STATEMENT OF JUSTIFICATION for SPECIAL USE PERMIT

Chapel of the Cross 304 E. Franklin St. Chapel Hill, NC

Chapel Hill Township, PIN 9788-57-0788 Revised June 20, 2011

Introduction

Chapel of the Cross requests a Special Use Permit (SUP) for the subject property to allow re- development of a portion of the property for expanded facilities. The property consists of a single 1.55 acre parcel situated on the south side of East Franklin Street diagonally across from Pickard Lane. The UNC-Chapel Hill campus adjoins the property to the east, south, and west. Morehead Planetarium lies to the southwest, with its front parking lot situated immediately west of the church property. To the east is Spencer dorm, which is bounded by Raleigh Street further to the east. Coker Arboretum lies directly to the south. Several sorority and fraternity houses are situated across Franklin Street opposite the church property.

The property is currently zoned OI-3 and lies within the Franklin-Rosemary Historic District. No other overlay zoning district exists on the property. In conjunction with the SUP application, the church also requests a Zoning Atlas Amendment for the property from OI-3 to TC-1(C), in order to accommodate the necessary floor area for the proposed facilities.

The subject property is currently used intensively for Church, Church outreach, and community activities. The Church has been an integral and important part of Chapel Hill since the mid-1800s, even before the existing chapel was consecrated in 1848. As the has grown and required larger facilities to serve its parishioners and carry out its prolific ministries, new structures were added in 1916, 1925, 1958, and 1993. Also, significant renovations to the facilities were made in 1979 and again in 1993. In 2001, the Church identified the need for additional planning and implementation for facility improvements which would bring all non- facilities into an adequate proportional space relationship to the two existing worship spaces and the congregation size. The 2001 study emphasized the need for a fellowship hall which could accommodate a reception following a service, , or funeral in the larger church. The current SUP application reflects these identified needs, and represents the collective planning efforts over several years by scores of people who are intimately familiar with Church needs, programs, and mission.

In planning for the future, Chapel of the Cross has affirmed its long-term commitment to downtown Chapel Hill. The Church’s downtown location is integral to its identity, conducive to its overall mission, and critical to its specific ministries. Approval of the requested SUP

1 application will allow the Church to expand and improve its ability to serve the parish, the University, and the larger world community, from the Church’s current downtown location.

Justification

The Applicant believes that the requested SUP modification is justified by all of the required findings prescribed in The Town of Chapel Hill Land Use Management Ordinance (LUMO) Sec. 4.5.2. Evidence in support of these findings is presented as follows:

Finding # 1: That the use or development is located, designed, and proposed to be operated so as to maintain or promote the public health, safety, and general welfare.

General

The proposed improvements to the church property will promote the public’s general welfare in several important ways. The church buildings and grounds will continue to be a safe and healthy environment for parishioners, visitors, workers, and students, in accordance with all applicable zoning, building, health, and life-safety codes. The improvements will consist of the removal or renovation of some existing facilities that do not meet standards applicable to new construction; and the construction of new facilities which will fully meet current requirements. In this way, the improved facilities will provide a higher degree of safety, accessibility, and environmental stewardship than is currently available in the existing facilities.

Church facilities are also used extensively by organizations and for activities not directly related to the Church, such as Alcoholics Anonymous – Orange, the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America, and English as a Second Language classes, to name just a few. Over 30 outside groups are provided space to meet free of charge. In addition, the Church has strong ties to the University’s students, faculty and staff through a number of University and related ministries. These provide numerous means of positive impact on students and others who are affiliated with the University. In these ways, overall public health and welfare are promoted and supported by Church activities, and by the use of Church facilities.

Emergency Services

Fire protection and “first responder” emergency services will be provided by the Town of Chapel Hill. The Town’s Fire Station #1 is located approximately one-half mile from the site, as measured along Columbia and Franklin Streets, the most likely approach route to the site.

The new buildings will be equipped with a fire suppression sprinkler system, and will be designed using conventional fire-prevention and fire-management strategies. The site and building plans will be reviewed and approved by the Town’s Fire Department, to verify conformance to applicable life-safety regulations and standards.

