CLH Design, P.A.

Location:

The site is located north of McCrimmon Parkway (formerly known as Panther Creek Parkway, east of the proposed westward extension of I-540, and approximately 2,000 feet west of the intersection of NC Highway 55 and of McCrimmon Parkway.

Map

The high school would be three-story, constructed of brick and contain 268,746 square feet on 71.21 acres. The student capacity would be approximately 1,800 students. The plans also propose a modification to the riparian buffer. The modification includes eliminating 0.75 acre of isolated riparian buffer area, At the time of site plan submittal, the property was zoned Planned Employment Center Planned Unit Development (PEC PUD). According to Section 8.16.3 of the Cary Unified Development Ordinance, a school use would be a minor special use. Section 5.4.2(b) of the Unified Development Ordinance requires all minor special uses accompanied by a site plan to be processed as a major special use and approved by the Town Council. As of July, 2003 the property is zoned Planned Development District (PDD. The property is inside Cary's town limits.

Previous Zoning: Residential-40 Planned Unit Development (R-40 PUD) with an Industrial landuse classification

Overlay District: 100' Thoroughfare Corridor Buffer District

Land Use Compliance: Low density with Planned Unit Development Designation

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The plan complies with all landscape requirements.

Building Height: Three-story, approximately 50'

Building Size: 268,746 square feet

Building Materials & Colors: The primary field brick would be brownish orange with natural gray split-faced concrete block and light gray straight concrete block accents. Beige and dark gray architectural metal panels and slate gray standing seam metal roofing would also be utilized.

Traffic Impact Study was required and was prepared by Wilbur Smith Associates dated August 2003.

McCrimmom Parkway along the frontage of the Panther Creek High School is designed to accommodate the future traffic of the High School.

This study has been conducted to assess the traffic impacts and evaluate the access and egress requirements for the proposed Panther Creek High School. The project site is to be located in the northwestern portion of Cary, North Carolina. This report identifies the impact of traffic generated by the proposed development and evaluates it with regard to capacity, safety, and roadway requirements. The following provides a brief summary of this study’s findings.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The project site is located along the future McCrimmon Parkway, roughly between Green Level to Durham Road and NC 55. Presently, the site is undeveloped. The project proposal is to construct a 1,600-student capacity public high school which is planned to be opened and fully operational by 2006.

Direct access for this future development will be provided via two full movement driveways to/from the future McCrimmon Parkway of which the western most driveway will be allocated primarily for student parkers and the eastern most will be allocated primarily for faculty, staff, visitor, and bus traffic.

EXISTING CONDITIONS

Existing conditions have been gathered for the following two intersections, which make up the project study area as directed by Town of Cary staff:

• Yates Store Road/Carpenter Fire Station Road at Green Level to Durham Road; and
• NC 55 at Carpenter Fire Station Road.

This study area is located within the Northwest Transportation Zone, which requires that peak-hour volumes utilize a 90-minute average peak in accordance with the Town’s APFR Ordinance 01-012.

Traffic volume data within the study area has been obtained for the weekday AM (6:30 – 9:30 AM) and PM (3:30 – 6:30 PM) peak periods. From this data, peak-hour multipliers of .937 and .918 were developed for the AM and PM peaks, respectively, and have been utilized within this report as required by the ordinance.

To represent Future 2006 traffic volume conditions within the study area, the Existing traffic flow volumes were upwardly adjusted to account for normal traffic growth and any other currently approved projects within the study area.

Discussions with Town of Cary staff indicate that an annual growth rate of 3.5 percent is to be used. This growth rate was applied to the Existing peak-hour traffic volumes to estimate Future 2006 conditions without the proposed development.

It should be noted that, in addition to the normal annual growth in traffic, the projected traffic associated with the Cary Park, Cameron Pond, and Amberly PUDs has been included in the 2006 No-Build traffic volumes.

As part of the Amberly PUD and Cary Park PUD projects, three roadway projects are anticipated to be completed within the Panther Creek High School study area and are as follows:

• NC 55 will be improved to provide for a four-lane divided cross-section throughout this project’s study area;

• Green Level to Durham Road will be improved to provide for a four-lane divided cross-section throughout this project’s study area; and

• McCrimmon Parkway will be extended from its current terminus westward through the project study area. This roadway will be constructed as a two-lane divided facility.

With these projects, signalization is anticipated at the following intersections with applicable turning lanes:

• NC 55 at Carpenter Fire Station Road;
• Green Level to Durham Road at Carpenter Fire Station Road;
• NC 55 at McCrimmon Parkway (future intersection); and
• Green Level to Durham Road at McCrimmon Parkway (future intersection).

Another planned roadway project is the Wake Expressway which is planned to end at NC 55 via a grade-separated interchange. Construction for this first phase will begin in late 2003. South of NC 55, the second phase of the Wake Expressway should continue as a six-lane facility terminating at US-1 in Apex, NC. Right-of-way acquisition for this project is expected to begin in 2006, with construction anticipated to begin in 2008 and end in 2010.

For this project, the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation manual was utilized to estimate project trips generated by the proposed facility.

Based on this information, the proposed development can be expected to generate a total of 2,870 (two-way) vehicle trips on a weekday daily basis, of which a total of 736 trips (515 entering, 221 exiting) are expected during the weekday AM peak-hour. During the PM peak-hour, 240 trips (96 entering, 144 exiting) can be expected.

As a result of this project, traffic volume increases at the study area intersections are expected to be somewhat varied from a low of approximately two percent to a high of approximately 33 percent.

The Northwest Transportation Zone requires a minimum Level-of-Service D based on the 90-minute average peak.

