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TOWN
OF CARY,
NORTH CAROLINA
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
TO TOWN COUNCIL
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Rezoning
Petition:
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04-REZ-32
Bishop’s Gate Planned Development District (PDD) Amendment
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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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February 24, 2005
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Forward to the
April 18, 2005
Planning and Zoning Board meeting
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Forwarded to the
April 18, 2005
Planning and Zoning Board meeting
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Planning and
Zoning Board
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April 18, 2005
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Staff recommends
approval
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The Planning and
Zoning Board voted 7-3 to forward the request to the Town Council
with a recommendation of approval
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Town Council
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May 12, 2005
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Staff recommends
approval of the request
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Town
Council tabled the request until the
June
9, 2005
,
Town Council meeting at the applicant’s request
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Town Council
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June
9, 2005
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Staff
recommends approval of the request
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Town
Council voted 7-0 to approve the request with the conditions
stated below
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TOWN
OF
CARY
CASE MANAGER
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Beth Lewis, Senior
Planner
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Phone:
(919) 462-3944
Email: beth.lewis@townofcary.org
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STAFF
RECOMMENDATION
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Staff
recommends approval of the request.
- The applicant has
requested an amendment to the Planned Development District (PDD)
document to permit the issuance of the certificates of occupancy
for all of the units within the Bishop’s Gate PDD before the
extension of
Westhigh Street
over the railroad track that runs parallel to
Davis Drive
is complete. The
original PDD document limited the number of certificates of
occupancy to 100 before that connection was made.
A Town Council action increased that number to 200.
The applicant now wishes the limitation to be removed
completely to permit the completion of Bishop’s Gate before
that connection is made. Conversations
with CSX are on-going with regard to that connection, but no
time-table for a resolution has been set.
The applicant has agreed to provide a letter of credit
for the construction of the extension of
Westhigh Street
over the railroad track. The
bond will be held until such time that a resolution has been
reached, that either the road will or will not cross the track.
Therefore, staff recommends permitting the completion of
Bishop’s Gate, and recommends the approval of the
applicant’s request.
- One of the further
conditions in the PDD document required that the connection of
Modena Drive
into the Giverny Subdivision not be opened until at least 90
days after the railroad crossing is made.
That section of
Modena Drive
is complete, but is barricaded so as not to permit the flow of
traffic. The
applicant has a private agreement with that neighborhood not to
open the connection except under the conditions of the PDD
document. Although
there is an agreement between the developer and the Giverny
neighborhood concerning the timing of the opening of
Modena
Drive
, the
restriction is not binding on the Town.
When the delivery of public safety or services require,
the Town will cause the gates to be removed and the road opened.
- Conversations between
the Town’s Engineering Department and the applicant are
on-going with regard to the exact configuration of the terminus
of
Westhigh Street
, both at this time and should the railroad crossing not be
accomplished. A
resolution to the configuration of that terminus will be
completed within the site plan review process.
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APPLICANT
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OWNERS
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Withers &
Ravenel, Inc
111 MacKenan Drive
Cary,
NC
27511
(919) 469-3340
Fax (919) 467-6008
csmith@withersravenel.com
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Centex Homes
2301 Sugar Bush Rd.
Suite
400
Raleigh,
NC
27612
Terry B. Witt
4001 Buckingham Way
Apex,
NC
27502
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TOWN
COUNCIL
6-9-05
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The
Town Council voted to approve the request with the following
statement added:
“The developer
has no assurances from the railroad that the connection of
Westhigh Street
over the CSX rail line to
Davis Drive
will be permitted. Therefore,
the removal of the gate on
Modena Drive
will occur no sooner than ninety (90) days after whichever of these
two occurrences happens first:
a.
The completion of the connection of
Westhigh Street
to
Davis Drive
over the railroad track; or
b.
95% of the certificates of occupancy are granted in
the Bishop’s Gate Planned Development District.”
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PLANNING
AND ZONING BOARD
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The
Planning and Zoning Board had concerns about the limited access to
the site if the crossing is not made over the railroad track.
It was discussed that Bishop’s Gate has a number of other
access points, one to
Old London Way
and several
into property that has not yet sought subdivision approval.
The Board had concerns about the timing of the opening of
Modena Drive
and the impact
that traffic may have on the Giverny neighborhood.
Some members expressed concern that permitting the final
units in Bishop’s Gate and the connection to
Old London Way
would funnel an
increased amount of traffic on
Old London Way
, when some of
the traffic could use
Modena Drive
.
There were concerns about the procedure to get the extension
of Westhigh Street over the railroad track should the developer in
Bishop’s Gate complete all of the residences before that crossing
is made. It was
explained that a letter of credit that does not expire would provide
for the construction of that roadway extension.
The Board voted 7-3 to forward the request to the Town
Council with a recommendation of approval.
The dissenting voters expressed that their dissenting votes
were to assure that the item was not on the Town Council’s consent
agenda, so that the Council would have to opportunity to discuss the
request.
