TOWN OF CARY

TOWN OF CARY

REQUEST FOR REZONING/PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT/ LAND USE PLAN AMENDMENT

Town Council Impact Statement (July 10, 2003)

02-REZ-23, 02-LPA-12 – Riggsbee Planned Unit Development

PETITIONER		PROJECT CONTACT	PROPERTY OWNER
Jerry Turner & Associates 905 Jones Franklin Road Raleigh, NC 27606		Same	Peggy S. Riggsbee 2012 High House Road Morrisville, NC 27560 Peggy & Edward Riggsbee 2100 High House Road Merrillville, NC 27560 Jacqueline Riggsbee Woodcock 2012 High House Road Morrisville, NC 27519 Cynthia R. Hobby & Edward L. Hobby, Jr. 2112 High House Road Morrisville, NC 27560 Peggy Stone Riggsbee & Amy Riggsbee Gilber 2116 High House Road Morrisville, NC 27560 John Edgar Perry & Kimberly Gay Perry 2128 High House Road Morrisville, NC 27513 Crossroads Express Mart, Inc. PO Box 1659 Apex, NC 27502
LOCATION:	Intersection of High House Road and Davis Drive
MAPS:	Vicinity Map - Small Vicinity Map - Large Zoning Map Land Use Plan Map Stream Buffers Master Plan Illustrative Plan Survey Utility Plan Storm Drainage Plan Road Section Hydrology Inventory Soil Inventory Slope Inventory Vegetative Inventory Elevation 1 Elevation 2 Elevation 3

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

PROPOSED SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS
TOWN COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING:	January 23, 2003
SECOND COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING	May 8, 2003
PLANNING & ZONING BOARD:	~~March 17, 2003~~ tabled due to 2^nd public hearing June 16, 2003
TOWN COUNCIL:	~~April 10, 2003~~ tabled due to 2^nd public hearing ~~June 26, 2003~~ tabled due to 2^nd public hearing to July 10, 2003 Town Council meeting

PARCEL INFORMATION
Parcel #	Realid #	Area
0744532530	0206336	2.25 acres
0744439656	0219798	5.9 acres
0744337024	0072984	46.83 acres
0744329641	0096796	1.23 acres
0744424732	0222653	1.17 acres
0744327535	0249852	1.81 acres
0744228525	0240626	2.25 acres
0744225423	0111637	2.18 acres
0744531255	0150533	2.75 acres
		Total approx. 66.34 acres

REZONING DATA
	CURRENT	PROPOSED
Zoning:	Residential 30	R-30 Planned Unit Development
Overlay District:	N/A	N/A
Land Use:	A mixture of vacant land, farm use, commercial, and single family residences	~~A mixed-use development consisting of 25 single-family residential lots, 205 multi-family units, 87,000 square feet of retail/commercial uses, and 116,400 square feet of office use.~~ A mixed-use development consisting of approximately 66 acres with 230 multi-family dwelling units; 143,160 square feet of retail and 74,200 square feet of office.

CONDITIONS

CURRENT

PROPOSED

N/A

Acreage may vary due to variations in parcel configuration. Therefore, densities may vary from the numbers shown on the Master Land Use Plan. In no case, however shall the number of units increase above the number approved for each parcel.

All building setbacks may be reduced a maximum of 10% by Town of Cary staff.

All building setbacks shall be as specified in this PUD document and shall not be subject to any or all code changes.

Within mixed-use parcels, there shall be no interior buffers or setbacks.

All types of buffers and streetscapes shall be as specified in this PUD document and shall not be subject to any or all code changes.

The exact configuration and dimension of open space areas shall be determined at time of subdivision or site plan approval.

No additional recreational space or open space above and beyond what is specified in this PUD document shall be required of any parcel.

The proposed street layout may vary due to topography and building configurations.

Sidewalks are as per the conceptual master plan and the written text and notes.

Churches, libraries and recreational facilities are permitted uses in all parcels.

The developer reserves the option to implement alternate street designs from Town of Cary standards that may include, but not limited to: one way circulation reduced right-of-way and street widths and alleyways. Alternates must be reviewed and approved by Town of Cary staff.

