PETITIONER

PROJECT CONTACT

PROPERTY OWNER

jjenkins@centexhomes.com

csmith@wihtersandravenel.com

LOCATION:

East Side of Davis Dr. @ Forget Me Not Rd.

MAPS:

Vicinity Map - Small

Vicinity Map - Large

Zoning Map

Land Use Plan Map

Stream Buffers

Master Land Use Plan

Illustrative Plan

Open Space and Buffers

Phasing Plan

PROPOSED SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS

TOWN COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING:

September 11, 2003

PLANNING & ZONING BOARD AND PUBLIC HEARING:

November 17, 2003

TOWN COUNCIL:

December 11, 2003

PARCEL INFORMATION

Parcel #

Realid #

Area

743614925

0240189

24.89 acres (calculated)

REZONING DATA

CURRENT

PROPOSED

Zoning:

Residential-8 Conditional Use

Planned Development District Major

Overlay District:

N/A

N/A

Land Use:

Vacant

OVERVIEW OF REQUEST

This request is for an addition to the Bishop’s Gate Planned Development District Major which was approved on November 21, 2002 for 226 total houses consisting of 101 single family houses and 125 multifamily houses (including the 22 multifamily homes on tract AR-3). The proposal is for 71 additional dwelling units consisting of 41 single family homes and 30 units as attached residential on 15.43 acres (2.87 DU/acre) and 10.31 acres of open space. Currently, the subject property is zoned for Residential-8 Conditional Use.

APPLICANT’S JUSTIFICATION STATEMENT

The original Bishop’s Gate development provided a valuable street connection between Cary Parkway and Davis Drive and this request if for the addition to Bishop’s Gate will complete the connection between West High street and Salem Church Road. The location of the stream through the site, with its associated buffers, reserved approximately 9 acres of open space that completes an open space connection from Davis Drive to Bond Park. The remainder of the development provides a continuation of the same single-family lots and multi-family product as in the adjacent Bishop’s Gate development. The site is presently zoned Residential-8 Conditional Use which, prior to changed stream buffer requirements, provided a similar number or more lots. Further Davis Drive improvements will also be made along the frontage of the project. The accompanying document will provide additional explanation and justification.

REZONING CONDITIONS

CURRENT

PROPOSED

• Property shall be used only for single family detached houses.
• The minimum lot size shall be 8,000 square feet. Total lot sizes shall average 10,000 square feet as a minimum.
• Along the western boundary line contiguous with the railroad right-of-way, there will be a 20 foot Type "A" buffer. This buffer may have a combination of fencing, berming, and landscape plantings. A buffer plan for the entire buffer will be submitted with the first subdivision approval.

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. will 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.

• Within non-residential parcels, there shall be no interior buffers or setbacks between separate buildings, even if under separate ownership.

• All building setbacks shall be as specified in this 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 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.

• The roadway connection to Old London Way will not be completed until eighty per cent (80%) of the certificates of occupancy in this portion of Bishop’s Gate have been obtained. *

• All construction traffic serving this portion of the project shall be required to utilize Westhigh Street for access. *

• A median shall be installed within the Old London Way right-of-way at the southern edge of the project for the purposes of traffic calming. *

• The outparcels to the north and west of the “AR-4” parcel shall be served with a public street from the roadway serving the “AR-4” parcel; the location of which is to be determined at the time of site plan review for the “AR-4” parcel. *

• The applicant shall dedicate a public utility easement and shall install water and sewer line stubs to the western property line adjacent to the two residential outparcels at the time of construction in the “AR-4” parcel.

• The units constructed within the “AR-4” parcel shall have exterior materials similar to those used in the attached dwellings found in the AR-1 through AR-3 parcels in Phase I.

• There shall be a minimum of two (2) exterior materials used for the front, sides, and rear of each individual attached dwelling unit as depicted upon the exhibits submitted by the applicant.*

* conditions added since the public hearing

REZONING HISTORY

Z-688-93-1: Residential-40 to Residential-8 Conditional Use, Approved

SITE DATA

WATER/SEWER SERVICE

The project will be required to meet Town of Cary utility policies and standards.

Analysis: The proposed changes will not have significant impact to the original utility plan.

Staff Contact: Shuyan Tian, Engineer, shuyan.tian@townofcary.org, (919) 469-4381

TRANSPORTATION

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

An addition of 71 dwelling units, during the AM peak hour, will generate 53 trips and the PM peak hour will generate 72 trips. The Average Daily Traffic volume is 679 trips per day.

A Traffic Impact Analysis was prepared, by the Town traffic consultant HNTB dated July 2002, for the approved Bishops Gate PUD. All intersections will function at Town standards or better at built out.

Analysis: No Traffic Impact Study required.

Staff Contact: Dick Moore, Traffic Systems Manager, dick.moore@townofcary.org, (919) 462-3937

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 the requirements of the Town of Cary Stormwater section.

Staff Contact: Tom Horstman, Erosion Control Supervisor, tom.horstman@townofcary.org,(919) 469-4347

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

Req.

Ord.

