Town of Cary , North Carolina
Comprehensive Plan Amendment Staff Report
10-CPA-10 Davis Residence Holdings LLC
Town Council Meeting
April 28, 2011

This Comprehensive Plan Amendment case is a request for a 10.1-acre parcel located on the west side of Pittard Sears Road, approximately 2,200 feet south of O’Kelly Chapel Road. The applicant is proposing to change the long-range land use designation from Very Low Density Residential (VLDR) to Low Density Residential (LDR). The property is located within the adopted Northwest Area Plan, which provides additional recommendations for the subject property via Note 1 on the Future Land Use Map. Note 1 states that “Development at densities of more than 1 dwelling per 5 acres should be clustered using conservation subdivision design to preserve rural character, open spaces.” The plan amendment application also requests that the parcel no longer be subject to Note 1.

NOTE: The purpose of a comprehensive plan amendment is to evaluate the appropriateness of a proposed land use and/or other policy recommendation for the subject parcel(s) of land. Specific permitted land uses are addressed during review of a rezoning case, and technical design standards of the Land Development Ordinance are addressed during review of the site or subdivision plan. Details for zoning and land development standards can be found at http://www.amlegal.com/library/nc/cary.shtml.

Property Owner(s)	County Parcel Number(s) (10-digit)	Real Estate ID(s)	Deeded Acreage
Davis Residence Holding LLC & HF Investors 8368 Six Forks Road Raleigh, NC 27615	0726-30-4388.00	84836	10.1
Total Area			10.1

Applicant & Agent	Glenda S. Toppe PO Box 30725 Cary, NC 27622 919-605-7390 E-mail: gtplan@gmail.com
Acreage	10.1
General Location	West side of Pittard Sears Road, approximately 2,200 feet south of O’Kelly Chapel Road
Tentative Schedule	Town Council Public Hearing January 27, 2011	Planning and Zoning Board Public Hearing March 21, 2011	Town Council Action April 28, 2011
Existing Land Use Plan Designation	Very Low Density Residential with Note 1 on NW Area Plan Map 1.
Existing Zoning District(s)	R-1 Residential (Chatham County). (Minimum lot size of 40,000 sq. ft.)
Town Limits	The subject property is located outside the corporate limits and the Town of Cary ETJ.
Staff Contact	Scott Ramage, AICP 919-462-3888 scott.ramage@townofcary.org

A. Notification
On January 13, 2011, the Planning Department mailed notification of a public hearing on the request to property owners within 400 feet of the subject property. Notification consistent with General Statutes was published in the Cary News on January 12 and 19, 2011, for the Town Council public hearing, and again on March 9 and 16, 2011, for the Planning and Zoning Board public hearing. Notice of the public hearings was posted on the property.

B. Town Council Public Hearing on January 27, 2011
The applicants’ representative, Ms. Glenda Toppe, summarized the plan amendment request for Council. She noted that the request was consistent with the latest proposed draft of the Chatham-Cary Joint Land Use Plan. No other citizens spoke during the public hearing.

C. Planning and Zoning Board Public Hearing on March 21, 2011
The applicants’ representative, Ms. Glenda Toppe, summarized the plan amendment request, and explained how the proposal was consistent with the intent of the draft Chatham-Cary Joint Plan. No citizens came forward to speak.

Planning and Zoning Board Discussion: Some board members felt that the proposal provided a reasonable transition, since the area would go from 4 dwellings per acre on the east side of Pittard Sears Road, to the proposed 1-3 units per acre on the west side of Pittard Sears Road, and finally to 1 dwelling per acre and 1 dwelling per 3-5 acres moving farther west. Other board members felt the proposed transition would be too abrupt, placing Low Density Residential immediately next to areas designated for 1 dwelling per acre and 1 dwelling per 3-5 acres. Some of those board members felt that Pittard Sears Road should be maintained as a boundary between suburban and rural densities.