Exact location of access points shall be determined at subdivision or site plan approval. Additional access points may be added if warranted by type of land use, topography, type of housing (i.e. age-restricted).

In the non-residential parcels, no building setback, interior buffer or streetyards shall be required. Buffers and streetscapes shall be provided as shown on the Plan.

Upon issuance of a building permit for each residential dwelling unit within Riggsbee Farm or its designee will pay the Town the following amount based on the size of the dwelling for schools.

One bedroom - $500 per dwelling

Two bedrooms - $1,000 per dwelling

Three bedrooms - $2,000 per dwelling

Four bedrooms - $3,000 per dwelling

Over four bedrooms - $1,000 per bedroom

If the Town determines the need for a bus shelter within Riggsbee Farm PUD, the developer will contribute up to $5,000 toward the shelter. The location will be mutually acceptable to the Town and the developer.

Medians within House House Road will be planted with street trees at a spacing not to exceed 40 feet.

Developer agrees to dedicate and build a 30 foot greenway on the north side of the collector road.

Building heights in non-residential developments limited to 4 stories.

Recreational facilities limited for use by the residential development in the PUD.

Building height in the mixed-use tracts has been limited to four stories.

A phasing plan has been included for the storm water management devices. A map will be provided showing this phasing plan.

Signage will be provided that limits left turns northbound during peak hours onto Davis Drive from the proposed connector street.

Revised greenway requirements to address the construction of the greenway.

Included a list of uses that will not be permitted in the Riggsbee Farms PUD. Those uses not permitted are as follows: cemetery, public utility station, public neighborhood recreation center, outdoor kennel, veterinary hospital with an outdoor kennel, amusement establishments, sexually oriented businesses, auto sales, funeral homes

Included in the PUD, documentation for detention of the 1-year, 2-year, 5-year, 10-year and 25-year storm and the Post-Development Drainage Map and the Pre-Development Drainage Map.

The 3 drive thru restaurant locations will be limited to parcels M-3 and M-4 on the Master Plan.

Items 15 and 16 have been added since the public hearing. Items 17-25 have been added since the P&Z meeting.

REZONING HISTORY

None

SITE DATA

WATER/SEWER SERVICE

This proposed development has direct access to Town of Cary public water and sewer systems.

Analysis Engineering design of water and sewer serving this development will be required to comply with Town of Cary standards. The applicant is required to install a 16" waterline along Carpenter Upchurch Road and connect the 16" line to the proposed waterline along the private street in the PUD.

TRANSPORTATION

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

Traffic Impact Analysis conducted by the Town of Cary traffic consultant HNTB dated September 2002.

The April 15, 2003 submittal has a different development plan than the plan studied in the Impact Study. Therefore, an amended analysis dated May 2003 is provided for the new development plan.

Comprehensive Transportation Plan Requirements:

Davis Drive: ultimate 4 lane median divided cross section with wide outside lanes to accommodate bicycles;

High House Road: ultimate 4 lane median divided cross section with wide outside lanes to accommodate bicycles

The Town’s Davis Drive widening project is scheduled to begin construction in the spring of 2003.

Analysis: Project meets the Town of Cary Standards provided that Table A-5 on page 7 is followed.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – RIGSBEE PUD

HNTB – September 2002

I. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

A new planned unit development (PUD) is being proposed for construction on the existing Riggsbee property located in the western part of Cary, NC. The proposed facilities have a mix of uses; retail, office space, apartments, and single family homes. Figure 1 shows the general location of the proposed project. The development site is located in the northwest quadrant of the intersection of High House Road and Davis Drive. The proposed property is anticipated to be complete with all parcels fully built out and operational by 2007. This report analyzes the full build-out scenario for the year 2007, the no-build scenario for 2007, as well as 2002 existing year traffic conditions.

The proposed preliminary site plan includes three primary access driveways for external connectivity, one accessing Davis Drive to the east, one accessing High House Road directly aligned with existing Cornerstone Circle and one accessing Carpenter Upchurch Road to the west. All three-driveway connections include no turning restrictions onto adjacent roadways. These driveways are connected internally to circulation roadways within the PUD that will service the individual land uses.

