|
TOWN
OF CARY
,
NORTH
CAROLINA
REQUEST FOR REZONING
STAFF RECOMMENDATION TO TOWN COUNCIL
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Rezoning
Petition:
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04-REZ-23
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Land
Use Plan Amendment:
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N/A
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Meeting
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Date
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Staff
Recommendation
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Action
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Town Council
Public Hearing
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November 18, 2004
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Staff recommends
forwarding to the January 18, 2005 Planning and Zoning Board Meeting
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Forwarded to
January 18, 2005
Planning and Zoning Board meeting
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Planning and
Zoning Board
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January 18, 2005
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Staff recommends
approval of the request
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The Planning and
Zoning Board recommended denial of the application (7-1), largely
based upon a perceived agreement between the property owner and
adjacent residents.
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Town Council
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February 10, 2005
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Staff recommends
approval of the request
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Withdrawn by Applicant
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TOWN
OF
CARY
CASE MANAGER
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Travis Morehead,
Principal Planner
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Phone:
(919) 465-4610
Email: travis.morehead@townofcary.org
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STAFF
RECOMMENDATION
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Staff
believes that this request satisfies the rezoning criteria set forth
in the Land Development Ordinance Section 3.4.1 (E) and recommends
approval for the following reasons:
- This
request is consistent with the current Town of Cary Land Use
Plan.
This proposal is consistent with the Town of
Cary Comprehensive Land Use Plan
as well as the special area plan that was adopted
December 11, 2003
. This parcel is
designated as Commercial and would be appropriate for a
specialty grocery store.
- Adequate
public services can be provided to the parcel (i.e. police,
fire, utilities etc.). As
stated in the utilities section of this report public services
are already available to the site.
- The
proposed rezoning is unlikely to have a significant impact on
the natural environment.
The natural environment of the site has already been
altered to accommodate the commercial uses previously approved
for this site. This parcel would have no further impact to the
natural environment than the previously approved use.
- The
proposed rezoning will not have a significant adverse impact on
other property in the vicinity. The proposal would have no
more of a significant adverse impact to other property in the
area as compared to the previous conditioned use (restaurant).
- The
proposed zoning classification is suitable for the property.
This property is
currently zoned Planned Development District PDD (Major) with a
Land Use Designation of Commercial. The zoning and land use
classification for this parcel are appropriate for this use and
,in fact, would remain the same if this proposal were to be
approved.
Additional Analysis
- There were concerns
raised at the Town Council meeting about the number of grocery
stores in the area. The
following is information provided by the staff in 2003
concerning the number of grocery stores in
Cary
:
- “Based on the most
recent demographic information available,
Cary
has a lower number of grocery stores per capita than in other
parts of
Wake
County
, the State of
North Carolina
, and the nation as a whole. In 2001, there was one grocery
for every 5,252 people in Cary. The Wake County ratio was
1:3,707. For North
Carolina, the ratio is 1:3,913. In the United States, the
number of people per store is 1:4,147. Cary had 15 percent of
Wake County’s population but just 11 percent of the grocery
stores in the County (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). This
information suggests that there is an existing and future need
for more grocery facilities and a strong consumer base to
support additional stores.”
This planned small grocery store would not serve to
over-populate the grocery store market in
Cary
.
·
Traffic concerns were also raised at the Town Council
meeting. Concerns were
raised about the cumulative
effect of this grocery store and the traffic generated by the other
quadrants of the intersection. An
Activity Center Concept Plan has been submitted for the northwest
corner of the intersection that has a lower traffic impact than the
Land Use Plan for the area anticipated, and is under revision that
further lowers its traffic impact.
This request would not cause the Average Daily Trip (ADT)
count to exceed the 12,900 trips as established by the Land Use Plan
for this intersection.
|
Landuse
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AM
Peak
|
PM
Peak
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Approved
Restaurant - 5,600 sq.ft.
|
52
|
61
|
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Proposed
Specialty Supermarket - 15,600 sq.ft.
|
43
|
138
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Existing
total vehicles - Chapel Hill and Maynard Roads
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2,317
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2,995
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- Zoning decisions should
be based on the use of the property and not the potential
tenant. These
decisions are also not based on the marketable viability of the
use. Based on
staff’s research we have found no justification that the
original zoning was approved solely upon a restaurant use being
provided for the property. Also
in researching the previous zoning there was no indication that
staff would not support a grocery store use on this parcel.
Therefore, staff believes that the use of the property
for a grocery store is appropriate.
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APPLICANT
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OWNERS
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Todd Bonnett
Aldi Inc.
