TOWN OF CARY

OVERVIEW OF REQUEST
This request would amend the 23.43 acre parcel currently designated as O&I–4 to a single family development parcel now referred to as SF-4 within the Weston PUD. This request would allow for the construction of 72 single-family units at a density of 3.1 units per acre.
REZONING CONDITIONS
CURRENT	PROPOSED
	• All acreages are preliminary until final surveying takes place during the construction drawing phase of development. Exact stream locations, 100-year floodplain delineation, street alignments, etc. may cause acreages to vary slightly. • All types of buffers and streetscapes shall be as specified in the Open Space Definitions (see 3.1) and shall not be subject to any code changes. No additional streetscapes or buffers shall be required. • All building setbacks shall be as specified in this PUD document and shall not be subject to any code changes. • No building or parking setbacks shall be required against buffers, portions of buffers, streetscapes and any type of open space unless existing vegetation remains. • All building setbacks may be reduced a maximum of 10% by Town of Cary staff. • No additional recreational space or open space 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. However, the general layout will remain the same. • Final parcel acreages may vary during final site design. Densities for the residential parcels are considered to be maximums and the resulting number of units for each parcel may slightly vary once final parcel acreages are established.
	1. The southern property line abutting the Weston Pointe subdivision will have no more than five (5) residential lots/homes backing up to the existing Weston Greenway. Each of these lots/homes shall have the following characteristics: a. Minimum lot area equal to 13,000 square feet. b. Minimum average width of 80', as measured at the approximate center of the lots. c. No portion of the existing 20'-wide greenway easement shall be located within any lot. d. The rear of the four lots closest to Norwell Blvd. shall be a minimum of 10' off of the greenway easement. e. Front of homes shall be no further than 20' from right-of-way at closest point. f. A minimum of 20' deep undisturbed buffer (measured perpendicular from the rear lot line(s)) shall be located at the rear and this will be also noted on plat. g. No fences allowed. 2.The 50' perimeter Weston buffer adjacent to Weston Pointe, shall be supplemented as necessary to meet the following "Type A" standard: a. 2 canopy trees with a minimum 2" caliper and 12' height at the time of planting made up of, but not limited to, red maple, sugar maple or willow oak. b. 3 evergreen trees with a minimum 6'-7' height at the time of planting made up of, but not limited to, cryptomeria, leyland cypress or southern magnolia. c. 20 evergreen shrubs with a minimum 24"-30" height at the time of planting made up of, but not limited to, burford holly, wax myrtle, photinia, Nellie Stevens holly or ligustrum. (Note: These numbers represent the total plant material per 100 linear feet of buffer. Any existing plant material presently located in the 50' buffer area meeting the above standards may be used to meet required quantities.) Supplemental plantings shall be planted to the following standards to create natural appearance, rather than a "monoculture" appearance. Plantings will be field located with consideration for slopes, available sunlight, and for the greenway trail such that root systems do not cause damage or uplift and limbs do not grow into the pathway. 3.To the extent that areas in item 1 .f. above do not meet the Town of Cary "Type A" standard, those deficient areas will be supplemented to meet that standard using the material palette in item #2 above. 4.The Open Space Area between the Weston Greenway and the interior road will be replanted according to the following standard: 53 evergreen trees with a minimum of 6'-7' height at the time of planting made up of a combination of Nellie Stevens holly, cryptomeria and virginia pine. These will be planted in a double row and staggered. A sidewalk connector to the Weston Greenway will be located in this area, with the specific location to be determined at site plan approval. 5.No utility connections or easements from this site will be located in/on Weston Pointe, unless required by the Town of Cary. 6.No street lights shall be located along the street adjacent to the open space at the southern property line abutting Western Pointe. 7.The Weston Property Owners Association shall continue to maintain the greenway trail located within this site. Bolded conditions are added after the Public Hearing. 08/07/2003

REZONING HISTORY

Z-259-84-PUD (Approved)

Z-598-90-PUD (Approved)

Z-623-91-PUD (Withdrawn)

Z-622-91-PUD (Withdrawn)

97-REZ-47 (Approved)

Z-414-87-PUD (Approved)

SITE DATA

WATER/SEWER SERVICE

Analysis: The proposed change to the PUD will not have significant impact to existing public water and sewer systems in the area.