This report analyzes and presents the traffic impacts that the Riggsbee PUD site will have on the following intersections along Davis Drive (north to south):

Davis Drive and Hogan’s Valley Way / Preston Village Way
Davis Drive and Future East Site Driveway
Davis Drive and High House Road
Davis Drive and Cornerstone Circle

In addition, the report analyzes the traffic impacts to five intersections along High House Road (west to east):

High House Road / Green Level Road and NC Highway 55
High House Road and Jenks Carpenter Road
High House Road and Carpenter Upchurch Road
High House Road and Cornerstone Circle / South Site Driveway
High House Road and Prestonwood Parkway / Legault Drive

Finally, the report analyzes the Future West Site Driveway intersection with existing Carpenter Upchurch Road.

The significant improvements to High House Road and Davis Drive in the study area – both in terms of capacity and traffic control upgrades – will yield many benefits that, even with additional Riggsbee PUD site traffic, will allow the remaining intersections to operate under capacity in the site build out analyses. It is important to note that these improvements may adjust the trip-making patterns both of study area traffic and traffic external to the study area. Ambient growth predictions do not account for any significant redistribution of traffic once a facility is upgraded.

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS – Amended Study – HNTB – May 2003

Of the 11 intersections analyzed, five will require improvements in the Rigsbee PUD build-out scenario (Condition 3). Table A-5, below, summarizes required improvements to allow acceptable delay and LOS at these intersections. Table A-5 also indicates under what condition deficiencies are first experienced and improvements necessitated. Note that there are many improvements expected to be completed in the study area between 2002 and 2007. Many of these scheduled improvements will aid in mitigation of site traffic impacts. Any item that is bulleted (· ) indicates that an improvement is necessary and is a) not included in the planned Town or NCDOT improvements or b) specifically caused by the Riggsbee PUD site development.

The intersection of Davis Drive and the East Site Driveway experiences deficient levels of service for the driveway approach in the PM peak period (see Figure A-7). This assumes that this approach has exclusive left and right-turn lanes and adequate storage in each lane. Resulting worst case queues could be as much as five vehicles in the PM peak. The estimated volume of turning PM peak traffic from the Riggsbee PUD site at this driveway, 223 vehicles, would warrant signalization based on MUTCD Peak Hour Warrant thresholds and is a cause of concern when coupled with heavy southbound flows on Davis Drive. Adding to these issues is that widening plans for Davis Drive do not include provision for a median break at this location. An expedient solution is to eliminate left-turns out of the Riggsbee PUD site at this driveway, while still allowing left-turns into the site. Site traffic wishing to travel northbound on Davis Drive would thus need to make a U-turn at the High House intersection, or use the South Site Driveway to access High House Road and then Davis Drive. Analysis of the traffic volume redistribution, coupled with the other improvements described in this section, indicates that this improvement will allow adequate transportation network operations for all intersections impacted by the changes in traffic flow. A left-turn median storage bay of at least 200 feet should be incorporated into the Davis Drive improvements for access at the East Site Driveway intersection. In addition, a southbound right-turn deceleration lane should be added on Davis Drive to safely separate turning movements into the Rigs PUD from heavy through traffic flows (see Figure A-8). No other geometric or operational mitigation will yield operational benefits that can be as effectively implemented as the recommendations above. If signalized, this intersection would operate at a LOS A for both peak periods, but would add some unnecessary delay to through travel along Davis Drive and cause conflict to the roadway widening plans that are featuring limited access to driveways along the corridor. Therefore, signalization is not desirable at the East Site Driveway.

The intersection of Davis Drive and High House Road operates poorly during both peak periods with its existing lane configurations and signal timing parameters. Realignment, widening of Davis Drive, and reconfiguration of signal operations will result in acceptable overall LOS in the 2007 without site Condition. The addition of Riggsbee site traffic leaves this intersection over capacity for the AM and PM peak hours in Condition 3. One recommended mitigation strategy, consistent with stipulations in the site plan submittal, is to add an additional westbound through travel lane along High House Road along Davis Drive to Carpenter Upchurch Road. This eliminates a "missing link" along High House Road, which would have five lane sections both to the east of Davis Drive and the west of Carpenter Upchurch Road by 2007. It is assumed that the westbound approach on High House will be converted to one exclusive left-turn lane, a through travel lane and a shared through/right-turn lane.

