GOVERNMENT
Compiled by Adam Powell
Correspondent
In mid-January, the Chapel Hill Town Council held a legislative hearing on a conditional zoning application for a mixed-use development at 200 South Elliot Road. The project calls for 334 apartment units and more than 18,000 square feet of ground-level commercial shopping and restaurant space.
Trinsic Residential Group, based in Dallas, Texas, is seeking permission from town leaders to construct the apartment complex, which would be called Aura South Elliott. The developer is seeking a rezoning from the current zoning of R-5 (medium-high density zoning district for multiple-family dwellings), to a MU-V-CZD zoning – also referred to as a Mixed Use – Village – Conditional Zoning District.
The Aura South Elliott complex calls for a five-—to six-story urban design. If approved by town leaders, it would be constructed on three parcels totaling 4.01 acres. Frontage would be along S. Elliott Road, and a minor street—Couch Road—would run along the southern border of the westernmost parcel under consideration for development. The neighborhood would be across the street from Berkshire Chapel Hill, another large-scale residential project located at 201 S. Elliott Road.
As the developer has presented, key amenities of Aura South Elliott include a 12-foot multi-use path, a stormwater pond, a pool, and a parking deck. The development aims to meet Chapel Hill’s complete community standards, offering 10% affordable housing—approximately 33 to 34 of the total units.
Five percent of the residents within the development would be at or below 65% of Chapel Hill’s Area Median Income (AMI), with the other 5% being at or below 80% of local AMI. The affordable units would be interspersed throughout the property complex, indistinguishable from the market-rate apartments that would be leased to purchasers at or above 81% of local AMI.
Jessica Hardesty, AICP, a land planner with McAdams, a Durham-based civil engineering company assisting Trinsic Residential Group with this development, explained that Aura South Elliott is within the proposed Blue Hill District boundary but is not assigned an actual Blue Hill zoning district.
Chapel Hill’s Blue Hill District contains within it some of the town’s oldest suburban shopping locales, including Eastgate Shopping Center, which was completed in the late 1950s, Village Plaza, constructed in the mid-1970s, and Rams Plaza, which was completed in the early 1980s. Over the last decade, town leaders have sought to create an urban feel and walkability to this area, as well as plenty of retail and dining options for local residents and guests to the area.
The Blue Hill District has certain form-based codes for development and construction within the zone. And while not being in the specific Blue Hill District zoning creates some flexibility for the developer in this instance, Hardesty indicated that Trinsic Residential is committed to creating harmony within the surrounding neighborhood.
“So basically what that (not having a Blue Hill zoning district) does is it opens it up to allowing either a rezoning to a conventional zoning district or to a Blue Hill zoning district,” Hardesty explained. “But after input from staff and input from council at our concept plan, it made the most sense for us to move forward with a conventional zoning district, but still committing to some of those Blue Hill requirements that were desired, like components of the frontage types.”
Aura South Elliott first came before the council as a concept plan back in March of 2023. Feedback from town leaders at that time included a desire to see more commercial/retail in the area as opposed to simply a large number of new housing units. Town staff also requested a commitment to affordable housing, which the developer has agreed to, and improved walkability on the westernmost parcel bordered to the south by Couch Road.
“Some of the big comments that we heard from the council was that you all agreed with multi- family at this location, but you wanted to see a commercial or retail component in it as well,” Hardesty said. “Previously, we had all residential (space within the proposed complex). You (the council members) wanted to see the building broken up a little bit more and provide connectivity through the site. You wanted us to amenitize that western parcel, which we didn’t quite know what we were going to do with at the time – or provide trails through it. You suggested we use a conventional zoning rather than Blue Hill. And then you noted that affordable housing should be included here. We’re happy to report back that we were able to address all of these comments in some form.”
Current plans call for ground floor retail onsite with apartments above. The main apartment complex building will be five to six stories, with an urban-style street frontage and tree-lined streets. Parking for the site will be served from a parking deck, which will be hidden from view from the public street. Current plans call for around 427 parking spaces – roughly 1.5 spaces per housing unit.