2 Utility and Solid Waste Services

The Church facilities will continue to be served with public water and sanitary sewer service by the existing connections to OWASA utility systems, meeting all public health standards related thereto. Solid waste collection for the facility will be provided by the Town of Chapel Hill, and collection of recycled material will be provided by the Orange County Solid Waste Management Department. Solid waste management and recycling methods and facilities will be reviewed and approved by both of these agencies, for conformance to all applicable regulations and standards.

Traffic Generation

General

The Church expects that only a small amount of additional traffic will be generated by the proposed improvements, because seating capacity in the two primary worship spaces will not be expanded. Further, due to the unique conditions associated with this property, and the off- peak demands related to typical Church activities, the additional traffic demands will be adequately accommodated by existing public street infrastructure, public and private parking facilities, and the existing network of pedestrian walkways.

Background Data

The Church currently has two separate sanctuary spaces, which are rarely used at the same time. The larger sanctuary seats a maximum of 400 people, and the smaller chapel seats a maximum of 138 people. Both sanctuary spaces will be retained, and neither space will have increased seating capacity as a result of the proposed improvements.

The Church’s peak attendance occurs on Sundays, which typically include four or five separate worship services at various times throughout the day. Average Sunday attendance is about 850 people, with a maximum of about 400 people in any one service. Weekday activities at the Church are much less intense. They include pre-school activities, mid-week services, and a variety of small-scale meetings for various Church ministries and for community groups loosely affiliated or unaffiliated with the Church.

A significant percentage of attendees are students or other nearby residents who walk or bike to the property. Overall, the Church estimates that about 25 % of attendees walk or bike to services, rather than using an automobile.

Increased Traffic Demand

The estimated number of new vehicular trips generated on Sundays due to the proposed site and building improvements is 102 trips (51 round trips). This increased demand will be dispersed over the multiple services throughout the day, rather than being concentrated for a single service.

3 Traffic Modes and Impacts

Since the Church is located on a compact downtown property, a relatively small number of onsite parking spaces are available onsite. Therefore, only a small fraction of the vehicular traffic generated by Church activities actually occurs onsite. As a practical matter, the vast majority of vehicular traffic generated by Sunday Church activities does not present itself to the site as vehicular traffic at all, but rather as pedestrian traffic. In this context, the additional trips generated by proposed improvements will not represent increased vehicular pressure on the site itself, but rather, on the general downtown area surrounding the site. Since the small amount of additional Sunday traffic will not coincide with peak-day or peak-hour background traffic, traffic impacts from proposed improvements will be relatively small and insignificant.

Parking

The site currently provides several bicycle parking spaces onsite. These facilities will be re- designed in appropriate numbers and locations, to encourage and accommodate biking as a viable means of transportation to and from the property.

The proposed improvements will result in the loss of a few onsite automobile parking spaces, but onsite parking is not as critical for this site as it would be for a church located in a more suburban area. For this site, the majority of automobile traffic generated by Sunday activities currently parks in dispersed locations throughout the area surrounding the Church property, including the adjacent Morehead Planetarium parking lot, in designated on-street parking spaces along Franklin Street and other streets, and in various private spaces and public parking facilities within walking distance of the property. After re-development of the site, these offsite parking patterns are expected to continue in approximately the same manner. Since relatively low traffic volumes typically occur in the downtown business district on Sundays, and since the additional parking demand will be spread throughout the day, the existing facilities in the surrounding area can easily be expected to accommodate the small additional need for parking spaces.

Pedestrian Routes

The Church property is completely surrounded by a formal network of pedestrian routes. The public sidewalk along Franklin Street abuts the property frontage. A walkway also exists parallel to the southern property line, within the Coker Arboretum. On the east and west sides of the site, formal walkways extend from the Franklin Street sidewalk all the way to the Arboretum walkway. These pedestrian routes are heavily used throughout any typical day, as a connection between Franklin Street and the University campus. Proposed site improvements for the Church will not affect these walkways.

From Franklin Street, an existing walkway extends from the public sidewalk to the main entry of the Church sanctuary; and other onsite walkways connect the sanctuary with the smaller chapel. These pedestrian routes will remain in place. Along the west side, the existing walkway connection from the Morehead parking lot will be re-configured to reflect the new building entry point, in order to continue this important pedestrian connection. On the south side, an existing walkway from the Arboretum will connect to the rear building terrace at grade

4 level, maintaining the existing pedestrian connection between the Church and the Arboretum. This terrace will provide access along the rear of the building to a lower level entry door. Lastly, near the southeast property corner, a new walkway extension is proposed from a lower level doorway to the existing campus walkway in front of Spencer Dorm.