An additional mitigation element necessary to allow adequate traffic operations in both peak hours in Condition 3 is to include an additional southbound left-turn lane. This dual left-turn lane improvement is consistent with the Davis Drive roadway widening plans, which show a southbound dual left-turn lane at the High House Road intersection. The additional capacity provided by these will allow the intersection to operate acceptably in Condition 4 for both Peak Periods, as displayed in Figure A-8. Condition 4 traffic volumes account for redistribution of traffic from the improvement to eliminate left-turns out onto Davis Drive at the East Site Driveway and Davis Drive intersection.

The intersections of Jenks Carpenter Road and Carpenter Upchurch Road with High House Road have both operational and safety deficiencies that will be mitigated by future plans to realign the two intersections into one four-legged intersection with signal control on a five-lane High House Road cross section. This scenario was analyzed for Conditions 2 and 3. As seen in Figure A-8, even with these improvements, the combined intersection will overate at an overall intersection LOS E in the AM peak hour with the addition of site traffic. Since no potential signal timing modification is able to alleviate the deficiency, potential geometric improvements were explored. Part of the capacity problem in the AM peak hour is the large number of background westbound right-turning vehicles, both existing and projected for 2007. An auxiliary exclusive right-turn bay, providing at least 350 feet of storage, would separate this movement from through High House Road traffic and aid the efficiency of the overall intersection. In addition, since widening of the outside westbound lane on High House will be required for the Riggsbee PUD development, the right-turn bay can be readily incorporated into the design at this intersection. It is assumed that this will be feasible, since the final location of the realigned intersection is not known at this time. Assuming no infeasible or overtly costly barriers to implementation of this right-turn lane exist, it will provide a means to efficiently mitigate overall intersection delay deficiencies, as shown in Figure A-9.

Table A-5

Summary of Suggested Improvements for Study Area Intersections

Intersection	Condition 1 Existing 2002	Condition 2 Year 2007 Without Site	Condition 3 Year 2007 with Site
Davis Drive and Hogans Valley Way – Preston Village Way	-NA-	Intersection signalized as part of Davis Drive Improvements	-NA-
Davis Drive and East Site Driveway	-NA-	-NA-	Site driveway should include right-turn lane Construct 150’ southbound right-turn deceleration lane Create median break on Davis Drive for northbound left-turns into site (200’ bay minimum)
Davis Drive and High House Road	-NA-	-NA-	Widen High House Road west of intersection to 5 lanes Construct southbound dual left-turn lanes
Davis Drive and Cornerstone Circle	-NA-	Intersection signalized as part of Sears Farm PUD	-NA-
Carpenter Upchurch Road and West Site Driveway	-NA-	-NA-	Construct 100’ southbound left-turn bay Construct 150’ northbound right-turn bay
High House Road and Jenks Carpenter Road	Intersections signalized with High House Road Widening	Intersections will be realigned to form one four-legged intersection with High House Road
High House Road and Carpenter Upchurch Road	Intersections signalized with High House Road Widening
High House Road and Combined Carpenter Upchurch-Jenks Carpenter Rd	-N/A-	-N/A-	Widen High House Road east of intersection to 5 lanes Add westbound right-turn lane storage bay with 400’ of storage (minimum) Construct southbound continuous left-turn lane from West Site Driveway to this intersection Coordinate traffic signal with signals to the east
High House Road – Green Level Road and NC 55	-NA-	-NA-	-NA-
High House Road and Cornerstone Circle – South Site Driveway	-NA-	Delineate Northbound Left & Right Turn Lanes	Widen High House Road in vicinity of intersection to 5 lanes Install 2-Phase traffic signal and coordinate with upstream signals
High House Road and Prestonwood Pkway - Legault Dr	-NA-	-NA-	-NA-

