Light Rail Station Area Planning
Joint Advisory Board Meeting

Overview: Gateway Planning (the consultant for GoTriangle) will be gathering advisory board and commission input in response to the station area development concepts that emerged from the February station area design workshop. A majority of the members from the six advisory boards that review development projects may be in attendance. These boards include:

• Planning Commission
• Community Design Commission
• Environmental Stewardship Advisory Board
• Historic District Commission
• Housing Advisory Board
• Transportation and Connectivity Advisory Board

Agenda

1. Introductions
   
   
2. Overview of Durham Orange Light Rail Transit (DOLRT) Station Area Initiative:
   
   a. Objectives of the Initiative
   b. Chapel Hill Workshops and Results
   c. Description of Ongoing Station Area Analysis
   d. Remaining Steps of the Initiative
   e. Questions and Comments from Board/Commission Members
    
3. Small Group Breakout Session – Discussing the Following Questions:
   
   a. How should the Community view the DOLRT Corridor versus other locations in Chapel Hill? How is the corridor the same in terms of community interests? How is it different, or how does it provide a special opportunity?
   
   b. How does your respective Board/Commission’s focus relates to the DOLRT Station Area Initiative?  Does the DOLRT Station Area Initiative present new opportunities for your Board/Commission’s policy focus?
   
   c. Earlier in the meeting we discussed the Town’s process for how changes are made to the land development regulations (i.e., text and zoning atlas amendments). What is important to you in terms of process and substance during a re-zoning?
   
   
4. Small Group Report Out
5. Open Discussion
6. Public Comment
7. Closing Remarks

Additional Materials:

• Interactive Project Map
• Memo and Presentation to Council re: Light Rail Station Area Planning Concepts
• GoTriangle Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit website

Recent Decisions: In April, the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization and the GoTriangle Board of Trustees voted to approve Orange County’s and Durham County’s revised transit plans and their new cost-sharing agreement (decisions made earlier in the week).

Next Steps: GoTriangle is now in the process of seeking approval from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for the engineering work associated with the plan. If the project continues to move forward, the station area planning work will position the Town to maximize the benefits of the project and help ensure that it supports community goals.   

Town Contacts:

For More Information about the Project: click here.