Some board members also expressed concerns about placing too much reliance on conformance with the draft Chatham-Cary Joint Plan, and preferred to rely on the Northwest Area Plan until the Joint Plan was officially adopted. Other board members felt the amendment could be deemed a reasonable amendment to the NW Area Plan, regardless of the status of the draft Joint Plan, since it adhered to the spirit of providing a reasonable density transition from east to west. Some thought that construction of Carolina Preserve on the opposite side of Pittard Sears Road had changed the nature of the area, and justified a modification to the density transition.

Board Recommendation: The board voted 6-3 to recommend approval. Dissenting board members cited concerns over the density transition and placing too great a reliance on the draft Joint Plan.

A. Land Use Plan (Northwest Area Plan)
The subject parcel is located in Chatham County. The parcel is located within the boundaries of Cary’s Northwest Area Plan, which is therefore the official governing element of the Land Use Plan. However, the parcel is also located within the study area for the draft Chatham-Cary Joint Land Use Plan, which has not yet been completed, nor officially adopted. Both plans are discussed below.

Current Land Use Plan Designation, Northwest Area Plan: For the subject parcel, the governing element of the Comprehensive Plan is the Northwest Area Plan. The Future Land Use Map of the Northwest Area Plan currently designates the subject parcel as “Very Low Density Residential” (VLDR). The Northwest Area Plan document defines VLDR as “Single-family detached residential dwellings having lot sizes of at least 2-3 acres, unless the VLDR area is developed using clustered conservation subdivision design.” If clustered conservation subdivision design is used, then the plan recommends that lot sizes smaller than one acre could be used, but the overall density yield should not exceed one dwelling per acre, and the dwellings should still be single-family. This recommendation is reinforced on the Northwest Plan’s Future Land Use Map, which includes a “Note 1” that applies to all the properties west of Pittard Sears Road. Note 1 states that “Development at densities of more than 1 dwelling per 5 acres should be clustered using conservation subdivision design to preserve rural character, open spaces.”

The Northwest Area Plan document provides a description and definition for qualifying conservation subdivision design. The plan states that "cluster or conservation subdivision design” generally refers to the grouping of residential home sites on smaller lots than would normally be provided, in order to allow a larger part of the tract to be preserved. The plan also states that “Conservation subdivision design refers to residential subdivisions where 50% or more of the buildable land area is designated as permanent open space.”

Current Land Use Plan Designation, Draft Chatham-Cary Joint Land Use Plan: The draft plan currently recommends that the subject parcel, along with the neighboring properties located on the west side of Pittard Sears Road, be developed as residential at up to two dwellings per acre, single-family detached. (High-resolution large-file plan map available here.)

Comparison of Northwest Area Plan and Draft Chatham-Cary Joint Plan land use recommendations:

	West Side of Pittard Sears Road	East Side of Pittard Sears Road
Northwest Area Plan	Very Low Density Residential (max. of 1 dwelling per acre)	Low to Medium Density Residential (1-6 dwellings/acre)
Draft Chatham-Cary Joint Plan	2 dwellings per acre	4 dwellings per acre

Requested Land Use Plan Designation:  The applicant is requesting that the subject parcel’s future land use designation be changed to “Low Density Residential” (LDR) on the Northwest Area Plan’s Future Land Use Map. LDR is defined as single-family at densities of about 1-3 dwellings per acre, with lot sizes generally ranging between 10,000 square feet and one acre. The plan does, however, state that: “Smaller lot sizes and single-family attached housing are possible when using clustered/conservation development designs ... although the overall density should not exceed 3 dwellings per acre.” The applicants have also requested that the subject parcel no longer be subject to Note 1 on the Future Land Use Map.

Comparison of Existing and Requested Land Use Plan Designations:  The range of residential densities that might conform to the existing and proposed land use plan designations are depicted below. Note, however, that the precise future density will depend on the specific zoning approved for the property.