Pedestrian facilities on and around the site will be adequate and safe for users who are arriving or leaving the site, or who may be passing by or through the site.

Public Art

The Church has recently received a generous gift of art in the form of a tympanum, which is a limestone carving located above the principal portal of the main church. This artwork features an exquisite image of Christus Pantokrator surrounded by the four traditional winged creatures produced by well-known artist Paris Alexander from Raleigh. In addition, the Church has recently replaced the main sanctuary’s wooden front doors, which are indeed a work of art. These doors are prominently visible to the public, and permit a view into the building interior. Above these doors, the large traceried stained glass window, currently covered for weatherproofing reasons, will be thoroughly restored and uncovered, reclaiming a wonderful element of ornamental texture and visual interest in the building’s front elevation. These artistic features represent a significant contribution of public art to the community by the Church.

Finding # 2: That the use or development complies with all required regulations and standards of this Chapter, including all applicable provisions of Articles 3 and 5, the applicable specific standards contained in the Supplemental Use Regulations (Article 6), and with all other applicable regulations.

General

The proposed project will comply with all applicable regulations and standards. No supplemental use regulations are identified in the LUMO for a .

Zoning

With approval of the requested zoning amendment, and with appropriate project-specific modifications to LUMO regulations as described and justified below, the proposed use will conform to all zoning parameters set forth in LUMO Article 3.

Modification to Building Height Regulations

The detailed building design process will determine ceiling heights, structural and utility requirements between floors, roof features, and aesthetic treatments that will influence overall building height at various locations; therefore, exact building heights are not practically determinable at the SUP application stage. The Applicant believes that the Phase 1 building

5 will not require any building height limit modifications at all. However, the Phase 2 structure will require building height limit modifications, in order to achieve the project purposes and design criteria. In addition, the tower feature on the existing Church building is about 81 feet tall, which exceeds the stipulated secondary building height limit by 15 feet. Therefore, the Applicant requests that the primary building height limit for the project be modified from 44 feet to 70 feet; and that the secondary (maximum) building height limit be modified from 60 feet to 81 feet.

Without introducing any negative impact to the adjacent University property, these modifications will provide the zoning flexibility to allow the Church project to accommodate defined design criteria and programming requirements, such as minimizing developed footprint area by adding a fourth floor level, optimizing daylighting into interior spaces, providing architectural compatibility with existing Church building elements, and providing a functional but hidden (top level) space for utility equipment in the tower feature. In addition, this additional flexibility will be critical as the Church considers other features that may be incorporated into the final building design, such as improved roof space for rooftop gardens and other recreational uses.

Modification to Landscape Buffer Regulations

The subject property currently contains a generous amount of significant trees, smaller trees, and other types of landscape vegetation, including a memorial garden that fronts on East Franklin Street. Due to the historic nature of the property, and its compact town-center characteristics, this vegetation is not located in strict accordance with the perimeter buffer provisions stated in the LUMO. The existing site conditions do not present any offensive condition to adjoining property (all of which is UNC-Chapel Hill); nor will the proposed site re-development introduce any substantially different land-use condition that would suggest the need for additional buffering. Accordingly, the Applicant requests that the preserved vegetation on the property, along with the additional plantings shown on the SUP application drawings, be considered sufficient in type, size, volume, and location, to fulfill the property’s perimeter buffer requirements. To this end, the Applicant also requests that an appropriate modification to the landscape buffer regulations applicable to this project be approved as an SUP approval condition.

Construction Phasing

The Church expects to proceed quickly with design and construction of the Phase 1 portion of the project, and to have the Phase 1 building and site improvements completed and ready for occupancy within three years after the SUP approval date. Due to practical limitations related to project funding, the Church expects Phase 2 implementation to require a much longer lead time. Accordingly, the Applicant requests that the SUP conditions allow a 15 year period for building permits to be obtained for Phase 2 work, with an additional two years allowed for construction completion.

