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STAFF
REPORT Town Council, September
8, 2005
Carpenter
Community Plan (PL06-005b) Speaker:
Don Belk, Senior Planner Background:
The Carpenter
Community Plan (CCP) is a master plan for approximately 475 acres
(0.74 square miles) in the northwestern portion of Cary’s
planning area (see location
map). The Plan fulfills an
implementation recommendation contained in the 2002 Northwest Area Plan (NWAP).
This plan constitutes an amendment to the NWAP, as well as to the
Town of Cary Land Use Plan,
Comprehensive Transportation Plan, and the Parks, Recreation, and Cultural
Resources Facilities Master Plan. The Carpenter community, located in the
vicinity of Carpenter-Upchurch and Morrisville-Carpenter Roads, has
been a distinctive crossroads community since the 19th century,
and has long been a place of special interest to the surrounding area.
The goal of the Carpenter Community Plan is to
make the Carpenter area a unique regional destination and a highly
attractive place to live, work, and recreate.
The land use recommendations of this plan are centered on this
principal objective. A
Carpenter Community Plan document
accompanies the land
use map. Key
Elements of the Plan: Establishment of a
Rural Village.
The Rural Village
is the centerpiece of the Carpenter Area Plan.
This Mixed Use (MXD) area represents a new type of activity center
for Cary: smaller in scope than a
traditional Neighborhood Activity Center (NAC), but one that contains
diverse uses, housing types, and in the case of Carpenter, the significant
historic resources of a National Register Historic District. The Rural Village
will contain most of the non-residential uses within the Carpenter area,
along with the corridor between NC-55 and the railroad.
As a follow-on implementation recommendation of this Plan, special
design guidelines will be created for new development within the Rural Village.
Use of these guidelines will further enhance the historic qualities
and uniqueness of Carpenter, and provide incentives for preserving the
historic architectural resources of the community, while also allowing for
creative and sensitive infill development to occur. Predominance of
Residential Uses.
Low Density Residential (LDR) and Medium Density Residential
(MDR) uses are the predominant categories in the Carpenter Community Plan.
To preserve the traditional rural character of the area, the Plan
recommends retaining the farm ponds that are prevalent there today.
Along with stream buffers, these ponds will help maintain a
pastoral setting for new residential development. Special Treatments
along Collectors and Thoroughfares.
Segments of certain collectors and thoroughfares within the Plan
area will be constructed to create a ‘rural character’ to the road as
you approach the Rural Village.
Sections of Morrisville-Carpenter
Road and Good
Hope Church Road will be constructed
at the ‘Rural Thoroughfare’ standard specified in the Southwest Area
Plan. A key feature of the
Carpenter Community Plan is the ‘wildflower buffer’, a 100’ wide
corridor of plantings along Morrisville-Carpenter Road and Good Hope
Church Road that will create a larger road setback and a more ‘open’
visual experience along these roads. The
buffer also helps preserve the rural character and ‘feel’ of the area,
and attempts to keep historic structures within their original context.
The buffer may be enhanced by plantings of native trees and shrubs,
and includes an opaque hedgerow at the outer edge of the buffer to screen
new development behind it. Multi-use
paths and greenways can meander through the wildflower buffer.
Greenways and Parks.
The Carpenter Community Plan recommends three parks for the area:
expanding the existing, privately-owned Ruritan
Park
to create a Rural Village
Park;
an adjoining Trailhead
Park;
and a conventional Neighborhood
Park
to be located in the northern half of the Plan area.
The Trailhead
Park
will serve as a terminus amenity and destination point where four open
space/greenway corridors converge: Kitt
Creek, Nancy Branch, Morris Branch, and Panther Creek greenway trails.
The Trailhead
Park
will also provide greenway/pedestrian connectivity to the NC-55 multi-use
path and other greenways and sidewalks throughout the Plan area.
Implementation
Recommendations.
The Carpenter Community Plan lists 10 recommendations
for implementing its goals and objectives, including the following: §
Prepare Design Guidelines for
the Rural Village; §
Develop a Town-initiated
Activity Center Overlay District and associated Concept Plan for the Rural Village
; §
Develop a set of incentives
for open space and historic resource preservation; §
Explore public/private
partnerships for the recommended parkland acquisitions.
Public
Input and Involvement: Work on the Carpenter Community Plan began in early 2004 based on
guidance from Town Council regarding project priorities in implementing
the recommendations of the Northwest Area Plan.
Jerry
Turner and Associates and Elam Todd d’Ambrosi (ETd) assisted the Town
staff in the development of the Plan.
To garner stakeholder input to the planning process, three
community ‘open houses’ were held in the area, in March and October
2004, and in April 2005. The
open houses were well-attended by both long-term residents of Carpenter as
well as residents from the surrounding neighborhoods.
While some generational landowners are interested in preserving
heritage, others are interested in pursuing development opportunities.
Residents living outside of the study area indicated a strong interest in
the transportation network as well as preservation. The final plan has
been formulated and based on this broad community input, and reflects the
community’s concerns and preferences for preservation of the Carpenter
crossroads core area, creation of a pedestrian-oriented village center
area, and low density housing. Officials
of the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) also commented on the
draft. The Planning and
Zoning Board held a work session on the Carpenter Community Plan on July
18. A public hearing before
the Town Council was held on July 28.
While generally supportive of the proposed community plan, two
speakers raised concern about the drainage of a farm pond in the area
marked by Note 3b of the Plan, designated as “LDR to MDR”.
These citizens, residents of Carpenter Village
to the east, urged retention of the pond.
While the proposed plan recommends retention of the farm ponds,
there are currently no Town regulations prohibiting their drainage.
However, Note 3b stipulates that MDR can only be achieved if the
farm pond is retained, thus providing an incentive to preserve the pond. Representatives of the
State Historic Preservation Office presented their concerns regarding the
proposed plan. Their primary
concern regards the encroachment of new development into the Carpenter
Historic District. They
noted the recent demolition of the Barbee-Williams farmstead for new
development north of Morrisville-Carpenter Road, which has separated the
C.F. Ferrell Farm from the remainder of the Carpenter Historic District.
The SHPO officials offered several suggestions for the plan, which
are described in their August 1,
2005 letter
to Town Council. Staff will
address these issues during the forthcoming development of historic
architectural design guidelines for the RuralVillage
. Staff presented the
Carpenter Community Plan at the August
1, 2005 meeting of the Parks,
Recreation, and Cultural Resources Advisory Board, which recommended
approval of the plan. Staff
also presented the plan to the directors of the Friends of Page Walker at
their August 3, 2005
meeting. Staff
Recommendation:
Staff recommends approval of the Carpenter Community Plan as
presented. Planning
and Zoning Board Action:
The
Planning and Zoning Board voted unanimously to recommend approval.
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