Projected Number of Students

Davis Drive Elementary

997

640

155.8%

130 %

-25.8%

13

Davis Drive Middle

1176

923

127.4%

130 %

2.6%

7

Green Hope High

2022

1714

118.0%

130 %

12%

9

Total for all Zoned Schools

4195

3277

133.7 %

130 %

-11.2%

29

ADJACENT ZONING AND LAND USES

Zoning

Land Use

North

Planned Development District Major & Residential-20

Very Low Density Residential & Low Density Residential

South

RA (Apex), MD (Apex)

Agriculture/ Farm and Residential

East

Residential-40

Vacant

West

Residential-40 W (Wake County) and

Residential

TOWN OF CARY FUTURE LAND USE PLAN DATA

CURRENT

PROPOSED

Plan Designation:

(1-3 Single Family Homes)

Low Density Residential to Medium Density Residential (3-8 Single Family Homes) on 3.7 ac and Low Density Residential to Parks on 9.4 ac

Alternate Designation:

None

None

Activity Center:

None

None

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ANALYSIS

Land Use Plan Element  

LAND USE PLAN AMENDMENT HISTORY:  This site has not had a Land Use Plan Amendment previously.  It is currently designated for Low Density Residential uses in the Cary Land Use Plan. Although the overall density of the Planned Development District amendment will be 2.76 Dwelling Units per acre, which is within the parameters allowed for Low Density Residential (i.e. 71 units / 25.7 total site acres including Open Space= 2.76 Dwelling Units/Acre), Parcel AR-4 is separately proposed for a density of 8 du/ac and is proposed to contain attached residences.  The Low Density Residential designation in the Land Use Plan allows only single family detached units.  A Land Use Plan Amendment is therefore needed with the proposal – Low Density Residential to Medium Density Residential on 3.7 ac and Low Density Residential to Parks on 9.4 ac (to reflect the common open space proposed).  

Analysis:  Staff supports the land use plan amendment for the following reasons:

• The overall density of the project is consistent with the low density land use classification.
• The location of the attached housing product, which generates the need for the land use plan amendment is more appropriately suited for attached housing than detached housing.  It is also consistent with the pattern of development previously approved for the orginal Bishop’s Gate PUD.
• The use of an attached product provides the applicant with the necessary flexibility to provide the town with more open space than is required for the project.  

Staff Contact: Jim Parajon, Planning Manager, james.parajon@townofcary.org, (919) 469-4029

TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

Transit: This location is within the C-Tran, Cary Transit, service area.  

Pedestrian: The applicant is proposing 5’ sidewalk along one side of all streets with the exception of cul-de-sacs.  

Bicycle:  Bicycle accommodation would occur on-street and also provided via the greenway network.

Transportation Plan Element: A connectivity index of 1.2 or greater is required in a residential development.

Analysis:  The proposed plan is consistent with town policies and requirements regarding transportation.

Staff Contact: Juliet Andes , Transportation Planner, juliet.andes@townofcary.org, (919) 462-2008

OPEN SPACE CONSIDERATIONS

The project site contains total forest cover.  Significant resources identified within the proposed area, as denoted in the Open Space and Historic Resources Plan, include mixed upland hardwoods, floodplain and riparian forests associated with streams and a pond.

Analysis:  The applicant’s illustrated plan shows the significant resources being protected by the layout of the project.  

PARKS, GREENWAYS AND BIKEWAYS MASTER PLAN

The additional residential units will require an increase in the payment-in-lieu that will be required for Bishop's Gate.

Analysis: With the additional units from this amendment, a payment-in-lieu will be due for 8.48 acres. (297 units – This includes the total number of units for the entire Bishop’s Gate development) In negotiations with the applicant, the following is recommended:

1)   For the purposes of this amendment, staff recommends approval of the location of the 10’ greenway (asphalt) trail to be located along the outer edge of the buffer (within the phase II project area) as well as a trail surrounding the pond.

2)   The Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Advisory Board reviewed the Bishop’s Gate, Phase II Amendment at their November meeting and voted unanimously to approve staff’s recommendation of accepting the location of the greenway within the phase II amendment. In addition, the Advisory Board further recommended to change the original condition of constructing a multi-use trail along West High Street to a greenway to be located throughout the buffers of phase I and II.  Staff will be meeting with the applicant as well as with staff to develop an acceptable trail alignment. This alignment will be presented to the Planning and Zoning Board at the November 17, 2003 meeting.

The applicant will agree to design and construct these trails and crossings to Town of Cary standards. The alignment of the trails, the plans and specifications will be reviewed and approved by Town staff.  The applicant and the Town agree that if the value of the construction of these trails and crossings do not at least equal the amount of the payment-in-lieu due, then the applicant will pay the difference. 

