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ASU finds site for new college; seeking Boone zoning change
By Frank Ruggiero
ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com
Appalachian State University may have found a site for a new college of education, but plan specifications aren’t entirely in accordance with town regulations.
This apartment building at the corner of College and Howard streets in Boone may be sold to make way for Appalachian State University’s proposed building to house its college of education. Photo by Jason Reagan |
On Thursday, Feb. 8, university officials will appear before the Boone Town Council and Boone Area Planning Commission at the town’s winter quarter public hearing to request a zoning change for four parcels of land located between College Street, Howard Street and Hamby Alley.
“As it stands now, that’s the site for our new college of education building,” ASU Chief of Staff Lorin Baumhover said.
“We’re in the process of completing the purchase of the property. Some properties we’ve purchased already and others we’ve reached an agreement.”
The land, currently occupied by nine apartment buildings for an approximate total of 50 units, is located across from First Baptist Church and the university’s new parking deck on College Street. According to the Boone Development Services staff report, the university, in conjunction with the property owners, is requesting the zoning classification be changed from R-3 (multi-family residential) to CDU-1 (conditional district university).
This would allow for the apartment buildings’ demolition and the construction of a new, four-story, 120,000 square foot college of education building.
After the acquisition, the leases for the apartments’ tenants will be honored until the end of the lease period, Baumhover said, “So no one is going to lose their place of dwelling. We will honor their leases and ensure maintenance of the units will be up to the standards of the university.”
None of the leases are expected to extend past August.
The four parcels total .99 acres within the town’s corporate limits, but are not located within the central business or municipal service districts.
However, development services detected conflicts between the building’s planned specifications and the town’s land-use intensity regulations, one being that the development exceeds the allowable floor area by more than 100,000 square feet – 10 times the allowable square footage. The building’s planned footprint is for 25,529 square feet, including covered entrances.
The staff report also notes the proposed development fails to meet the minimum open space requirement of 32,775 square feet, the project being deficient by 15,180 square feet. Further, the project encroaches 97 feet into the required setback of 110 feet. The report says the project exceeds the allowable building height of 37 feet by 47 feet, as the building is designed to be 82 feet tall.
“The application underscores the absolute necessity for greater levels of advanced planning and increased coordination between the town and the university in order to provide and adequately plan for the future needs of our community,” the report reads.
While the town’s 2006 Comprehensive Plan Update supports the notion of compact, transit-sensitive development patterns, the report says the application is not supported by policies established for downtown, housing and neighborhoods, and the community.
The report continues, saying the application fails to meet established Unified Development Ordinance minimum standards, as well as the requirements for conditional zoning districts.
“The development plan for this facility far exceeds development densities specifically established for the intended land use and zoning district classification,” the report says.
As of press time, Baumhover had not yet seen the staff report and was unable to comment.
A brief history education
The state’s $18.87 billion final spending plan for fiscal year 2006-07 included capital planning funds of $1.8 million for what is being called the Reich College of Education Living Learning Academic Building.
Baumhover said the building would cost $35 million, and university officials contracted with architects, who completed preliminary and schematic drawings that were submitted to the state for approval. To his knowledge, the university has not yet received word back from the state.
The planning money covered architects’ fees and site review, but did not include funds for land acquisition.
“We have a request in to the state to help us purchase the land, and we’re asking, initially, for monies to be appropriated from the state. We’re doing some bridge funding now, in anticipation of receiving state dollars to purchase this land,” Baumhover said.
The Reich College of Education is currently based in Edwin Duncan Hall. Since space in Duncan is scarce, a new building will allow adequate room for the department’s clinical programs, which must adhere to national standards for accreditation.
Additional space will also accommodate the college’s other special programs, including the North Carolina Teaching Fellows, the National Center for Developmental Education, and adult basic skills and health education grant projects. This could allow the college to be more competitive when it comes to major grants for enhancement of its programs and services.
“We desperately need it,” Baumhover said of a new building. “The existing building is simply not adequate, not only to take care of current needs … but when we increase the number of students for K through 12 teaching in the state of North Carolina, it won’t handle our projected increase.”
He said the university will up its output from 16 percent of the state’s production of new teachers to almost 20 percent, in response to University of North Carolina system president Erskine Bowles’ challenge to member campuses to address the state’s teacher shortage.
“[The current building] is already too small, but for what we want to do to satisfy the shortage of teachers, it will certainly be small for the future needs,” Baumhover said.
Currently, more than 2,400 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate teacher education programs in the college.
When, where and what
The town’s quarterly public hearing will be held Thursday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. in the Town Council Chambers at 1500 Blowing Rock Road.
Other agenda items include UDO text amendments pertaining to tree pruning; sign definition; libraries, museums and art galleries; bed and breakfast establishments; and special use permits.
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