TRANSPORTATION

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

The projected traffic volumes provided in section 4.1 in the Master Plan Revision dated April 2003 is from ITE Trip Generation Report and indicates a reduction in site trips.

Analysis: No Traffic Impact Study required. "The Weston PUD amendment as proposed results in an 83% reduction in AM peak hour trips, a 76% reduction in PM peak hour trips and a 58% reduction in total average daily trips."

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS

There are riparian buffers associated with this project.

The project will be required to meet the nitrogen requirements of the Town of Cary.

Analysis: This project meets all of the requirements of the Storm water section of the Engineering Department.

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%	13
Middle	7,758	6,789	114.3	7
High	7,376	6,420	114.9	9
Total for all Area Schools	30,840	26,563	116.1	29

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
Northwoods Elementary	725	514	141.1%	130 %	-11.1 %	13
West Cary Middle	1085	903	120.2%	130 %	9.8 %	7
Cary High	1921	1657	115.9%	130 %	14.1 %	9
Total for all Zoned Schools	3751	3074	125.73%	130 %	4.27	29

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:
	UDO	LDO
North:	R-30 PUD	PDD Major	OFC/INS & VAC
South:	R-30 PUD	PDD Major	PKS
East:	R-30 PUD	PDD Major	VAC & OFC/INS
West:	R-30 PUD	PDD Major	VAC

TOWN OF CARY FUTURE LAND USE PLAN DATA

	CURRENT	PROPOSED
Plan Designation:	Office & Institutional (OFC/INS) within an Office Park	Medium Density Residential (MDR)
Alternate Designation:	n/a	n/a
Activity Center:	n/a	n/a

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ANALYSIS

Land Use Plan Element

LAND USE PLAN AMENDMENT HISTORY: None.

The subject parcel is designated for Office and Institutional uses on the Land Use Plan. Approval of the subject rezoning would require an amendment of the Land Use Plan to Medium Density Residential for the subject parcel.

Analysis: The applicant proposes to convert 24 acres of vacant office/institutional land within the Weston PUD to residential use at an overall density of 3.1 du/ac. The basis for this request is the dynamics of the office market, coupled with the developer’s intent to develop Weston as a mixture of uses..

According to Highwoods’ preliminary Second Quarter 2003 Office/Flex Survey results, the vacancy rate in Weston’s 1.3 million square feet of "for lease" properties is about 19%. With the inclusion of sublease space (i.e. space being offered for lease by tenants that no longer need some/all of their space), the total vacancy rate is about 39%.

Of the approximately 709 "developable" acres in Weston (i.e., net of road right-of-ways, assigned open space, dedicated park land), about 352 acres, or 49.7%, have been developed to date (as mostly office or industrial uses). Approximately 357 acres (50.3%) remain to be developed. With the proposed amendment, the overall Weston PUD will contain 665 acres of O&I, PEC and other non-residential uses. Residential parcels will total 179 acres (or 20% of the entire PUD). The proposal will increase the number of residential parcels in the PUD from 1,081 to 1,153 and will retain a substantial amount of vacant office / industrial land available for future development.

The location of the proposed land use amendment from OFC/INS to MDR would occur on parcel SF-4 off of Norwell Blvd. Medium density residential at this location will provide a transition between the large lot single family uses to the south and the more intensive office park to the north. In addition, residential uses on this site would be surrounded by an adjacent park and greenway, a major employment center, and retail in close proximity (on either end of Weston Parkway).

TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

Transit: The Town's transit service (C-Tran) can provide service to the subject area. C-Tran is a demand responsive transit service managed by the Town to provide bus transit to residents, visitors, and businesses in Cary.

Pedestrian: The amendment proposes sidewalks on one side of all streets along with ADA compliant connections to an existing 8’ multi-purpose greenway trail along the parcel’s southern and western boundary.

Bicycle: No comment.

Transportation Plan Element: A connectivity index of 1.2 or greater is required in a residential development. A waiver will be required if this index is not met due to topography and a 6-foot pedestrian trail must be provided to link any cul-de-sacs in the development. Compliance with this provision of the LDO will be required prior to site / subdivision plan approval.

