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Town of Cary , North Carolina
Development Plan Staff Report
03-SP-104-B Panther Creek High School , Thoroughfare Corridor Buffer
Revegetation Plan and Proposed Site Plan Amendments
Town Council Meeting
January 27, 2011

The Wake County Public School System requests consideration of approval of modifications to the Panther Creek High School Site Plan: (1) to add land area to the eastern side of the 100-foot Thoroughfare Corridor Buffer and to revegetate portions of the buffer cleared for the installation of an overhead power transmission line; and (2) to amend the Panther Creek High School Site Plan to show the existence of a 70-foot Progress Energy utility easement and overhead power transmission line in the Thoroughfare Corridor Buffer.

Site Plan Layout

Property Owner	Wake County Parcel Identification Number (PIN) (10-digit)	Real Estate ID Number	Deeded Acreage
Wake County Public School System Facility Planning Department 1551 Rock Quarry Road Raleigh, NC 27610	0735278154	0304612	70.98
Total Area			70.98

Recently, the 100-foot Thoroughfare Corridor Buffer (buffer) located in the westernmost part of the Panther Creek High School site was cleared of existing forest area for the installation of a Progress Energy overhead power transmission line (overhead transmission line) and its support pylons. The overhead transmission line is located in a 70-foot Progress Energy utility easement (utility easement), and the utility easement is located in the center of the buffer. In response to communication from the Town, Wake County Public School System, the property owner, submitted a Revegetation Plan and an amendment to the Panther Creek High School Site Plan to request the following:

Thoroughfare Corridor Buffer Revegetation Plan Request:
The purpose of this plan is: (1) to revegetate the easternmost 15 feet of the buffer where existing vegetation was removed; (2) to create an opaque screen within the buffer; and (3) to add 90,100 square feet (2.10 acres) of native forest area to the eastern side of the buffer. Within the remaining 15 feet of buffer area between the Western Wake Expressway right-of-way and the utility easement, existing native trees and shrubs were left undisturbed and would be retained to aid in providing opaque screening.

Site Plan Amendment Request:
The purpose of this amendment is to revise the previously approved Panther Creek High School Site Plan to show the existence within the buffer of a utility easement and an overhead transmission line.

The Planning Board and the Town Council are asked to consider the proposed Buffer Revegetation Plan and the Site Plan Amendment, because the LDO generally states that any development within the buffer and any removal or modification to existing forest area within the buffer must be reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Board and approved by the Town Council.

Agent & Applicant	Marcella S. Rorie, Assoc. AIA Facilities Planner Wake County Public School System Facility Planning Department 1551 Rock Quarry Road Raleigh, NC 27610
Acreage	70.98 ±
General Location	6770 McCrimmon Parkway
Town Limits	Parcel is within Town limits
Land Use Plan Designation	Industrial
Zoning District(s)	Planned Development District (PDD)
Existing Use	Public High School
Associated Document	03-SP-104-B, Panther Creek High School Site Plan
Staff Contact	Bob Benfield, Principal Planner Town of Cary Planning Department P.O. Box 8005 Cary, NC 27512-8005

Meeting	Date	Action
Planning And Zoning Board	August 16, 2010 December 20, 2010	1. The Planning Board voted 8 to 1 to recommend approval of the Panther Creek High School Thoroughfare Corridor Revegetation Plan with conditions as recommended by staff. 2. The Planning Board voted unanimously (9 to 0) to recommend approval of an amendment to the Panther Creek High School Site Plan to show the existence of a utility easement and associated overhead transmission line in the buffer. 1. The Planning Board voted 7 to 2 to recommend approval of the Panther Creek High School Thoroughfare Corridor Revegetation Plan with conditions as recommended by staff. 2. The Planning Board voted unanimously (9 to 0) to recommend approval of an amendment to the Panther Creek High School Site Plan to show the existence of a utility easement and associated overhead transmission line in the buffer.
Town Council	September 30, 2010 January 27, 2011	At the applicant’s request, the Town Council forwarded the plan back to the Planning Board for consideration of proposed modifications to the plan.

