5. The following special features provided for any building located with this development:

a. Masonry brick, accents, decorative elements, molding on at least 50% of all facades visible from Walnut St. (excludes windows, doors, pitched roof and doorway areas).

b. Covered walkways with arched repeating elements (equal to at least 50% of one building side).

c. Pitched roof elements (equal to at least 50% of one building side).

d. Storefronts shall contain raised planters (equal to at least 50% of one building side).

e. Accent brickwork and/or glazed brick (CMU or similar elements) along visual points of interest and columns on front façade facing Walnut St. and all portions of sides visible from Walnut St.

f. Primary wall sign areas shall be restricted to 3 ft. in height. Lettering size and illumination shall be consistent with Centrum development.

g. Freestanding signs (excluding directional signs) shall be limited to a single monument sign.

h. Traditional lighting fixtures along storefront facing Walnut and at least one side additional freestanding light fixture between building and Walnut St.

i. Special pavers/textured elements and pedestrian signs shall be used to create pedestrian crossing from building to parking area.

j. Loading areas shall be contained within the building and screened so service trucks not visible from Walnut St.

A 19,000 sq. ft building will generate the following trips:

ADT AM PM Sat Peak Sat ADT Sat ADT(Dec.)

Retail #820 815 20 71 94 949 1338

Furniture Store #890 96 3 9 15 94 133

Trip Generation (Institute of Transportation Engineers, Sixth Edition, 1997)

As a result, no traffic impact study required.

The proposal property lies on the western side of Walnut Street on the south side of Centrum. It is part of a larger area, which is identified in the Southeast Gateway Plan for Transitional Office or Commercial Low Intensity use or Mixed Use Village. These land use types were chosen in the plan to facilitate a suitable transition between the more active commercial areas to the north and to the proposed high-density residential or Mixed Use Village area to the south.

Small specialty retail is listed as an example of this use type.

The plan sets out that a commercial low intensity use is one which tends to produce only modest external impacts including visual, traffic, noise, odor or air pollution.

CLI uses include some or all of the following site characteristics:

• Not located in shopping centers,
• Largest tenant should not exceed 20,000 square feet,
• Typically generates less than 1000 vehicle trips per day
• Generates, low numbers of rush hour trips, typically less than 100 at heaviest peak hour
• Has no adverse impact on the surrounding community
• Maintains architectural compatibility or provides visual separation or buffers as mitigation.

The proposal is to provide a furniture sales showroom. Conditions 1 and 2 restrict the size and scale of the building to the tolerances set out above. The transportation section of this report indicates that average daily trips generated will be less than 1000 as recommended in the plan except at Christmas, also that the peak hour tips will not exceed the 100 recommended. The proposed conditions also commit to the use of some brick and architectural elements to add visual interest and break up the façades visible from Walnut Street Therefore it is broadly compatible with the land use plan and a land use plan amendment is not required.

Finally, a review of the land use proposals made in the SE Gateway Plan is underway. A report on the scope and timetable for the review will be made to The Council in January. A focus of this review will be on the traffic generation issues of the land uses and road networks. The final position of the access to Walnut Street should be reviewed in this context at time of site plan submittal. Conditions requiring this further consideration and for safeguarding connectivity through the site have included by the applicants. On this basis the principal of the use is considered to be of a minor scale and acceptable.

During the public hearing the applicant offered a sketch plan as a condition to the case. The written conditions are very detailed and predominately relate to the architectural design of the site. The applicant has attempted to insure that the site would be required to develop to the new Town of Cary design guidelines. These proposed conditions will required this to happen which will be reviewed during site plan review of this site.

Since the public hearing the applicant has provided additional conditions and a modified Exhibit A (Sketch Plan). Following the public hearing staff reviewed the sketch plan and found it deficient in the Town ordinance requirements relating to parking and access. The applicant understands the code requirements and modified this sketch to a conceptual layout with the parking and access to be determined at time of site plan review as recommended by staff.

This request complies with the southeast gateway plan and conforms to the Town of Cary’s APF requirements. We have added data to show weekend peak traffic periods due to concerns mentioned at the public hearing. Even with weekend peaks, the site is still within the allowed range for traffic impact in the area.

Based on the restrictive zoning conditions, sketch plan attachment, compliance with the town’s land use plan, and negligible traffic impacts, staff supports this proposal.