Analysis: No Comment

OPEN SPACE CONSIDERATIONS

The parcel is wooded, predominantly mixed upland hardwood forest (based on 10/2000 aerial photography). Topographically, the parcel slopes toward existing open space (privately-owned conservation area) and stream buffers lying on west side of parcel.

Analysis: No Comment.

PARKS, GREENWAYS AND BIKEWAYS MASTER PLAN

Analysis: No comment

Staff Recommendation

Changes since Public Hearing:

There were a number of concerns raised at the public hearing. The applicant has worked closely with staff to address these concerns and a number of changes/conditions have been added since to this case since the public hearing.

1. The southern property line abutting the Weston Pointe subdivision will have no more than five (5) residential lots/homes backing up to the existing Weston Greenway. Each of these lots/homes shall have the following characteristics:

a. Minimum lot area equal to 13,000 square feet.

b. Minimum average width of 80', as measured at the approximate center of the lots.

c. No portion of the existing 20'-wide greenway easement shall be located within any lot.

d. The rear of the four lots closest to Norwell Blvd. shall be a minimum of 10' off of the greenway easement.

e. Front of homes shall be no further than 20' from right-of-way at closest point.

f. A minimum of 20' deep undisturbed buffer (measured perpendicular from the rear lot line(s)) shall be located at the rear and this will be also noted on plat.

g. No fences allowed.

2.The 50' perimeter Weston buffer adjacent to Weston Pointe, shall be supplemented as necessary to meet the following "Type A" standard:

a. 2 canopy trees with a minimum 2" caliper and 12' height at the time of planting made up of, but not limited to, red maple, sugar maple or willow oak.

b. 3 evergreen trees with a minimum 6'-7' height at the time of planting made up of, but not limited to, cryptomeria, leyland cypress or southern magnolia.

c. 20 evergreen shrubs with a minimum 24"-30" height at the time of planting made up of, but not limited to, burford holly, wax myrtle, photinia, Nellie Stevens holly or ligustrum.

(Note: These numbers represent the total plant material per 100 linear feet of buffer. Any existing plant material presently located in the 50' buffer area meeting the above standards may be used to meet required quantities.)

Supplemental plantings shall be planted to the following standards to create natural appearance, rather than a "monoculture" appearance. Plantings will be field located with consideration for slopes, available sunlight, and for the greenway trail such that root systems do not cause damage or uplift and limbs do not grow into the pathway.

3.To the extent that areas in item 1 .f. above do not meet the Town of Cary "Type A" standard, those deficient areas will be supplemented to meet that standard using the material palette in item #2 above.

4.The Open Space Area between the Weston Greenway and the interior road will be replanted according to the following standard:

53 evergreen trees with a minimum of 6'-7' height at the time of planting made up of a combination of Nellie Stevens holly, cryptomeria and virginia pine. These will be planted in a double row and staggered.

A sidewalk connector to the Weston Greenway will be located in this area, with the specific location to be determined at site plan approval.

5.No utility connections or easements from this site will be located in/on Weston Pointe, unless required by the Town of Cary.

6.No street lights shall be located along the street adjacent to the open space at the southern property line abutting Western Pointe.

7.The Weston Property Owners Association shall continue to maintain the greenway trail located within this site.

Protest Petition Information:

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

Analysis:

This is a 23.43 acre change to the Weston Planned Unit Development that will allow the construction of 72 single family units on a tract that was originally approved for office development.

The Town’s Land Use plan designates this site for office/institutional uses. The applicant has requested a change to medium density residential to support the additional units. The applicant is proposing 3.1 units per acre which is on the lower end of medium density development.

The application does have a valid protest petition on the southern boundary with concerns about preservation of the existing greenway and the density of the development. The applicant has revised the conditions of this request as shown above to address these concerns. The applicant has agreed to supplement the existing buffer to insure that an opaque buffer is provided. The conditions limit the location of structures and fences to minimize any impacts on the buffer.

Pros:

The Weston buffer will be preserved and enhanced to serve as a buffer between this property and the property to the south.

The change of land use from office to medium density residential will provide a transition between the large lot single family uses to the south and the more intensive office park to the north.

Adequate office development potential remaining in Weston PDD.

Cons:

Valid protest petition on this case

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:

Staff recommends approval.

PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD RECOMMENDATION:

To be determined after Planning and Zoning Board Meeting.

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/2003cases/2003index.htm