TOWN OF CARY
REQUEST FOR REZONING / LAND USE PLAN AMENDMENT
TOWN COUNCIL IMPACT STATEMENT (February 13, 2003)
02-REZ-21 (Wicks Rezoning)

PETITIONER

PROPERTY OWNER

Jerry Turner & Associates
905 Jones Franklin Road
Raleigh, NC 27606

851-7150
Fax: 851-7150

Eulan & Jean Wicks
1529 Davis Drive
Apex, NC 27523-8233

LOCATION:

West of Davis Drive, South of Sherwood Greens

MAPS:

Vicinity Map - Small
Vicinity Map - Large
Zoning Map
Land Use Plan Map
Stream Buffers
Town Council Vicinity
Open Space
Conceptual Plan

In Town Limits [ ] Inside Cary ETJ [ ] Outside Cary ETJ [ X ] Annexation Pending [X ]

PROPOSED SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS

TOWN COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING:

December 12, 2002

PLANNING & ZONING BOARD:

Tues., Jan. 21, 2003

TOWN COUNCIL:

February 13, 2003

 

PARCEL INFORMATION

Parcel #

Realid #

Area

0743643638

0076619

2.34 Acres

0743545811

0192103

2.14 Acres

0743544467

0195601

6.36 Acres

0743549916 (part of)

0076620

4.86 acres

0743549494

0195600

9.50 Acres

Approximately 25 Acres

 

REZONING DATA
 

CURRENT

PROPOSED

Zoning:

Residential 40 (R-40) Wake County

Residential 8 Conditional Use (R-8 CU)

Overlay District:

Jordan Lake Watershed

No change

Land Use:

Vacant Land, Undeveloped

Residential

 

REZONING CONDITIONS

CURRENT

PROPOSED

None

1. There will be no driveways onto Davis Drive.
 

2. There will be a maximum of 60 single-family dwelling units.

3. There will be a cluster design utilizing minimum 8,000 square foot lots in order to protect the natural resources on the site.
 

4. A 20-foot buffer (not required by Cary Code) will be provided adjacent to the lots in Sherwood Greens Subdivision. This 20-foot buffer will be a combination buffer consisting of landscape plantings (equal to Type B buffer planting requirements) and stormwater management measures. Type B buffer planting requirements are as follows: Existing or planted deciduous and/or evergreen trees shall attain a height at maturity of no less than 40 feet and no wider than 30 feet between tree trunks (may be wider depending on tree type) with evergreen shrubs spacing ranging from 5 to 8 feet on center. Composition of the Semi-opaque Type B buffer may include a wall, fence, landscaped earthen berm, planted vegetation, existing vegetation, or any appropriate combination of the elements. At least 75 percent of the required shrubs shall be evergreen species locally adapted to the area.
 

5. Only single-family lots or buffers will adjoin all the adjacent lots in Sherwood Greens Subdivision.
 

6. No streets (right-of-way) will be closer than 130 feet to the adjacent lots in Sherwood Greens Subdivision.
  Condition Number 7 added since the January 21, 2003 Planning and Zoning Board Meeting:

7. Drainage from the north end of the Wick’s Tract will be diverted to the existing stormwater system at Sherwood Greens property.

 

REZONING HISTORY

This property is currently within the jurisdiction of Wake County. The Town of Cary has no rezoning history with regard to the site.

 

SITE DATA

WATER/SEWER SERVICE

This property has adequate access to Town of Cary public water and sewer systems. Development of this property will be required to comply with all TOC utility connection policies and standards.

 

TRANSPORTATION

Traffic Impact Analysis Required: Yes [ ] No [ x ]

Residential Community of 85 DU’s during the AM peak hour will generate 64 trips and the PM peak hour will generate 86 trips. The ADT volume is 813 trips per day.

The Town’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan designates Davis Drive to have an ultimate 73’ back-to-back cross-section along the subject property frontage. This 5-lane road (two lanes in either direction with a center turn lane) requires a 95’ right-of-way. As part of site development, the owner will be required to construct to ˝ this ultimate section along the entire frontage. Sidewalk is required on both sides of Davis Drive.

Analysis: The applicant proposes to meet the Comprehensive Transportation Plan requirements. Staff supports the proposal.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS
Analysis: There were concerns from the surrounding property owners, in Sherwood Greens, relative to drainage from the North end of proposed Wicks project. The applicant has indicated this drainage will be piped to the existing stormwater system at Sherwood greens property. The surrounding property owners indicated other drainage problems noted in the Sherwood Greens Newsletter but this newsletter was never produced. The Town of Cary is not aware of any other drainage problems related to the proposed project. The applicant still needs to supply riparian buffer information to the Town of Cary to verify the riparian buffers as shown on the supplied conceptual plan layout. The riparian buffers can be verified at site submittal. Staff would support the rezoning.