Staff Contact: Doug McRainey, Parks Planning Manager, doug.mcrainey@townofcary.org, (919) 460-4973

STAFF RECOMMENDATION

Changes since Public Hearing:  

1. Addition of a 10’ paved “greenway” trail through the Zone 3 section of the riparian buffer dissecting the site and connecting to the multipurpose trail in the “AR-3” portion of Bishop’s Gate to the north.  The connection to the multi-purpose trail along Westhigh street may be modified to follow riparian buffers throughout the project.
2. Addition of a 10’ paved “greenway” trail from Old London Way to the greenway trail in the riparian buffer.
3. Staff is working with applicant to relocate the some of the previously-approved 10’ paved multipurpose trails from the West High Street right-of-way to the riparian buffers found in Phase I of the original PDD (02-REZ-013).
4. New condition proposed to not connect Old London Way until 80% of the certificates of occupancy within this portion of the project have been acquired.
5. New condition that all construction traffic will be required to access the site from Westhigh Street .
6. Revised street pattern with the addition of an additional street stub to the eastern property line in order to comply with minimum street-spacing requirements in the LDO.
7. Proposal of a “splitter island” median within the Old London Way right-of-way at the southern edge of the project to act as a traffic-calming device.
8. The applicant has agreed to provide a public street stub to the outparcels located to the north of the “AR-4” parcel, the location of which to be determined at the time of construction of the “AR-4” parcel; and to preclude development of attached residential dwelling units against the eastern side of the outparcels so as to ensure that the public street stub may be located in a variety of locations.
9. The applicant has agreed to continue the 40-foot-wide “railscape” planting (utilization of existing vegetation, a 6’ berm, & supplemental plantings; all built to the Type A standard) along the boundary of the project with the two outparcels to the west.
10. The applicant has submitted voluntary annexation petitions for all portions of the Bishop’s Gate PDD not already within the corporate limits.
11. The applicant has agreed to install water and sewer service to the project’s western boundary intended for service to the outparcels to the west of the project.
12. The applicant has submitted two exhibits as zoning conditions depicting the style and form of the exterior materials for the attached dwelling units in the AR-4 parcel.
13. The applicant has added a condition mandating that at least two different exterior surface materials shall be used on each of the attached dwelling unit structures.

 Protest Petition Information:

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

 Analysis:

 This project is proposed as an addition to the original Bishop’s Gate planned unit development (02-REZ-013), which was approved with conditions on November 21, 2002 .  This proposal calls for an additional 71 residential units, both attached and detached as well as additional open space and roadway connections for the development.  

There were a number of concerns raised during the public hearing primarily related to traffic generation, the need for traffic calming for the existing residential neighborhoods, and a desire for increased buffering along the outparcels to the west.

 In terms of traffic, there was concern over impacts to Davis Drive from the proposed 71 dwelling units.  No traffic impact analysis was required since the proposal is only expected to generate an additional 679 trips per day.  The original Bishop’s Gate development was required to prepare a traffic impact analysis which gave consideration to Davis Drive .  No improvements were needed for Davis Drive based upon approval of the Phase I portion of the project, and the Phase II portion is not expected to have any more substantial negative impact.  

Another traffic-related issue was construction traffic. The applicant has proposed a condition requiring all construction traffic to serve the site from Westhigh street . In addition, the applicant has proposed a second condition to delay the connection to Old London Way until the 80^th CO has been issued.  A traffic calming device at the southern edge of the development has also been proposed.  

Adequate buffering for the two residential outparcels to the west of the project was also expressed as a concern.  The proposal has been modified to provide a landscape strip (referred to as a “railscape” buffer) which meets the following requirements: 40 feet wide, inclusion of a berm up to six feet in height, retention of existing vegetation, and inclusion of supplemental vegetation (if necessary) to meet the Type A buffer standard.  The remaining railscape buffers along the western edge of the property vary from 30 to 40 feet in width, include the berm, and are constructed to the Type B standard.  The applicant’s revised proposal goes beyond the LDO standards for perimeter buffers between type 4 and type 2 uses by including a berm.

 The applicant is continuing to work with the staff to modify the original pedestrian circulation plan to locate greenway trails within some riparian buffers connected with multi-purpose trails along some street rights-of-way. At the time of this writing, the final details on the new configuration are still under consideration, but the applicant and staff will have a revised proposal indicating the greenway/multi-purpose trail placement for the entire planned unit development at the time of the second public hearing.

 Other concerns related to land use plan issues and open space requirements have been resolved.  With consideration of the above issues, the staff has identified a list of pros and cons concerning this request:

 Pros:

• The project provides a significant amount of open space (over 10 acres, almost 40% of the site) and preserves a pond and other natural amenities.
• The project provides a mix of detached and attached housing consistent with the Town’s goal of providing a diverse housing mix.
• The project has lead to further discussions about the a greater diversity of pedestrian access within the project as a whole.
• The project will create conditions where the two residential outparcels to the west of the project can be reconfigured to gain utility service and ingress/egress from the east as opposed to crossing the railroad.

Cons:

• The project will lead to more vehicular traffic than exists currently in the area.
• The project will likely result in more children (approximately 29) utilizing the school system.

PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD RECOMMENDATION

REZONING:  Wally Dawson made a motion to deny, which was seconded by Steven Goodridge, and the Board voted 8-1.  Carla Sadtler had the dissenting vote.  

LAND USE PLAN AMENDMENT: Wally Dawson made a motion to deny, which was seconded by Steven Goodridge, and the Board voted 8-1.  

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