Where is Height Transition to Neighborhoods?

Good Evening,

You asked for density – the expansion of North Hills Main has just been completed after three years of lane closures on Lassiter Mill Road. Note that this expansion project stayed within current zoning recommendations without adding any buildings greater than 12 stories.

Planning staff has stated that the application is mostly consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The applicant is requesting height, height, height everywhere that is inconsistent with the zoning recommendation of the Midtown area plan, which recommends heights between 4 and 20 stories, inconsistent with the Future Land Use Map, which recommends heights between 2 and 20 stories, and inconsistent with Table LU-2, which recommends height for Regional Mixed Use at a maximum of 20 stories. The staff analysis of consistency with the Comp Plan continues to suggest that compliance would be improved with less building height.

So, how can the staff review determine that this application is consistent with the Future Land Use Map, the Urban Form Map, and the Zoning map of the Midtown area plan, when it clearly is not?

Bottom line, if you follow Comp Plan guidance, you don’t place your tallest buildings directly along the perimeter so they face and impact low-density neighborhoods. Most of the proposed buildings of 40, 20, and 12 stories do just that. This is why the application was cited as being deficient in density and height transitions.

It should be noted that there are conditions for step backs along Rowan but none for Lassiter Mill, where buildings should be stepped or terraced from 20 to 12 and finally 4 stories. You have seen the environmental impacts illustrated in the shade studies when you don’t follow this guidance.

Before closing, let’s address the one myth that the applicant uses for justification for heights greater than 20 stories:

If a rezoning includes a request for height in the upper half of the range, it should include significant public benefits beyond code requirements. The range is from 4 to 20 stories, not greater than 20 stories.

There hasn’t been a rezoning approved for more than 20 stories since the Midtown area plan was approved by Council in 2020. Both of those developments are fully compliant with a variety of housing, including  affordable units. Ms. Schwedler knows this since she was the attorney for one of them.

In terms of public benefits, it should be noted that building to LEED standards is a green building certification program that evaluates the sustainability and energy efficiency of buildings. This should be a City requirement. This is not a public benefit. It is a marketing benefit to make resale much easier in the future.

You are being asked to approve a development plan for the next ten years with selective compliance with the Midtown area plan. Is the closing of core business services, such as a pharmacy, a dry cleaner, a gas station, and banks to build on a Brownfield site worth it for flawed development with so many inconsistencies?

Having cancelled the Six Forks Road project, will any infrastructure support be provided for an already stressed road system? Will the closure of the Fire Station, without a timeline, budget, or location, jeopardize the response and rescue of the residents in this densely populated area?

The Comprehensive Plan is for policy guidance and is intended to shape how the city grows and develops through the year 2030. As Councilor Silver keeps repeating – Follow the plan, man.

The application in front of you today does not!

Thank you,

Larry Helfant