 

REGIONAL WAKE COUNTY SCHOOL ESTIMATES AND CAPACITY IMPACTS: AREA C (Western Wake County)

Current Enrollment
Area Schools

Building Capacity

Percent occupied

Projected Number of Students

Elementary

15,868

13,354

118.8%

10

Middle

7,758

6,789

114.3

5

High

7,376

6,420

114.9

7

Total for all Area Schools

30,840

26,563

116.1

22

 

LOCAL WAKE COUNTY SCHOOL ESTIMATES AND CAPACITY IMPACTS

Current 20th Day Enrollment at the current schools this parcel is zoned for:

Building Capacity

Percent occupied

APF Ord.
Req.

%
Over/
Under
Ord.

Projected Number of Students

Davis Drive Elementary

977

640

152.7%

130%

22.7% over

10

Davis Drive Middle

1176

923

127.4%

130%

2.6% under

5

Green Hope High

2022

1714

118.0%

130%

12% under

7

Total for all Zoned Schools

22

Current Enrollment and Building Capacity is based on the 20th day of the school year for 2002 as provided by the Wake County School System.. School assignment will be determined at the time of development. A list of individual area schools and information concerning enrollment countywide can be found for review: School Data

 

ADJACENT ZONING AND LAND USES
 

Zoning:

Land Use:

North:

R8CU

Single family residences, Sherwood Greens Subdivision

South:

Wake County

A single family residence

East:

R40

Across Davis Drive, vacant

West:

R8CU and Wake County

A single family residence

 

TOWN OF CARY FUTURE LAND USE PLAN DATA
 

CURRENT

PROPOSED

Plan Designation:

Low Density Residential

No Change

Alternate Designation:

None

None

Activity Center:

None

None

 

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ANALYSIS

LAND USE PLAN ELEMENT

LAND USE PLAN AMENDMENT HISTORY: None

The Cary Land Use Plan designates this area for Low-Density Residential (LDR) uses. LDR is defined as between 1 and 3 dwellings per acre, with a minimum average lot size of 12,000 square feet. The project is proposing 60 single family lots over 24.45 acres (an overall density of 2.45 du/ac) clustered on minimum 8,000 square foot lots. The Land Use Plan indicates that the minimum lot size can be reduced if a cluster subdivision design is used.

Analysis: Staff has evaluated the project design and found it consistent with the Land Use Plan criteria for clustering. This conclusion is based on the proposal's protection of nine (9) acres of open natural areas (not including the cell tower), including wetlands, steep slopes, perimeter buffers and the 100-foot stream buffer on the south side of the site. In total, 37% of the overall site (not counting the cell tower) will be protected as permanent open space, with the majority of this area left in its undisturbed, natural state. Given that the proposed Draft Conservation Overlay District in the LDO cannot require protection of more than 40% of any site (and that is when significant resources exist on 75-100% of the site, which is not the case here), the proposed 37% from the proposal is deemed more than acceptable. In addition, the project is proposing 13 fewer units than could have been requested under maximum densities allowed in the Land Use Plan (3 du/ac density).

As part of this analysis, staff investigated several other development strategies and density options (as allowed under the Land Use Plan) and concluded that the applicant's proposal is the best alternative. If a conventional R-40 subdivision (with 40,000 sq. foot lots) or a R-12 subdivision (with 12,000 square foot lots) were proposed instead, a maximum of 17 or 58 units, respectively, could conceivably be built on the site. However, neither proposal would have preserved as much open space - only approximately 6.8 acre (or 25% of the site) would be preserved under either the R-40 or R-12 scenarios. Although the project is proposing 60 units (2 more than under the R-12 scenario), it is still below the 73 that is allowed in the Land Use Plan. In addition, the project as proposed will preserve almost 3 more acres of open space than either the R-12 or R-40 alternatives. Staff therefore supports the proposal as conditioned.

TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

Analysis: The applicant has submitted a concept plan map that has been added as a new condition for the project. This plan map now shows a proposed street stub to adjacent parcels to the south or southwest. This condition now allows the project to meet the Town's connectivity requirements and cul-de-sac length limits. Given this additional condition by the applicant, staff has no objections to the revised project.