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CHANGES
SINCE PUBLIC HEARING
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·
At
the Town Council public hearing, neighbors from the Old Salem and
Giverny neighborhoods spoke about the lack of alternate access to
Bishop’s Gate. Some
were concerned about the opening of
Modena Drive
into Giverny
should the crossing over the railroad track not take place.
·
There
was a protest petition filed by an adjoining neighbor concerned
about access to her property should the railroad crossing not be
made, but the petition was not valid because it was filed by a land
owner who owned less property than is required to make the petition
valid.
·
No
changes to the application were made since the public hearing.
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PROJECT
DESCRIPTION
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The
request changes the number of units that can receive a Certificate
of Occupancy before the connection of
Westhigh Street
to
Davis Drive
across the railroad tracks is completed.
It increases the number of units from 100 units to 297 units,
the total number of units in the project.
The applicant has been unable to secure approval from the
railroad to cross it to connect
Davis Drive
and
Westhigh Street
, but they seek to continue to construct and complete residences in
Bishop’s Gate.
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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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0743637462
0743614925
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Not
applicable to this request
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22.48
25.21
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SF-1
- 92
SF-2
– 5
SF-3
– 4
SF-4
– 41
AR-1
– 68
AR-2
– 35
AR-3
– 22
AR-4
- 30
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Not
applicable to this request
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Total
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47.69
acres
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297
in Bishop’s Gate PDD
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APPLICANT’S
JUSTIFICATION STATEMENT
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“We
are requesting to change nothing in the Bishop’s Gate PDD other
than one number, referred to in Section K on page 25, the number of
allowed c.o.s prior (to) the connection of
Westhigh Street
and
Davis Drive
.
In concert with the Town, we have been seeking approval from
CSX Rail for the rail crossing of
Westhigh Street
prior to its
connection with
Davis Drive
.
This has proven to be a longer and more drawn out process
than originally projected. Because
of specific Town of
Cary
transportation
needs, this has also become an issue that has grown outside the
scope of our PDD and has become more of a Town issue than a
Bishop’s Gate issue. We
are, therefore, seeking to build out our project because of the
hardship placed on the Witt property.
(By the way, we are presently allowed 200 c.o.s instead of
100, this was approved by Engineering previously.
As Section K notes, we had reserved the right to revisit the
c.o. numbers because of the uncertainty of the railroad
approval.)”
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CURRENT
USE & ZONING
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Current
Land
Use: High
Density Residential (HDR) and Low Density Residential (LDR).
The
current land use of the Bishop’s Gate Planned Development District
is residential.
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Proposed
Land Use: No
change.
The
proposed land use will remain residential.
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Current
Zoning: Planned
Development District (PDD) Major
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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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Giverny
Subdivision, single family residences
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Residential
12 (R-12)
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Office/Institutional
(OFC/INS)
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East:
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Olde
Salem Subdivision, single family residences
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Residential
8C (R-8C)
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High
Density Residential (HDR), Parks (PKS), Low Density Residential (LDR)
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South:
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Agricultural
Uses
Single family residences
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In
Apex
Town
Limits and Apex
ETJ, Rural Residential (RR)
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N/A
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West:
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Across
Davis Drive
, single family
residences
Vacant land
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In
Wake
County
ETJ
, Residential 40
W (R-40W)
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Low
Density Residential (LDR)
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PLANNING
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Comprehensive
Plan Analysis
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The
proposal complies with the Land Use Plan.
No amendment is required.
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Parks
and Greenways
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There are no parks
or greenways issues related to this amendment based on the Parks,
Recreation and Cultural Resources Facilities Master Plan.
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Transportation
Planning
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Engineering
staff is in discussion with the applicant regarding the design of
the termination of
Westhigh
Street
should the
railroad crossing not be accomplished. Finalization of the
configuration will occur at the time of site plan review. Staff has
agreed to permit the
Modena Drive
connection
condition to remain until such time that the lack of a connection at
Modena
creates a
public safety issue. At that time, the connection will be made and
all barricades will be removed.
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School
Information
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Since
this request affects a roadway connection only, school information
is not applicable.
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ENGINEERING
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Environmental
Considerations
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There
are riparian buffers associated with this project.
The project will be required to meet the nitrogen
requirements of the Town of
Cary
.
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Utilities
(Water and Sewer)
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Since
this request affects a roadway connection only, utility information
is not applicable to this amendment.
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Traffic
Impact Analysis
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An
updated Traffic Impact Report has been prepared by the Town of
Cary
traffic
consultant, HNTB. All intersections
remain at the standard Level of Service D or better.
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PARCEL
& OWNER INFORMATION
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Property
Owner(s)
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County
Parcel
Number
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Real
Estate ID(s)
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Area
(Acres)
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Centex Homes
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0743637462
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0304700
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22.48
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Terry B. Witt
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0743614925
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0240189
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25.21
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Total
Acreage
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47.69
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