The intersection of High House Road and Cornerstone Circle, currently unsignalized, experiences lengthy northbound left-turn delays for both peak periods in 2007 without the Riggsbee PUD. The addition of a fourth intersection leg (the South Site Driveway) and site-related traffic will further impede turning movements out of Cornerstone Circle. The South Site Driveway traffic will also operate at deficient peak hour LOS, assuming separate left-turn and shared through/right-turn lanes are initially constructed at this location. Deficient delay and LOS values for this intersection as a result of Condition 3 are shown in Figure A-8. Adding a second through westbound travel lane on High House Road will provide more gaps in traffic that allow improved minor street operations in Condition 3. The northbound and southbound deficient left-turn movements improve but not enough to meet the LOS D threshold. Installation of a traffic signal would allow all movements to operate at a LOS A for both peak periods in Condition 3, with the tradeoff that delays would be imposed on through traffic along High House Road. Peak hour signal warrant analyses indicate that a signal would be warranted at this intersection. In 2007, there will be two signals operating upstream of the east and west approaches to this intersection, and a signal at this intersection should be coordinated with the others to allow optimal progression on High House Road. For ordered traffic separation, the Cornerstone Circle approach should be striped into separate left and right-turning lanes and one entry lane with or without the Riggsbee site in 2007.

The intersection of the West Site Driveway and Carpenter Upchurch Road experiences over capacity traffic conditions for the westbound left-turn movement in the AM Peak in 2007 with site build-out. Mitigation efforts to improve operations and safety at this intersection need to include provision for northbound and southbound exclusive turn lanes into the site on Carpenter Upchurch Road. A southbound left-turn lane with 100 feet of storage and a northbound exclusive right-turn deceleration lane of at least 150 feet will provide additional capacity and safety for traffic movements at this intersection. To eliminate the excessive left-turn delay at the site driveway, a provision for a median refuge needs to be added to Carpenter Upchurch Road. A possible way to accomplish this is to widen Carpenter Upchurch Road to include a continuous central left-turn lane from the West Site Driveway southbound to the High House Road intersection. This lane will allow orderly separation for left-turns onto High House Road also.

A general note concerning traffic patterns for this study: the highly congested arterials near Research Triangle Park have caused daily commuters to adjust their peak hour commuting patterns to avoid congestion. Changes to improve the network along the major arterials such as Davis Drive and NC 55 will likely result in some redistribution of travel patterns to minimize impedance. No attempt was made to estimate these changes for the 2007 build-out year. In any case, the improvements that have been recommended will be necessary to improve both capacity and safety at those deficient intersections, regardless of the effects of traffic redistribution.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS

The project will be required to address the Nitrogen Removal Ordinance of the Town of Cary. According to the information available to me there are stream buffers associated with the property. There are known drainage issues below this project in the Riggsbee Farms Subdivision and Georgetown Subdivision.

Analysis: This project addresses all stormwater requirement of the Town of Cary. Due to drainage concerns from the surrounding neighbors the project attenuates the 2, 5 and 10-year storm events to pre-development runoff levels, which exceeds the 1-year 24-hour storm requirement.

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%	49
Middle	7,758	6,789	114.3	25
High	7,376	6,420	114.9	35
Total for all Area Schools	30,840	26,563	116.1	109

LOCAL WAKE COUNTY SCHOOL ESTIMATES AND CAPACITY IMPACTS
Current 20^th 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
Green Hope Elementary	752	712	105.6%	130%	24.4% under	49
West Cary Middle	1085	903	120.2%	130%	9.8% under	25
Green Hope High	2022	1714	118.0%	130%	12% under	35
Total for all Zoned Schools			114.6%	130%	15.4% under	109

Current Enrollment and Building Capacity is based on the 20^th 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

Be advised that the Projected Number of Additional Students is only a rough approximation. The actual number of students will vary depending on several variables, such as dwelling unit type, number of bedrooms, dwelling size, and other factors. A more definitive estimation will be done at the time of site plan submittal, which is when the applicant is required to secure a Certificate of Adequate Educational Facilities from the Wake County School System.