Panther Creek High School is located north of McCrimmon Parkway, east of the Western Wake Expressway location, and approximately 2,000 feet west of the intersection of NC Highway 55 and McCrimmon Parkway. The Panther Creek High School development plan was approved on October 9, 2003 (Cary Project Number 03-SP-104). At the time of the approval of the Panther Creek High School development plan, the buffer was a mature forest comprised of both indigenous evergreen and deciduous plant material. The approved Panther Creek High School Landscape Plan provided evergreen landscape supplementation along the eastern fringe of the buffer so that the buffer would function as a year-round opaque screen. On August 3, 2009, while making field inspections on the extent to which the buffer would be cleared for the installation of an overhead power transmission line, staff noticed that the buffer had been cleared on the Panther Creek High School site. On September 21, 2009, staff met with representatives from the Wake County Public School System to discuss the clearing of the buffer and the process for approval of both a revised site plan and a Thoroughfare Corridor Buffer Revegetation Plan. On March 3, 2010, the design firm of CLH Design, P.A., representing the Wake County Public School System, submitted plans for the review and the approval of revisions to the previously approved Panther Creek High School Site Plan to address the location of an overhead transmission line in the buffer and to address revegetation of the buffer to re-establish a native opaque landscape screen along the eastern side of the buffer.

On August 16, 2010, a proposed Panther Creek High School Thoroughfare Corridor Buffer Revegetation Plan and a site plan amendment to show the existence of a utility easement and overhead transmission line in the buffer was reviewed and recommended for approval by the Planning Board. Following the Planning Board meeting, the Wake County Public School System decided to modify the Revegetation Plan to add additional land area to the buffer. On September 30, 2010, the Town Council voted to forward the modified plan back to the Planning Board for review and a recommendation.

The effects of this request are: (1) to add an additional 90,100 square feet (2.10 acres) of native forest area to the eastern side of the buffer and install landscape supplementation in buffer areas east of the utility easement to re-establish native forest area that meets both the intent of the LDO and the opaque buffer standard, as much as is practicable; and (2) to seek approval of modifications to provide for the existence of a utility easement and for the overhead transmission line within the buffer.

Landscape Plan Upper Section

Landscape Plan Middle Section

Landscape Plan Lower Section

The Thoroughfare Corridor Buffer Revegetation Plan adds additional land area to the eastern side of the buffer. Following clearing within the buffer for the installation of the overhead transmission line, approximately 77,000 square feet (1.77 acres) of usable buffer area was left, consisting of a 15-foot strip of buffer located on the western and eastern sides of the utility easement. The plans propose to add an additional 90,100 square feet (2.10 acres) to the eastern side of the buffer. The newly-added buffer area varies in width from 380 feet, in the northeastern corner of the McCrimmon Parkway overpass with the Western Wake Expressway, to 40 feet wide adjacent to the existing parking area approximately 800 feet north of McCrimmon Parkway. The new buffer area is predominately an existing Pine forest. In addition to Pine, the new buffer area also contains Willow Oak, Shumard Oak, Crape Myrtle, and additional Pine previously approved and previously installed as a part of the original Landscape Plan. The eastern side of the northern half of the buffer would receive both Wax Myrtle and Pine to augment previously installed/retained landscaping consisting of: Nuttall Oak; Willow Oak; Southern Magnolia; Eastern Red Cedar; Oakleaf Holly; Crape Myrtle; and Needle Point Holly.

Within the remaining 15 feet of western buffer area between the Western Wake Expressway right-of-way and the utility easement, existing native evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs were left undisturbed and would be retained to aid in providing native forest area and opaque screening.

The plan also includes soil testing within the planting area and the addition of soil amendments appropriate for the area based on the proposed plant selections.

Site Plan Layout

The proposed site plan amendment provides for a utility easement and for an overhead transmission line to be located in the buffer. The utility easement is generally located in the center of the buffer.

Land Development Ordinance section 4.4.4(D)(5) states that no development shall be allowed within the buffer. However, in considering approval of the development plan, the construction of streets and utilities through the buffer may be allowed by the Town Council upon finding that such construction is necessary for safe ingress and egress or for providing utility service. The overhead transmission line is necessary to ensure that an adequate future power supply would be available to existing and future residents of western Wake County.