6 Design Development Standards

The proposed use will meet or exceed the requirements of LUMO Article 5. In accordance with this article, the facility will be designed to “protect and conserve environmental resources” such as the vegetated areas along the front portion of the site, and to reasonably “maximize energy efficiency and conservation”. The new building areas will largely be placed where existing buildings or impervious areas are already present. Accordingly, the new facilities will minimize clearing and grading requirements, and minimize the creation of new impervious surfaces. Small retaining walls will be used as needed to avoid impacts to historical walls and the adjacent arboretum property and vegetation. The site does not contain any steep slope areas, floodplain, RCD, streams, wetlands, or other named environmental resource area; and project construction will not impact any such area. During construction, accepted erosion and sediment control practices will be used to mitigate the effects of land disturbance associated with the new facilities.

Rainwater management techniques will be employed to meet or exceed Town standards for runoff rate, volume, and quality control. Landscaping, screening, and buffering will meet the stated purposes in Article 5.6.1, with the requested modifications to the landscape buffer regulations discussed above. These purposes will be accomplished by the preservation of existing trees, and by providing new plantings and other landscape features as needed.

The new facility will continue to provide adequate access and circulation for pedestrians, and for both motorized and non-motorized vehicles. A minimum number of onsite parking spaces will be provided, due to the relatively high proportion of people who access the site by bike or by foot, and due to the availability of reasonably located offsite parking options. In addition, lighting, utilities, signage, and solid waste management facilities will be designed to conform to applicable Town requirements.

Sustainability - General

The new building and site facilities will be designed in keeping with the Applicant’s commitment to environmental responsibility and an emphasis on sustainability for its facilities. The new buildings will have numerous sustainable features, including but not limited to generous daylighting of interior spaces, rainwater management and re-use for irrigation, high- efficiency HVAC equipment, and energy management systems and controls. Consideration will also be given to possible solar energy collection and/or solar-heated hot water systems, and green roof treatment, which will be consistent with the project’s overall design philosophy.

Chapel of the Cross is committed to the principle that the expansion project will result in Church facilities that are as sustainable as practical within the project’s scope and budget parameters.

Building Configuration and Siting

The proposed buildings have been sited and configured in a purposeful manner to provide a proper balance among various needs, values, and constraints. Guiding principles used in siting and configuring the proposed building improvements are:

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• Leave the two sanctuaries intact, as matters of historic preservation, maintaining overall character of the facilities, and maintaining function of the physical spaces; • Conserve and protect the important front yard vegetation/green space and the memorial garden located therein, and maintain the site’s visual character and streetscape appeal; • Preserve the function and character of the historic carriage drive in front of the site; • Build largely within the existing building footprint or impervious areas, in order to minimize new impervious spaces and built-upon area; • Expand and renovate the facilities in a manner that will improve function, flow, and access; that will meet current space needs; and that will accommodate reasonably projected growth in parish size; • Provide an adequate fellowship hall which can safely accommodate large numbers of persons attending receptions after Sunday and special services, , and funerals; • Expand the facilities using the vertical dimension as much as practical, as a way to minimize footprint area, and • Emphasize the building’s visual appeal and functional relationship to Coker Arboretum and the University campus at large.

Conformance to Historic District Design Guidelines

The proposed new building will reclaim and extend the two-story form and design characteristics of the original 1924 Battle building, which links the historic chapel to the larger sanctuary. In order to maintain the site’s overall architecture and rich visual texture, new building elevation elements will be broken into smaller components; and brick, stone, and slate roof elements will be appropriately used to match existing elevation materials. The additional top floor level will be masked into the dormered roof form, maintaining the overall sense of scale of the existing parish buildings. Design of the new facilities will assure that the existing historic chapel and the larger sanctuary building, with their respective towers, will remain the dominant building elements on the site.

Demolition, Deconstruction, and Construction Waste Management

The Church will coordinate with Orange County Solid Waste staff to identify practical ways to deconstruct and re-use or re-purpose existing building materials. The Applicant fully expects to be able to divert a large percentage of removed building materials away from the traditional landfill waste stream. Existing building materials such as bricks, structural steel, and limestone will be re-used in the new facilities or made available for other offsite facilities, as practical.

Solid waste materials generated by new construction activities will be recycled and/or disposed in a manner consistent with Orange County and Town of Chapel Hill requirements. The Applicant intends to divert a large percentage of the waste from new construction activities to sources other than the landfill.