OPEN SPACE CONSIDERATIONS

The property contains significant resources consisting of bottomland hardwoods along southwest edge of pond. Farmhouse on property (no photo available) is listed in the Wake County Historic Architectural Inventory.

Analysis: Although staff would have liked to see the preservation of the historic farmhouse on-site, the proposal is not planning to do so. Given the location of the structure on the site and the need to consolidate buildable areas to cluster development impacts away from the natural resources, staff realizes it is not possible to retain the structure in the development. As is mentioned in the Land Use Element discussion above, the project proposes to protect a significant amount of the natural resources, including bottomland hardwoods, on the site. This is a substantial benefit of the project, which staff supports.

PARKS, GREENWAYS AND BIKEWAYS MASTER PLAN

Analysis: Payment-in-lieu will be required for all single-family subdivided units.

Changes Since Public Hearing:

Additional conditions have been added since this application was submitted. Those new conditions are as follows:

  • There will be a maximum of 60 single-family dwelling units.
  • There will be a cluster design utilizing minimum 8,000 square foot lots in order to protect the natural resources on the site.
  • A 20-foot buffer (not required by Cary Code) will be provided adjacent to the lots in Sherwood Greens Subdivision. This 20-foot buffer will be a combination buffer consisting of landscape plantings (equal to Type B buffer planting requirements) and stormwater management measures. Type B buffer planting requirements are as follows: Existing or planted deciduous and/or evergreen trees shall attain a height at maturity of no less than 40 feet and no wider than 30 feet between tree trunks (may be wider depending on tree type) with evergreen shrubs spacing ranging from 5 to 8 feet on center. Composition of the Semi-opaque Type B buffer may include a wall, fence, landscaped earthen berm, planted vegetation, existing vegetation, or any appropriate combination of the elements. At least 75 percent of the required shrubs shall be evergreen species locally adapted to the area.
  • Only single-family lots or buffers will adjoin all the adjacent lots in Sherwood Greens Subdivision.
  • No streets (right-of-way) will be closer than 130 feet to the adjacent lots in Sherwood Greens Subdivision.

Protest Petition Information:

Valid [ ] Invalid [ ] None Filed [X]

Analysis:

At the public hearing there were concerns raised about saving existing trees, saving the farmhouse located onsite, stormwater, and the desire for a concept plan on this case. Staff did meet with the applicant in order to address these issues.

The project proposes to protect a significant amount of the natural resources, including bottomland hardwoods, on the site. The amount of open space for the overall site is 9 acres. Given the location of the farmhouse on the site and the need to consolidate buildable areas to cluster development impacts away from the natural resources, staff realizes it is not possible to retain the structure in the development. Stormwater drainage will be addressed by piping this development to an existing stormwater system in Sherwood Greens. Riparian buffers will be verified at the time of site plan submittal. A concept plan has now been submitted for this case and addresses the issues of connectivity and open space as mentioned above.

The Cary Land Use Plan designates this area for Low-Density Residential (LDR) uses. LDR is defined as between 1 and 3 dwellings per acre, with a minimum average lot size of 12,000 square feet. The project is proposing 60 single family lots over 24.45 acres (an overall density of 2.45 du/ac) clustered on minimum 8,000 square foot lots. The Land Use Plan indicates that the minimum lot size can be reduced if a cluster subdivision design is used. Staff has evaluated the project design and found it consistent with the Land Use Plan criteria for clustering. In addition, the project is proposing 13 fewer units than could have been requested under maximum densities allowed in the Land Use Plan (3 du/ac density).

This project will meet the Comprehensive Transportation Plan requirements and the Town’s connectivity requirements. A payment-in-lieu will be required for park dedication.

A list of the pros and cons are submitted below.

Pros:

  • Clustering, as proposed, allows for more preservation of open space. The amount of open space will be 37percent of the overall site, or 9 acres.
  • A 20-foot buffer adjacent to Sherwood Greens Subdivision will be provided.

Cons
  • Due to development and open space constraints, the existing farmhouse will not be retained onsite.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:

Staff recommends approval.

 

PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD RECOMMENDATION:
Mr. Hyatt made a motion to forward to Council for approval at their February 13, 2003 meeting adding that drainage be piped to the existing stormwater system at the Sherwood Greens property line and to also take note of the specimen oak tree located near the farmhouse, which was seconded by Mr. Zaccardo, and the Board voted (8-0).

 

TOWN COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION:

Town Council voted to approve.

 

Information regarding this rezoning case will be on the Internet one week prior to the public hearing. Our Internet address for this case is http://www.townofcary.org/depts/dsdept/P&Z/rezonings/2002cases/2002index.htm