CARY, NC – Whether you live, work, or are simply interested in the section of Walnut Street from Cary Towne Center to Buck Jones Road, the Town of Cary would like to hear from you about its plans for that area’s future.

Citizens are invited to attend one of three Town of Cary community open houses to help develop a Walnut Street Corridor District Plan establishing new zoning regulations and design standards for dozens of pieces of property on both sides of part of Walnut Street. The new plan will address redevelopment (replacement of structures) conversion (change of use of a residential structure), and infill (new development on large tracts of underused land) of properties along the corridor, while avoiding strip commercial development that could overburden Walnut Street and be out of harmony with surrounding neighborhoods.

The first open house is being held tomorrow night, April 3, from 7 - 9 p.m. at the Cary Senior Center Ballroom, 120 Maury O'Dell Place, Bond Park; additional dates are April 8 and 10, all at the same time and location. Property owners in the affected area were mailed invitations in March encouraging them to attend one of the sessions.

"This stretch of Walnut Street provides a valuable, low-density residential separation between the Cary Towne Center and the Buck Jones Road / Crossroads commercial areas, while also serving as an attractive gateway entrance into Cary," said Senior Planner Gordon Sutherland. "However, residential property owners along this corridor feel that increased noise and traffic have over the years combined to negatively affected their quality of life. Our aim is to do something about that."

At each of the open houses, participants will have the opportunity to view a computer simulation of how the corridor could look in the future. Participants will also be shown various options for how new development could be regulated, including building height, size, lighting, parking, and rear buffers. Finally, Town staff will be looking for feedback and suggestions for this project as they talk with attendees.

This effort builds upon the Southeast Gateway Area Plan, which was adopted by the Cary Town Council in 1998 and stated that Cary wished to preserve the positive gateway and land use buffer functions of this corridor, while allowing the properties to evolve to other more compatible uses.

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