Energy Efficiency

Chapel of the Cross is committed to the concept of sustainability, because sustainability is the equivalent of stewardship. Regarding the design of new Church facilities, the parish has an

8 underlying ethic of being good stewards of the environment and natural resources. The parish is also committed to taking the necessary steps to ensure that such a goal is manifest in all aspects of the project, including the selection of the architect, commitments for energy conservation within the new buildings, reuse and recycling of building materials, reduction of greenhouse gases during construction, and other project elements.

The selection of the project architect, Hartman and Cox of Washington DC, was based on a variety of factors including their experience with working in the context of historical buildings. They also have extensive and award-winning experience in the design of such additions to historic facilities that meet LEED standards for silver, gold and platinum levels.

In the past, the parish has embraced and endorsed energy management. In 2007 an energy management study was conducted of the Church facilities, and decisions were subsequently made to modify a variety of systems to ensure the most efficient use of existing resources and the reduction of energy consumption. The goal of the Energy Management Plan, supplied as part of the SUP application, will be to continue that tradition by designing the new facilities to further reduce energy use and strive to develop a facility which could achieve a minimum of a LEED Silver standard. Accordingly, this project will accomplish the following:

• Employ design features to ensure a highly efficient building envelope; • Implement a design which ensures energy efficiency exceeding ASHRAE 90.1, 2004 by a minimum of 20%; • Evaluate potential utilization of solar energy; • Continue participation in the NC Green Power program; • Adhere to standards which will ensure the use of natural lighting to the extent practical; • Ensure high quality indoor air; • Implement operational and management standards that will ensure continued commitment to energy efficiency, and • Implement strategies to reduce both the water footprint and the carbon footprint of the facility.

Finding # 3: That the use or development is located, designed, and proposed to be operated so as to maintain or enhance the value of contiguous property, or that the use or development is a public necessity.

The subject property has been used as a church for over 160 years. The existing land use is well established in the neighborhood, and integral to it. Only one contiguous property exists, which is the main campus of UNC- Chapel Hill. The Church has a symbiotic relationship with the University, with the Church site acting in many ways as an adjunct to the campus, rather than a mere “contiguous property”.

The adjacent campus property is subject to a highly specialized zoning designation, does not regularly change ownership, and does not have reasonable “comparables” for land valuation purposes. The property’s essential value is derived from its ability to serve the public purposes

9 of the University. This purpose will not be diminished in any way by the proposed improvements to the Church property.

One might reasonably expect that the new facilities will increase the value of University property, by enhancing services and venues that support students, faculty, staff, and other persons and groups who are formally or informally affiliated with the University. Viewed this way, the proposed improvements to the property will add to the substance and vitality of the University, enriching campus life, and thereby making the physical campus property more valuable as a place to learn, work, visit, and live.

For these reasons, the Applicant believes that continued usage of the property as a church facility, and appropriate re-development of the property for this purpose, will maintain or enhance the value of contiguous property.

Finding # 4: That the use or development conforms with the general plans for the physical development of the Town as embodied in this Chapter and in the Comprehensive Plan.

General

The proposed project will conform to the general plans for physical development of the Town, and for development within the Town’s historic downtown area.

LUMO and Comprehensive Plan

The proposed land use will be a continuation of the existing land use. With approval of the requested zoning amendment, the proposed use will conform to applicable zoning density and dimensional standards specified in the Town’s Land Use Management Ordinance (LUMO) and Comprehensive Plan (CP). The Land Use Plan, which is an element of the CP, identifies the existing and future uses of the site as “Institutional”. LUMO Article 1.5 outlines several major themes that are emphasized in the CP. The relevant themes to this request are:

• Conserve and protect existing neighborhoods: The site lies within the Franklin- Rosemary local Historic District. The site is situated on the southwest boundary of the district, and is more of an appendage to the district than an integral part of it. The Church pre-dates most of the buildings and homes in the Historic District. Along a two-block stretch of Franklin Street, the Church property is the only parcel located in this district on the south side of the street. Building improvements to the site are proposed on the south side of the property, which is the furthest part of the site from the balance of the historic district. These improvements will not directly abut nor impact any other property in the district. For these reasons, property re-development is not expected to have any negative effect on the Franklin-Rosemary neighborhood at large, and will therefore conserve and protect the existing neighborhood.