“One of the other changes that we made was to break up the facade with courtyards along South Elliott (Road) to create an outdoor space for the retail and residential tenants,” Hardesty continued. “We’re providing a 12 foot multi-use path along South Elliott Road that connects through the site as well through breezeway, and continues as a multi-use path along Couch Road.
While Aura South Elliott lies in close proximity to transit stops, town staff requested to the developer that they construct a concrete pad for a bus stop onsite, while also making a $35,000 payment for transit improvements, which Trinsic Residential Group has agreed to.
Hardesty added that the developer plans to provide electric vehicle (EV) charging stations within the property, along with LED lighting in the building, as well as sustainable building materials.
“We are committed to using native and drought-tolerant plantings on the project. We’ve committed to designing for the 100-year storm event and also having multi-use paths to encourage active transportation. And we’ll be designing for NGBS (National Green Building Standard) certification,” Hardesty explained.
During the comments portion of the legislative hearing on the evening of January 15, multiple local residents – as well as some council members – raised concerns about pedestrian safety, potential future traffic congestion, and the absence of a connector road, which they believe will create clogs and bottlenecks within the local traffic grid.
“My concern about not having that (connector) road is around pedestrian safety,” said council member Karen Stegman. “(There’s) a lot of congestion. That’s already a quite busy intersection, and more cars end up harming business and some of those issues.”
“So that (Couch Road) is an access road. It already goes to an apartment complex, you know,” added fellow council member Adam Searing. “It stubs out. It’s right next to your property. I don’t think that just saying that there’s access through the Credit Union parking lot (is adequate). That doesn’t seem to me to be a second access. That seems to be driving through the Credit Union parking lot. So why not extend Couch Road in to allow that to be a second access point? I really don’t understand that, especially with the number of cars and the density that we’re talking about here. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me to not do that.”
“I actually asked for connectivity on that road when you came before us before (in 2023),” added another council member, Camille Berry. “It was omitted from the list of requests that we made. But I actually made that request. We already have issues for emergency vehicles. Right now, we already have issues with people trying to cross there. And if you put people there – which I’m all about, more housing density – but that means that they’re going to cross the road and right at that bend is very dangerous. Extremely dangerous. So I’m curious about that. Is it the cost? Because if you put it in a road, you’re going to have to pay for the curbs and the gutters.”
“If we had a road cut through the project, it would separate the buildings (and) eat into the developable acreage,” Hardesty explained to the council members, while apologizing to Berry for omitting her initial request. “It would also make parking a little bit more complicated for the building that would be south of Couch Road. At the end of the day, it just became infeasible for the project to make that full street connection.”
“All right, well, you just don’t want to do it,” said council member Searing in response.
“Short answer is, at this point, with the economic conditions we’re facing, this project is infeasible if we put (a) Couch Road (connector road) in there,” added Owen Burkard, a Director at Trinsic Residential Group.
Town staff indicated that a traffic impact analysis of the site showed that increased pedestrian crossings, along with another potential pedestrian connection to Willow Street and running adjacent to the nearby Sunstone Apartments at 208 Conner Dr. would be considered ‘positive improvements.’
“The main improvements that we’ll be doing are providing a 12-foot multi-use path along South Elliott Road, and then we’ll have another multi-use path that cuts through our breezeway, through the site, and continues along our Couch Road frontage,” Hardesty added. “We’re also providing crosswalks across that private drive and across South Elliott. And then we’ve also agreed to providing curb ramps for a potential crosswalk where our multi-use path cuts through the site, but that’s subject to some other studies with site distance and what not. But we’ll agree to the curb cuts that staff asked for.”
Despite their concerns about pedestrian safety and connectivity to the local area, the town council ultimately seemed to support the project. The council will resume its legislative hearing on Aura South Elliott on the evening of Wednesday, February 12.
Adam Powell is a reporter on local news and sports and an education communications professional. A 2001 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Powell has served as managing editor of multiple local publications, including the Mebane Enterprise, News of Orange County and TarHeelIllustrated.com. The public information officer for Rockingham County Schools in Eden, N.C., Powell is the author of four books and lives in Mebane with his wife and two children. This reporter can be reached at: Information@TheLocal Reporter.press.
Council needs to restrict ownership to those that will live in the apartments.