1985 Old Union Church Road
Salisbury
,
NC
28146
|
Lowes Home Centers
Hwy 268 East, East Dock
North
Wilkesboro
,
NC
28659
|
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LOCATION
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MAPS
& DOCUMENTS
|
|
The
property is located at
1904 NW Maynard
Road
, at the
northeast of the corner of
NW Maynard Road
and
Chapel Hill Road
intersection
|
Town
of
Cary
Vicinity
Map
Town of
Cary
Zoning
Map
Town of
Cary
Land
Use Map
Proposed Sketch Plan
|
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PROJECT
DESCRIPTION
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The applicant has
proposed to amend the zoning conditions associated with the Lowe’s
Home Improvement site located on the northeast corner of NW Maynard
and
Chapel Hill Road
. Specifically, the
applicant has requested to remove the restriction limiting the use
of an out-parcel to a sit down restaurant and proposes instead to
allow a grocery store in its place.
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Parcel
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Maximum
Density (Du/Ac)
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Acreage
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Total
Units
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Minimum
Lot
Size
|
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0764058705
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N/A
|
1.95
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N/A
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N/A
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APPLICANT’S
JUSTIFICATION STATEMENT
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Aldi’s
is only requesting a change in two (2) of the twenty (20)
conditions. The change
is merely to reflect “grocery” vs. “restaurant”.
There is no request to change zoning or the NAC designation.
The
PDD Major zoning district for this location supports the use of a
grocery store. NAC (
Neighborhood
Activity
Center
) further supports this type of use on this parcel.
The NAC specifically calls out for “facilities vital to
day-to-day activity (e.g. grocery, drug store, church……)”
Aldi
provides a unique grocery buying experience in that it is not a big
box center and gives its client base low cost alternatives to
grocery shopping. The
layout suggested also invites pedestrian flow with its network of
sidewalks and access to the greenway and neighboring residences.
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PROPOSED
ZONING CONDITIONS
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1.
Out-parcel will be utilized as a grocery store.
No drive through is permitted. Grocery Store will be similar
and compatible with the Lowe’s building.
2.
For the grocery store site, there will only be parking
on one side adjacent to the road, either the Maynard Road side or
the Chapel Hill Road side (Refer to Concept Plan)
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CURRENT
USE & ZONING
|
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Current
Land
Use: Commercial
(COM)
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Proposed
Land Use: Commercial
(COM)
|
|
|
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Current
Zoning: General
Commercial Conditional Use (GCCU)
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Proposed
Zoning: General
Commercial Conditional Use (GCCU)
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ADJACENT
ZONING & LAND USES
|
|
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Existing
Use
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Existing
Land Use Designation
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North:
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Commercial
(Lowe’s)
|
General
Commercial
(GC)
|
Commercial
(COM)
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East:
|
Commercial
(Lowe’s)
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Planned
Development District (Major)
(PDD)
|
Commercial
(COM)
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South:
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Office
and Institutional
(Credit Union and Church)
|
Office,
Research and Development (ORD) and General Commercial Conditional
Use
(GCCU)
|
Office/Institutional
(OFC/INS); Commercial (COM)
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West:
|
Vacant
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Transitional
Residential Conditional Use (TRCU)
|
Office/Institutional
(OFC/INS); Mixed Use (MXD)
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PLANNING
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Comprehensive
Plan Analysis
|
This
proposal is in compliance with the Land Use Plan.
No amendment is required.
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Open
Space Considerations
|
There
are no natural or historic resources located on the site, based on
the Town’s Open Space and Historic Resource Plan.
|
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Parks
and Greenways
|
There
are no park or greenway issues related to this rezoning based on the
Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Facilities Master Plan.
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Transportation
Planning
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This
location is within the C-Tran service area.
Chapel Hill Road
and
Maynard Road
are designated
as thoroughfares on the Town's Comprehensive Transportation Plan.
Chapel Hill Road
is planned as a
4-lane roadway with landscaped median.
Maynard Road
, along the
applicant's frontage, is planned as a 6-lane roadway with landscaped
median. Sidewalk is
required on both sides of
Chapel Hill Road
and
Maynard Road
.
Outside lanes 14’ wide are required on
Chapel Hill Road
and
Maynard Road
to accommodate
bicycles.
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School
Information
|
Due
to this project proposing a non-residential use, no school
information is required.
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ENGINEERING
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Environmental
Considerations
|
The
project will be required to meet the nitrogen requirements of the
Town of Cary.
|
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Utilities
(Water and Sewer)
|
This
property has direct access to Town of
Cary
’s public water distribution system and
sewer system.
|
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Traffic
Impact Analysis
|
A
Traffic Impact Study was prepared by the Town Traffic Consultant–Stantec.
All signalized intersections operate at level of service “C” or
better. No additional
improvements required.
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PARCEL
& OWNER I
NFORMATION
|
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Property
Owner(s)
|
County
Parcel
Number
|
Real
Estate ID(s)
|
Area
(Acres)
|
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Lowe’s Home
Centers
|
0764058705
|
0316141
|
1.95
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