development in key areas including Downtown, Office/Institutional Areas, Industrial/Employment Areas, Regional and Community Centers, and Highway Commercial Areas.
LU - 3: Encourage redevelopment along underutilized commercial strip corridors and reinvestment in distressed residential neighborhoods.
• 3.1: Examine and identify targeted redevelopment and infill areas throughout the city.
LU - 4: Create well-designed and walkable commercial and mixed-use districts.
• 4.1: Ensure new development meets basic site design standards.
o Standards should include:
§ Connected streets, entrances, and parking lots
§ Sidewalks and pedestrian pathways on both sides of all public rights-of-way (at the minimum)
§ High-quality building materials
§ Landscaping, shade, and street trees
§ Perimeter buffers
§ Low-level parking lot screening
§ Stormwater retention and infiltration
• 4.2: Encourage context-sensitive site design.
o Design commercial and mixed-use areas to be walkable areas with pedestrian connections between uses and buildings
§ Encourage buildings to be located close to the street, especially near key intersections, with parking located to the side or behind the buildings
§ Require short block lengths (max. 400 to 600 feet) and connections to adjacent development (crosswalks, etc.)
o Ensure development standards specify:
§ Transition in building scale between new buildings and the surrounding neighborhoods
§ Building and parking orientation and design
§ Landscaped buffers, tree save areas, and site design that provides transitions between more and less intense uses
LU - 10: Support land use, site design, and capital improvement initiatives that increase resiliency and reduce impacts from flooding and natural disasters.
• 10.1: Encourage on-site stormwater control measures that reduce the impacts of new development
o Stormwater requirements should seek to mimic pre-development conditions, limit impacts from new development on adjacent properties, and reduce the rate of stormwater runoff to avoid erosion of stream banks and encourage groundwater recharge.
LU - 13: Coordinate with local governments, non-profits, and education and medical institutions on economic development initiatives and complementary development in the vicinity of campuses.
• Encourage growth and development that is complementary to higher education institutions
Budget Impact:
There will be no immediate impact on the budget; however, ongoing redevelopment is expected to increase tax revenue.
Options:
1. Recommend approval of the map amendment to OI as presented based on the evidence submitted and find that the rezoning is consistent with the Future Land Use Plan as demonstrated by the attached consistency and reasonableness statement (recommended);
2. Recommend approval of the map amendment to a more restrictive zoning district based on the evidence submitted and find that the map amendment would be consistent with the Future Land Use Plan and an amended consistency statement;
3. Deny the map amendment request based on the evidence submitted and finds that the map amendment is inconsistent with the Future Land Use Plan.
Recommended Action:
The Professional Planning Staff recommends that the Zoning Commission move to recommend APPROVAL of the map amendment to OI based on the following:
• The proposed zoning map amendment implements the policies adopted in the Future Land Use Plan (FLUP), and those policies found in the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). The Future Land Use Plan calls for the subject properties to be developed as an Office/Institutional (OI).
• The uses permitted by the proposed change in zoning district classification and the standards that apply to such uses are appropriate in the immediate area of the land to be reclassified due to the existing zoning and uses surrounding this property; and
• There are no other factors that will substantially affect public health, safety, morals, or general welfare.
Attachments:
1. Plan Application
2. Aerial Notification Map
3. Zoning Map
4. Land Use Plan Map
5. Subject Properties
6. Surrounding Properties
7. Consistency and Reasonableness Statement