Analysis:  While the proposed plan amendment deviates from the original intent of the Northwest Area Plan to have a more marked density transition between the east and west sides of Pittard Sears Road than exists in the draft Chatham-Cary Joint Plan, the amendment does conform with the more recent planning efforts associated with the Chatham-Cary Joint Plan. Note however that the draft Joint Plan uses different land use categories and density ranges than does the Northwest Area Plan. If the amendment is approved, then in order for a rezoning case to conform to both the draft Joint Plan and the Northwest Area Plan, a zoning case would need to include a cap of about two dwellings per acre, as opposed to the three dwellings/acre cap normally associated with the Low Density Residential designation.

B. Parks & Greenways Master Plan
According to the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Facilities Master Plan there are no issues related to this site. A recreation payment-in-lieu will be required for any future residential development in accordance with the Land Development Ordinance.

C. Growth Management Plan
The Growth Management Plan includes the following Guiding Principles that are relevant to this case:

1. R1 Guiding Principle: Ensure that adequate infrastructure and services are available concurrently with new development.

2. L1 Guiding Principle: Concentrate growth near existing and planned employment centers and available and planned infrastructure to minimize costly service-area extensions.

3. L2 Guiding Principle: Ensure that future growth protects sensitive natural resources and protects open space.

4. A1 Guiding Principle: Increase permitted densities in preferred growth areas to encourage desired forms of development.

Analysis: The proposed plan amendment furthers several of the guiding principles. Principle R1 is satisfied due to the proximity of public utilities and planned highway capacity in the area. Principle L1 is satisfied given that the subject parcel is located about two miles west of the western boundary of Research Triangle Park (RTP), and about one mile west of the Alston Regional Activity Center. The extent to which future development may or may not conform with Principle L2 will depend on the particular location and amount of open space proposed for preservation, which won’t be known until either rezoning or site plan approval. Guiding Principle A1 may be considered to be satisfied since in general the Northwest Area Plan is based on a premise of encouraging higher densities near RTP.

D. Affordable Housing Plan

The Affordable Housing Plan includes the following goals that are relevant to this case:

1. Provide for a full range of housing choices for all income groups, families of various sizes, seniors, and persons with special challenges.

2. Facilitate the creation of a reasonable proportion of the Town of Cary’s housing as affordable units through additional homeownership opportunities for individuals and families earning between 60% and 80% of area median income and affordable apartments for individuals and families earning up to 60% of the area median income.

Analysis: The proposed plan amendment may somewhat help to further the above housing goals by providing for higher-density housing than is currently recommended by the Northwest Area Plan. However, the proposed density isn’t so high as to significantly raise the chances of affordability or a wider range of housing choices.

E. Comprehensive Transportation Plan

Pittard Sears Road is designated as a Local Street.
Existing Section: 2-lane section (shoulder, no curb & gutter) with approximately 26-foot roadway section on 50-foot right-of-way
Future Section: 2-lane section with curb & gutter with 27-foot roadway section on 50-foot right-of-way
Sidewalks: None existing, recommended on at least one side (preferably south/east side to connect to Pittard Sears Multi-use Trail between American Tobacco Trail and McConnell Lane just south of subject property)
Bicycle Lanes: None existing or planned
Transit: No existing or planned service
Status of Planned Improvements: None planned

F. Open Space Plan
According to the Open Space and Historic Resources Plan the majority of the subject property was identified as significant open space due to the forest stand of mixed hardwood & conifer forest on site. In terms of resource priority, this forest land was assigned a relatively modest priority score, ranking in the bottom third of identified priority natural resources. There is an exception to this at the western edge of the property, where a small area of riparian forest is ranked in the top quarter of identified priority resources.

G. Historic Preservation Master Plan
There are no existing buildings on the subject parcel.

Provided below are the applicant’s responses to the Comprehensive Plan Amendment justification questions contained in the application form. (The application questions are repeated). Please note that the statements below are that of the applicant and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the Town of Cary.