ADJACENT ZONING AND LAND USES
	Zoning:	Land Use:
North:	Residential 10 Conditional Use (R10CU)	Riggsbee Farms Subdivision, single family residences
South:	Across High House Road Business 2 Conditional Use (B2CU) Office/Institutional (OI) Residential Multi-Family 12 Conditional Use (RMF12CU)	Across High House Road Cornerstone Shopping Center Offices, fire station Cornerstone Apartments
East:	Across Davis Drive Residential 30 (R30)	Across Davis Drive Single-family residential
West:	Residential 30 (R30)	Single-family residential

TOWN OF CARY FUTURE LAND USE PLAN DATA
	CURRENT	PROPOSED
Activity Center:	NAC (Neighborhood Activity Center)	CAC (Community Activity Center)
Underlying Detailed Plan Designation:	61.4 acres designated as Medium Density Residential (MDR). 2.4 acres designated as Commercial (COM) at northwest corner of High House and Davis Drive. 2.2 acres designated as Low Density Residential (LDR) at the northeast corner of Carpenter Upchurch and High House Road.	The 61.4 acres currently designated as MDR to be changed to a combination of MXD (Mixed Use), HDR (High Density Residential), and Parks & Open Space (PRK); The 2.4 acres currently designated as COM to be changed to MXD (Mixed Use); The 2.2 acres currently designated as LDR to be changed to MXD (Mixed Use).
Alternate Designation:	None	None

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ANALYSIS

Land Use Plan Element

Land Use Plan Amendment History: Since adoption of the Land Use Plan in November 1996, no plan amendments have occurred for the northwest quadrant of this activity center, in the area covered by this rezoning request. However, the southeast quadrant of this activity center (i.e., the southeast quadrant of the intersection of Davis Drive and High House Road) was amended on March 14, 2002, in conjunction with the rezoning of the Sears Farm PUD, to reflect the detailed internal uses of that PUD.

Background:

The subject parcels are located within an area designated on the Land Use Plan as a neighborhood activity center (NAC) focused around the intersection of Davis Drive and High House Road. Within the activity center, the Land Use Plan suggests medium-density residential uses for most of the subject tract, plus a couple acres of commercial uses at the northwest corner of Davis Drive and High House Road.

This request for rezoning is accompanied by a request to amend the Land Use Plan to change the NAC to a Community Activity Center (CAC) in order to accommodate the additional nonresidential development proposed by the rezoning application.

Note: As part of the Land Development Ordinance (LDO) rewrite, there is a companion revision to the activity center guidelines contained in Chapter 6 of the Land Use Plan. The proposed revision keeps intact the vision and purpose of the NAC but modifies some of the guidelines. Likewise, the proposed Land Use Plan revision that accompanies the LDO update keeps intact the vision and purpose of the CAC but modifies some of its guidelines.

Below summarizes some of the new guidelines for partially built community activity centers (CACs).

General Guideline Category

Guideline Description

Applicant’s Proposal

Consistency with Guideline

Land Uses

Mix of commercial, office, and high to medium density residential in the center

The proposal provides three land uses (office, commercial, and high density residential). While the uses are not vertically mixed, there are significant design requirements that support integration of the uses.

Consistent with the guideline.

Design

Provide significant design elements such as internal sidewalks, plazas and focal points, pedestrian and bicycle connections to adjoining neighborhoods. Shared parking, public outdoor space, inclusion of transit opportunity, and consistency with Town-wide design guidelines.

The applicant has provided design criteria and architectural illustrations that demonstrate how design can tie an activity center together.

Consistent with the guideline

Size

Around 500,000 square feet of non-residential use in the center.

The center, including the Sears Farm PUD and Cornerstone shopping center, would have over 600,000 commercial square feet. This does not include any non-residential development on the vacant tract at the northeast corner of the center.

Not consistent with the guideline.

Analysis:

While the existing Land Use Plan identifies this area as a Neighborhood Activity Center, existing development as well as the amount of vacant land in the activity center boundaries supports the change to Community Activity Center (CAC) for this partially built center. This designation is consistent with the newly adopted land use amendment for activity center designations.

The applicant’s proposal, when added to the existing development (Sears farm and Cornerstone), will exceed the amount of commercial space typically suggested for Community Activity Centers. The applicant’s basis for this deviation is that the project has the following ingredients:

Enhanced design elements, such as the two pond features, the roundabout, and the entry design features.
Protection of 19.67 acre open space/linear park area adjacent to the existing Riggsbee Farm subdivision. This acreage is almost 15 acres more than the Town’s requirement.
Construction of a private collector road that will link Davis Drive and Carpenter Upchurch Road allowing for greater traffic distribution in this area.
Design of a stormwater system that reduces peak flows in the stream.

TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

Transit: The applicant has provided a rezoning condition that will allow the integration of bus transit into the site development. This condition would incorporate a bus shelter and stop into the project.

Pedestrian: The applicant is proposing "at least one sidewalk on each drive and that all buildings will connect to the public sidewalk system. " The applicant is also proposing a sidewalk on the south side of the private collector street linking Davis Drive with Carpenter Upchurch Road. The applicant is not proposing sidewalk on the north side; rather, they are providing a 30-foot easement to allow a greenway through the linear park area. Pedestrian crossings would occur at the proposed full access point along High House Road and at the Davis Drive/High House Road intersection.

Bicycle: The private collector street will be designed to have wide outside lanes to accommodate bicycles. In addition, the future greenway would also provide for bicycle movement.

Transportation Plan Element: Both Davis Dr. and High House Rd. will be under construction beginning in the Summer/Fall of 2003 for road widening projects. Each road will be four-lane, median divided upon completion of the project. The applicant is proposing to phase the construction of High House Road along their frontage and the construction of the private collector street.

The applicant is proposing to widen High House Road and the private collector street in three phases, starting with widening from the Davis Drive intersection to Cornerstone Drive prior to the first certificate of occupancy (C0) for the commercial parcels. Widening from Cornerstone Drive to parcel M-5 would occur in the 2nd phase, and the remaining High House Road widening would occur in the last phase of the project. In addition, all phases of the High House Road widening will be completed prior to September 2005 or upon completion of the Town’s project should it extend beyond September of 2005.

Analysis:

Staff supports the transportation related conditions offered by the applicant.

OPEN SPACE CONSIDERATIONS

The Peggy Stone Riggsbee parcel (RealID# 0072984) contains significant resources as identified in the Open Space and Historic Resources Plan (OSHRP). These consist of mixed upland hardwood forest in the northwestern corner of the tract. There are also smaller areas of bottomland hardwood forest within the stream buffers of the pond on the eastern half of the parcel.

Analysis: The applicant’s proposal to create a 19.87 acre open space/linear park protects the significant resources on the site.

PARKS, GREENWAYS AND BIKEWAYS MASTER PLAN

If the development includes single family homes, a land dedication or payment-in-lieu will be necessary.

Analysis:

The PRCR Department is requiring a payment-in-lieu (P.I.L) for 5-7 acres of parkland for the potential development of 230 units as proposed in this rezoning. Whereas the applicant requested dedicating the 19.67-acre open space site on the north side of the collector road as their park dedication, PRCR did not accept this due to the close proximity of other park facilities and the lack of useable acreage for recreational purposes. The actual amount of the P.I.L. will be calculated at the time of site plan approval.
Staff also recommends the approval of the dedication of a greenway easement through the 19.67-acre open space tract. This greenway will be located in close proximity to the collector road to serve as both a recreational trail and bike access route. The actual length and width of the greenway easement will be determined after it has been fully designed and prior to construction.

Staff would prefer the applicant to construct the greenway for which the applicant would receive credit against their P.I.L. The Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Advisory Board reviewed the Riggsbee Rezoning Project during its June 2 meeting and voted unanimously in favor of accepting staff’s recommendation to accept the payment-in-lieu, greenway easement and for the applicant to receive credit for the construction of the greenway.

Staff Recommendation

Changes since Public Hearing:

A concept plan has been provided which gives the general layout of the buildings, road and pedestrian access points, open space and buffers.
Architectural renderings showing specific design criteria have been provided.
Language pertaining to shared parking has been eliminated.
Entrance features have been provided.
The height of the residential structures has been limited to three (3) stories.
Easement for a multi-use trail has been provided.
Medians within High House Road will be planted with street trees.
If a bus shelter is deemed necessary by the Town, up to $5000 will be contributed by the developer for this purpose.
Construction of a private collector road.
Single family lots to the north have been deleted increasing the amount of open space by approximately 20 acres.
The phasing schedule has been revised to coincide with the Town’s High House Road improvement project.
A connector street will be designed to accommodate bicycles. Bike racks will be provided in the multi-use areas.