Under Existing conditions, traffic operations at all study area intersections are acceptable (LOS D or better) at the Green Level to Durham Road/Carpenter Fire Station Road intersection during both the weekday AM and PM peak hours, whereas the NC 55/Carpenter Fire Station Road intersection exhibits unacceptable (LOS F) operations during each time period.

Under 2006 No-Build conditions, which account for annual growth, the Cary Park, Cameron Pond, and Amberly PUDs, along with all previously cited roadway improvements, all of the four study area intersections (two are future intersections) are anticipated to demonstrate acceptable operations.

With the addition of project related traffic, operations are insignificantly affected and all four study area intersections are anticipated to remain at acceptable levels.

The final phase of the analysis process is to identify mitigating measures which may either minimize the impact of the project on the transportation system or tend to alleviate poor service levels not caused by the project. Measures considered necessary to mitigate roadway system deficiencies are discussed below as they relate to the impacts of the proposed project.

As part of the proposed development plan, access to/from the proposed Panther Creek High School will be provided via two full movement driveways to/from the future McCrimmon Parkway.

• Eastbound Approach: Separate left-turn lane and through lane;
• Westbound Approach: Separate through lane and right-turn lane;
• Southbound Approach: Separate left-turn lane and right-turn lane; and
• STOP sign control with McCrimmon Parkway as the major street.

• Eastbound Approach: Separate left-turn lane and through lane;
• Westbound Approach: Separate through lane and right-turn lane;
• Southbound Approach: Separate left-turn lane and right-turn lane; and
• STOP sign control with McCrimmon Parkway as the major street.

It should be noted that the recommended separate westbound right-turn lane at each of the above driveways is not required based on the projected volumes along McCrimmon Parkway. It is suggested due to the possibility that volumes along McCrimmon Parkway may be higher than projected, thus necessitating additional laneage.

With the above-cited geometrics and traffic control in place, the site access intersections are anticipated to operate at a Level-of-Service C or better under 2006 Build Conditions during each of the studied time periods.

It should be noted that, due to the assumed through volume of traffic on McCrimmon Parkway, STOP sign control will allow for acceptable operations at each access driveway. If the volume of traffic along McCrimmon Parkway drastically increases, traffic signal control may be warranted. Therefore, this volume should be monitored for future consideration.

Review of the intersection analyses indicates that the proposed project has a small impact on the study area intersections as compared to future 2006 No-Build conditions. Project traffic causes a minor increase in delay and V/C ratio, but does not cause any study area intersection to operate unacceptably during either the AM or PM peak-hour. Based on these conducted analyses, no improvements/modifications are necessary at any off-site study area intersection due to the anticipation that each will operate acceptably under future 2006 Build conditions.

McCrimmon Parkway (formerly known as Panther Creek Parkway), from proposed I-540 to NC 55, is being designed and constructed by the Town of Cary. This section encompasses the Panther Creek High School frontage. McCrimmon Parkway is designated to have an ultimate 4 lane median divided cross section.

The proposed on-site water and sanitary sewer design meets Town of Cary utility standards. Off-site water and sewer serving this site is currently under design.

Panther Creek High School would be located in the Jordan Lake watershed and is addressing the watershed protection ordinance through the use of stormwater wetlands. The project would address Cary's nitrogen requirements by utilizing constructed wetlands and riparian buffers to reduce nitrogen levels to 3.51Lb./Ac./Yr. Nitrogen levels should be less than 3.6 Lb./Ac./Yr.

Riparian buffers are proposed to be modified as follows:

The plans propose a modification from the 50 ft. riparian buffer requirement of the Town's Stormwater Management Plan for new development (Chapter 7, Part 3.7 of the Land Development Ordinance). The modification includes eliminating 0.75 acre of isolated riparian buffer area, and mitigating the riparian buffer loss through the installation of Best Management Practices and the creation of 2.50 acres of additional riparian buffer area. The Land Development Ordinance recognizes that there may instances where the riparian buffer would create undue hardship and allows modifications to be granted. The modifications must be based on documentation of practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships and effects on water quality caused by development within the buffers. The elimination of the 0.75 acre of riparian buffer is based, in part, on the following criteria.

(1) The basic project purpose cannot be practically accomplished in a manner that would better minimize disturbance and protect water quality. This project would be greatly impacted by the isolated 50-foot riparian buffer. School sites require large amounts of land that are interconnected to allow access to all facilities on the campus. The request to remove a 0.75 acre section of isolated riparian buffer allows the school campus to be situated on the site to better serve the educational requirements of the student population.

2. The use cannot practically be reduced in size or density or redesigned to minimize disturbance and protect water quality. The elimination of an athletic field would be required in order to accommodate the existing buffer. Nine different sports share these fields at any given time of the year and to lose a field is a significant lose to the program.

3) BMP's will be used if necessary to minimize disturbance and protect water quality. Four stormwater wetlands and two bio-retention areas have been designed to treat the first one-inch of impervious runoff, to retain the one year storm and remove 85% total suspended solids.

(4) Impact to Zone 1 must be minimized to the maximum extent practical. Approximately 300 Feet of zone 1 will be impacted with the elimination of the isolated riparian buffer. There would be no way to not eliminate zone 1 with this variance request.

(5) Compensatory mitigation must be done on a 1:1 ratio on a square foot basis for any impacts to Zone 1. This mitigation may consist of planting of an un-buffered area or additional planting of a partially buffered area located on-site or nearby. Impacts to zone 1 are being mitigated with the creation of 2.5 acres additional riparian buffer.

(6) The applicant must receive written approval from the Town Manager acknowledging that these conditions have been met before any impacts to the riparian buffer shall occur. The applicant is attempting to receive this permission at this time.

Adjoining property owners were notified during staff's initial review of this plan. Staff received no inquiries regarding this proposed development.