How is the proposed request reasonable? In explaining how it is reasonable, please address the following, if applicable:

1. Describe how the requested amendment is warranted due to changes in conditions, forecasts, or assumptions since the original Comprehensive Plan recommendations were developed.

Applicant’s response: Given the development patterns in the area, the proposed Land Use Plan Amendment is warranted. With the approval of medium density residential across the street from this property, circumstances have changed. Given this change, low density residential on the west side of Pittard Sears Road is a more appropriate land use category to transition back to the higher density residential on the east side of Pittard Sears Road. The changes in the area are reflected in the draft Chatham County-Cary Joint Land Use Plan. The property under consideration is shown as low density residential in the draft plan.

2. Describe how the requested amendment is warranted due to new issues, needs, or opportunities that have arisen in this geographic area since the original Comprehensive Plan recommendations were developed.

Applicant’s response: Since the adoption of the Land Use Plan, the land east of the proposed land use plan amendment/rezoning request has been annexed into Cary and approved for medium density residential development. Low density residential is a more appropriate land use classification. Again, this is recognized in the draft Chatham County-Cary Joint Land Use Plan.

3. Describe how the requested amendment is warranted due to changes in Town policies, objectives, or standards since the original Comprehensive Plan recommendations were developed.

Applicant’s response: With the decision to approve medium density residential east of Pittard Sears Road, low density residential is now a more appropriate land use classification west of Pittard Sears Road than the existing very low density residential. Low density residential is a more appropriate transitional land use category adjacent to the medium density residential in the Amberly PDD than the current very low density residential.

4. Describe how the requested amendment is warranted due to errors or omissions in the current Comprehensive Plan.

Applicant’s response: N/A

Section 3.2.2(B) of the Land Development Ordinance states that proposals to amend the Comprehensive Plan shall be evaluated based upon whether the amendment is necessary in order to address conditions including, but not limited to, the following:

1. A change in projections or assumptions from those on which the Comprehensive Plan is based;

Analysis: No change in projections or assumptions has been identified.

2. Identification of new issues, needs, or opportunities that are not adequately addressed in the Comprehensive Plan;
Analysis: Subsequent to adoption of the Northwest Area Plan in 2002, the Town initiated a joint land use planning effort with Chatham County in December 2005, and in May 2009 formed a Joint Issues Committee consisting of county commissioners and council members to develop a joint land use plan. That joint planning effort has resulted in new draft land use recommendations along Pittard Sears Road.

3. A change in the policies, objectives, principles, or standards governing the physical development of the Town or any other geographic areas addressed by the Comprehensive Plan; or
Analysis: No changes have been identified other than those described in 2., above.

4. Identification of errors or omissions in the Comprehensive Plan.
Analysis: No errors or omissions have been identified.

A. Staff Analysis

Observations About the Proposed Plan Amendment

The proposed plan amendment is consistent with the land use designation proposed in the latest draft of the Chatham-Cary Joint Land Use Plan. Since that planning effort is more contemporary than the original development of the Northwest Area Plan, this report’s recommendations are based chiefly on the draft Joint Plan.

1. In October 2009, another plan amendment, case “09-CPA-04 Amberly-Pittard Sears Road,” changed the recommended land use density on the east side of Pittard Sears Road to “Low to Medium Density Residential”, from its prior designation of “Low Density Residential.” This amendment conformed to the draft of the Chatham-Cary Joint Plan.

2. The proposed plan amendment builds on case 09-CPA-04, and continues the process of altering the land use recommendations along Pittard Sears Road into conformance with the draft Joint Plan. The changes effectively move the points of density transition somewhat westward, and establish a more gradual density transition than is found in the Northwest Area Plan.

3. The proposed amendment conforms with several Guiding Principles from the Growth Management Plan, due to the availability of public services and the proximity of the site to major employment areas such as Research Triangle Park.

B. Recommendation
Based on the considerations described above, staff recommends approval of this comprehensive plan amendment request.