10 • Conserve and protect the Town’s existing natural setting: The proposed project design will conserve the existing vegetation in the front yard of the church property. This area is significant in its visual appeal, and in its function on the site as a memorial garden. Maintaining the character of this important area will contribute to the goal of conserving and protecting the Town’s existing natural setting.

• Identify areas where there are creative development opportunities: Although this site is not specifically listed in the CP as one of the special areas identified for future development opportunities, the site nevertheless has untapped potential for sensitive and responsible expansion. The subject development application illustrates how this expansion may be achieved, having more dense and more vertical characteristics than the current facilities. Moreover, these new facilities will be located appropriately to the rear of the site, preserving historic resources, while meeting the Applicant’s expansion needs. The new facilities will also be designed to embrace the Coker Arboretum with a broad new terrace. In these ways, the proposed site improvement program will employ creative and appropriate re-development solutions for this unique site.

• Encourage desirable forms of non-residential development: Chapel of the Cross is a very good example of desirable non-residential land use in Chapel Hill. By implementing the proposed site and building improvements, the Church will be able to expand and improve its various ministries and service programs, which are already among the most extensive in the community; thus enriching individual lives and the community as a whole. In addition, by providing sustainable and context-appropriate design approaches, the new facilities will be a desirable addition to the downtown historic district.

• Promote the vitality of downtown: The proposed facilities expansion will sensitively add an incremental amount of additional floor area and density to the downtown area, and will increase the capacity and quality of the services that the church provides. In these ways, re-development of this site will have a positive effect on the vitality of the downtown area.

• Provide quality community facilities and services: Chapel of the Cross is well- established and recognized as a high-value community asset. Expansion of its facilities as requested will allow the Church to expand and improve its service to the local community and beyond.

Conformance to Downtown Design Guidelines

The proposed project will conform to the content and spirit of the Downtown Design Guidelines in the following ways:

• From the Franklin Street and the Planetarium parking lot views, the proposed new buildings will reclaim and extend the two-story form and design characteristics of the original 1924 Battle building, which links the historic chapel to the larger sanctuary. From the Arboretum side, the proposed new building relates to the overall massing of the existing three-story form of the1958 Yates wing, but articulates its character more

11 fully in keeping with the 1924 building. Also from the Arboretum side, the new building will be taller than the existing building, but still below the heights of the adjacent Planetarium and Spencer Dormitory.

• Breaking up the exterior elevation elements of the new building into smaller components is consistent with the design of the 1924 Hobart Upjohn parish house building, and will maintain the human scale and visual interest of the Church buildings.

• The fellowship hall portion of the new building will have windows that are proportionally larger and taller, adding variety to the building features, signaling a functional difference for this space, and indicating that this room has a larger scale than the other spaces in the new facilities.

• The use of a limited palette of exterior materials, such as brick similar to the 1924 Yates wing, stone trim, the rhythm of window types, and slate roof elements, will assure and maintain the existing overall architecture style and appealing texture of natural materials.

• The additional top floor level will be masked into a more developed dormered roof form, recalling the existing buildings and maintaining the overall sense of scale of the buildings when viewed from Franklin Street and the Planetarium parking lot.

• The roof forms will be designed to architecturally express the various building elements, but also to shield vents, utility elements, and mechanical equipment which may also have to be on the roof.

An overriding design criterion for the project is that the new buildings will fully complement, and never compete with, the landmark forms of the historic chapel and larger sanctuary with their distinctive bell towers.

Summary Statement

The Applicant believes that approval of this SUP request is justified by all of the required findings prescribed in LUMO Sec. 4.5.2; and further believes that these findings are supported by the materials contained in the SUP application, including the written evidence as presented herein.

Approval of this SUP request will assure the continued vitality of an important and historic element of downtown Chapel Hill and the larger Chapel Hill community. In planning for the future, Chapel of the Cross has affirmed its long-term commitment to its downtown location. This location is integral to the Church’s identity, conducive to its overall mission, and critical to its specific ministries. The requested Special Use Permit is required to allow Chapel of the Cross to expand and improve its ability to serve the parish, the University, the Chapel Hill community, and the larger world from the Church’s current downtown location.

END

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