See the “Zoning Requirements That Might Affect Town Council Approval of Buffer Revegetation Plan” and “Zoning Requirements That Might Affect Town Council Approval of Site Plan Revisions” link in this report for LDO references.

The original Panther Creek High School site plan did not include consideration of a public greenway, because a public greenway trail along the school site is not part of the Town's current Greenway Master Plan. The Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Department (PRCR) will be working with the Wake County Public School System and Progress Energy in the near future to obtain a public greenway easement.

The Thoroughfare Corridor Buffer Revegetation Plan and the Panther Creek High School Site Plan Amendment (03-SP-104-B) constitute two separate actions for consideration.

Planning and Zoning Board meeting of December 20, 2010:

1. Thoroughfare Corridor Buffer Revegetation Plan

The Planning Board voted 7 to 2 to recommend approval of the Panther Creek High School Thoroughfare Corridor Revegetation Plan with conditions as recommended by staff.

2. Panther Creek High School Site Plan Amendment

The Planning Board voted unanimously (9 to 0) to recommend approval of an amendment to the Panther Creek High School Site Plan to show the existence of a utility easement and associated overhead transmission line in the buffer.

To date, staff has processed two Thoroughfare Corridor Buffer Revegetation Plans: (1) Cameron Pond Subdivision; and (2) Panther Creek High School. While both developments incorporate a section of adjoining buffer in which 70 feet of buffer width was cleared of existing forest area for the installation of an overhead transmission line, the two buffer areas are different in the following characteristics:

· In geographic location;

· in elevation in relation to the adjoining Western Wake Expressway;

· in adjoining land use (a subdivision containing single-family lots and an institutional use);

· in distance between the buffer and Western Wake Expressway to adjoining structures (single-family dwellings and the Panther Creek High School building);

· in location of remaining usable forest area; and

· in location of buffer area available for revegetation and supplementation.

Consequently, different and unique revegetation and supplementation schemes were proposed for each development.

As required, and as is practical, the revised Panther Creek High School Thoroughfare Corridor Buffer Revegetation Plan would effectively reforest and effectively supplement approximately 94 percent of the total area comprising the proposed buffer and would provide screening of the Western Wake Expressway and the overhead transmission lines from view from the Panther Creek High School. The plan also includes appropriate notes and details regarding how the trees and shrubs are to be installed, including adding soil amendments as may be appropriate based on existing soil conditions and on the selection of proposed plants.

1. Staff recommends approval of the revised Panther Creek High School Thoroughfare Corridor Buffer Revegetation Plan and the proposed site plan amendment as shown on the revised Site Plan. The recommendation includes the following conditions and the other requirements as stated on the plan, which, if approved, would also be conditions of approval of the proposed Site Plan Amendment:

A. that all existing vegetation contained in the land area added to the buffer remain undisturbed;

B. that all trees shall be installed following both Town of Cary landscape planting requirements and accepted landscape industry planting practices;

C. that random soil tests shall be performed and an amended fertilizer mix appropriate for the planting conditions and for proposed plant selection shall be utilized;

D. that all plantings shall be installed between January 15, 2011 and March 31, 2011,with time extensions considered by the Town of Cary staff in the best interest of success for the Revegetation Plan;

E. that within thirty (30) days following completion of the tree installations, the Wake County School System shall submit to the Town a statement attesting that all trees and all shrubs were installed in accordance with the revegetation plan; and

F. that the Town of Cary shall perform an inspection twelve (12) months after plant installation to determine the health of the plantings installed and identify any plantings that have died and/or need replacing, and the Wake County School System shall replace any dead or any other vegetation deemed to need replacing for the first three (3) years following approval of the plan.

2. Staff recommends approval of the modifications to the Panther Creek High School Site Plan (03-SP-104-B) as shown on the amended site plan and approval of the Thoroughfare Corridor Buffer Revegetation Plan, which include:

A. the revised revegetation plan for the buffer, including all conditions listed above and all conditions listed on the Amended Site Plan; and

B. the original approved Panther Creek High School Site Plan as amended to show the existence of a utility easement and an overhead transmission line within the buffer.