A 30-foot greenway easement within the open space north of the connector street will be provided.

Protest Petition Information:

Valid [ x ] Not Enough Signatures with 100 feet[ ] None Filed [ ]

Analysis:

This development was first heard as a public hearing before the Town Council on January 23, 2003. At that time the development consisted of 230 multi-family dwelling units; 87,000 square feet of retail space; and 116, 400 square feet of office space.

Due to public concern and concerns raised by the Council, the developer revised the plan and a second public hearing was held May 8, 2003. The new plan proposes a maximum of 230 multi-family dwelling units; an increase to 143,160 square feet of retail space; and a decrease to 74,200 square feet of office space. Also through discussions with staff, the applicant has increased open space by 20 acres; attenuated the stormwater retention to the 2, 5 and 10 year storm events; redesigned the site to follow the Towns’ design review guidelines; and provided concept plans and renderings.

This rezoning application is accompanied by a request to change the land use plan from a Neighborhood Activity Center (NAC) to a Community Activity Center (CAC). The activity center as it is today is more closely aligned with a CAC than with a NAC because the amount of land included in the activity center exceeds the guidelines for a NAC. Therefore, existing development in this partially built activity center and the amount of vacant land remaining support a change from NAC to CAC.

Commercial space is exceeded for this CAC activity center by 100,000 square feet. However the applicant is mitigating this excess square footage by doing the following: enhancing design elements; adding additional open/linear park space; providing a stormwater management plan in excess of Town requirements; and constructing a private collector road.

A list of the pros and cons associated with this request is listed below.

Pros:

Project exceeds the Town’s stormwater retention requirements by attenuating the 2, 5 and 10-year storm events to pre-development runoff levels, which exceeds the 1-year 24-hour storm requirement.
Open space provided is 19.67 acres for a proposed linear park. This Town of Cary dedication requirement for this development is 4.94 acres.
Enhanced design elements, such as two ponds, the roundabout and entry features.
Height of the multi residential structures has been limited to 3 stories.
Construction of a private collector road that will link Davis Drive and Carpenter Upchurch Road.
Integration of bus transit on site with the proposal of a bus shelter and bus stop.
A concept plan and renderings have been provided by the applicant.

Cons:

Valid protest petition on this case.
Over the amount of commercial square footage suggested in the CAC guidelines.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:

Staff recommends approval of the rezoning request and corresponding land use plan amendment.

PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD RECOMMENDATION:

Mr. Dawson moved to approve the rezoning request and land use plan amendment with the following recommendations: the developer dedicate the easement and build the 30 foot greenway on the north side of the collector road; that the developer work with staff to limit uses in the GC areas; that building heights in the non-residential areas be limited to 4 stories (this includes underground or first floor parking); that recreation facilities be limited to a facility serving the residential area of this PUD; and that resolution to the Riggsbee Farm subdivision stormwater run-off issue be resolved prior to this PUD being built. The motion was seconded by Mr. Hyatt and approved by a vote of 8-1 with Mr. Yerha voting in the negative and Mr. Zaccardo excused.

CHANGES SINCE P&Z BOARD MEETING:

Building height in the mixed-use tracts has been limited to four stories.

A phasing plan has been included for the storm water management devices. A map will be provided showing this phasing plan.

Signage will be provided that limits left turns northbound during peak hours onto Davis Drive from the proposed connector street.

Revised the greenway requirements to address the construction of the greenway.

Included a list of uses that will not be permitted in the Riggsbee Farms PUD. Those uses not permitted are as follows: cemetery, public utility station, public neighborhood recreation center, outdoor kennel, veterinary hospital with an outdoor kennel, amusement establishments, sexually oriented businesses, auto sales, funeral homes

Included in the PUD, documentation for detention of the 1-year, 2-year, 5-year, 10-year and 25-year storm and the Post-Development Drainage Map and the Pre-Development Drainage Map.

TOWN COUNCIL DECISION:

Approved.

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