Is council down with Uptown?

Eleven residents voiced their concerns about the Uptown North Orange rezoning application during an Orange Town Council public hearing Monday.
Uptown North Orange, formerly known as Roundhill, was conceived by owner Carl Owens and would turn the last remaining large parcel of undeveloped land within the Town of Orange into a mixed-use community where people could live, shop and conduct business in one area. The project has taken on many different iterations over the past 10 years and recently, at the insistence of new town planner Joshua Bateman, council added a new zoning classification, traditional neighborhood development, to accommodate the project. This new zoning will allow for even more mixed-use of the space, which is now proposed as 740-750 residential dwelling units and 169,869 square feet of commercial/mixed-use space on 133 acres. Of the dwelling units, 200 will be single family homes, 275 will be townhouses, 225 will be multi-family units and 50 will be live-work spaces with businesses on the first floor and apartments on the second floor.
Citizens expressed concerns about traffic flow, buffers and commercial orientation. During the public hearing, some residents said they were concerned about the proposed roundabouts included in the application. Christine Jatterberg said the roundabouts proposed near her neighborhood would make it difficult for medical personnel to respond to an incident in the neighborhood. She said emergency vehicles would get caught up in the roundabout. Dave Starner said the roundabouts would allow people to get into his subdivision accidently. He said those same people, especially if they were driving a large commercial vehicle, would have a hard time finding their way out. Joan Starner suggested moving the roundabout in question near Glebeway Subdivision a little farther north to eliminate the problem and allow for the trucks to slow down prior to getting close to the neighborhood.
Concerns were also voiced about the 15-foot buffer being proposed between the residential and commercial areas on Route 15 in the proposed commercial district. Jeff Dwyer said he didn't think a 15-foot buffer would eliminate the commercial noise from the residential areas. He also said the commercial area would likely negatively impact residents' property values. Resident Dan Gregg also spoke about the proposed commercial area, stating he wished it could be moved to the interior of the project instead of at the town's gateway.
Even with the concerns being voiced, several residents spoke out in favor of the project, saying it would bring critical business and residents to the Town of Orange.
"The Town of Orange needs more citizens to help business," Kevin Reynolds said. "The 750 people [from this project] would help Orange immensely. We all need people to make this town healthier."
Rick Sherman voiced his support for the project saying applicant Owens has been very cooperative with all town requests and has supplied a very extensive proffer commitment.
"This is the town, a growth area, and it needs to grow," he said. "You already had the planning commission look this thing over for a year and they recommended approval."
The planning commission did recommend approval of the project to the town council following their own public hearing and discussion on the matter last month. However, their recommendation came with very specific conditions, conditions which have now been included in the application. They are: the 15 ft. buffer adjacent to Route 15 in the Special Development District (SD-15), the commercial district, shall be landscaped to commissioners satisfactions in order to create a vegetative buffer between commercial uses of the west side of Route 15 and residential uses of the east side; a paved multi-use trail at least eight feet wide shall be constructed within the buffer along the west side of Route 15; no driveway or commercial entrance providing direct access from Route 15 to any development in SD-15 shall be permitted; and, not more than one monument sign with a foundation and framework constructed of brick or comparable material shall be permitted along Route 15 to serve all uses within the SD-15 District.
Commissioners also suggested three additional requirements to be considered by the Orange Town Council prior to approving the project. They suggested the town request an additional contribution from Owens to Orange County to fund capital school needs associated with the project. Previously, questions were raised because the project currently contains no proffers for education. Commissioners also suggested that the town request the applicant fund the construction of one or more short-term or immediate-term water system needs in order to address deficiencies in the town's aging public water system and improve the ability of the town to provide adequate water to the development and existing customers. This suggestion is in line with a water study conducted by Draper Aden Associates to determine Uptown North's effects on the town's water system. The study determined that the existing water system will need additional improvements to provide adequate flow to the development. Commissioners also suggested that the town council request a new gravity sewer line to tie the Uptown North Orange sewer system directly into the new interceptor sewer line west of town.
Several of the concerns voiced during the public hearing and the additional suggestions set forth by the planning commission were discussed by council members following the close of Monday's hearing. As for the buffer, town planner Joshua Bateman said it is actually larger than he initially indicated. He said the right-of-way is about 58 feet of space on each side of the road. He this includes space for an eight-foot multi-use path, as proposed in the application, and a 15-foot buffer space that will solely be used a green space. The extra right-of-way space can be used to plant trees or green area up until Route 15 is-or isn't-widened in the future. As for pushing the buffer back to allow for more space between the residential and commercial areas, Bateman said that has to be a carefully made decision.
"If you push it back to far, you are pushing the commercial back into the wetlands which could lead to costly wetland mitigation," he said.
As for water and sewer issues, Bateman said Draper Aden Associates are currently analyzing how each water system upgrade option will affect the system to decide what the best option of upgrading is.
Frank Cox, a consultant working with Owens on the project, acknowledged that something will likely have to be done to adequately solve potential problems with water and sewer.
"We are happy to get here to this point," he said. "We took a hiatus to bring in a desired project with fiscal benefits. We feel the team has done the best job we could. We formally accept the planning commission conditions. We realize we need to do certain water and sewer [updates]. We also agree to build an onsite pumping station."
Educational proffers, however, are still a point of contention for the project. While the county is concerned about the lack of proffers from the project for education and the planning commission suggested the town council specifically request them from Owens, Cox said at this point they are unwilling to add those proffers into the already lengthy proposed proffers, something Owens himself spoke about.
"The question about school proffers has been bothering me," he said. "The money to meet school costs is coming from somewhere. How did we get what we got? There were no proffers or impact fees. We're trying to do a comprehensive study now on [costs associated with the project] but I'm pretty sure we're maxed out. We've gone about as far as we can go with this being a [viable] project."
Fiscally, the project is expected to contribute $432,893 in annual revenue to the town. Plus, the project includes more than $34 million in proffers, or $45,000 per dwelling unit. These proffers include the construction of two roundabouts on Route 15; enhanced streetscapes, landscapes and site improvement; public open space, parks and recreation areas, Route 15 sidewalk improvements; and the first phase of the May-Fray Avenue extension between Washington Street and Montebello Avenue.
The Orange Town Council is expected to vote on the rezoning application at its regular meeting Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. in the Town of Orange Community Room.