TOWN OF CARY, NORTH CAROLINA
STAFF RECOMMENDATION TO
 Town Council  

REZONING PETITION:   05-REZ-24 Young Property

Summary:  Rezoning request from General Commercial Conditional Use (GCCU) to Residential 40 (R40)  

LAND USE PLAN AMENDMENT:   05-LPA-14, Commercial (COM) to Low Density Residential LDR)

Summary: A Land Use Plan amendment would be required in order to change the future Commercial (COM) designation to Low Density Residential (LDR).  

LOCATION OF PROPERTY: Portion of 1344 Old Apex RD    Vicinity map

APPLICANT:

Herb Young for H. Young Limited Partnership
1340 Old Apex Road
Cary, NC 27513
Phone:  919/467-1369  

TOWN OF CARY
CASE MANAGER:

Debra Grannan, Senior Planner
Phone:  919/460-4980
E-mail:  debra.grannan@townofcary.org          

MEETING SCHEDULE:   

TOWN COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING – August 25, 2005

Action: The Town Council unanimously forwarded the request to the October 24, 2005 Planning & Zoning Board on 
August 25, 2005  

PLANNING & ZONING BOARD – October 24, 2005

Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of the request.

Action: The Planning and Zoning Board voted 9 to 0 to approve the request.  

TOWN COUNCIL ACTION – November 10, 2005

CHANGES SINCE THE TOWN COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING:  None  

PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD DISCUSSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS: After a brief discussion regarding the 
reason for the request the Planning and Zoning Board Recommended approval of the request.  

The Planning and Zoning Board voted 9 to 0 to recommend approval of the request.

Concerns Discussed:

• What was the reason for the R 40 Zoning?  Staff explained this was the lowest impact zoning and the
  applicant had no current plans to develop the site.
• How were taxes effected by this change?  Staff explained that this land is currently not annexed and the
  owner is not paying Cary taxes. 

Reasons for majority vote:

*    The majority vote was made to support the rezoning and Land Use Plan Amendment in light of the low impact 
and the fact that there is existing vacant commercial property in the vicinity to serve residential use.

Reasons for Dissenting Vote: There were no dissenting

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:  Staff Recommends Approval of this request  

(A)       05-LPA-14, Commercial (COM) to Low Density Residential (LDR)  

Staff recommends approval of the Land Use Plan amendment.  Although the proposal results in a net loss of commercially-designated land, it is compatible with existing private recreational uses on the remainder of the
parcel.  There is ample vacant commercially-designated land available in this area to serve future, additional 
residential development.  

(B)       05-REZ-24 Young Property General Commercial Conditional Use (GCCU) to Residential 40 (R40)

 Staff believes this request adequately meets the rezoning criteria set forth in the Land Development Ordinance (3.4.1(E)) and recommends approval  

1.   This request is consistent with the current Town of Cary Land Use Plan. The proposed
 use is consistent with the Land Use Plan, Once amended as recommended by staff.

2.   Adequate public services can be provided to the parcel (i.e. police, fire, utilities, etc.)  The property is located in Cary’s Planning Jurisdiction but outside the Town’s Corporate Limits.  Emergency response is provided by Wake County. The property is currently undeveloped; however, should the applicant wish to connect to water and sewer in the future, utility lines are adjacent to the property.

3.   The proposed rezoning is unlikely to have a significant impact on the natural environment.  The proposed rezoning will have less impact than the current zoning designation. 

4.   The proposed rezoning will not have a significant adverse impact on the other property in the vicinity.  There will be minimal impact on other property in the vicinity.

5.   The proposed zoning classification is suitable for the property. Any future use proposed for this property would be required to obtain a permit and any special use requests would be reevaluated and subjected to future public hearings to determine suitability.  The area is large enough to meet the minimum lot requirements and setbacks for a detached dwelling.  

ZONING:  Zoning map
Current:  Commercial (COM)

Proposed:  Residential 40 (R40)  

PROPOSED ZONING CONDITIONS:   None  

APPLICANT’S JUSTIFICATION STATEMENT (June 27, 2005):  The property was rezoned by the owner in 1988 with the thought of pursing commercial development. However, the property has never developed for this purpose and has remained vacant. The property owner now wishes to rezone the property back to the original base zone of Residential-40. This would be consistent with the zoning for the remainder of the tract. Since the property owner does not want to develop this site at this time, this would be a savings to the owner in terms of tax rate based on a residential rather than commercial designation. 

TOWN OF CARY LAND USE PLAN DESIGNATION:  Land Use Plan map

Current:  Commercial (COM)

Proposed:  Low Density Residential (LDR)  

ADJACENT ZONING & LAND USES:  

North:

   Existing Use:  Outdoor Recreation and Entertainment, and Detached Dwelling

   Existing Zoning:   Residential 40 (R40)

   Existing Land Use Plan Designation:  Low Density Residential (LDR)  

East:

    Existing Use: Vacant

    Existing Zoning: General Commercial (GC)

    Existing Land Use Plan Designation:  High Density Residential (HDR)  

South:

     Existing Use: Commercial

     Existing Zoning: Planned Development District (PDD) Major

     Existing Land Use Plan Designation:  Commercial COM  

West:

     Existing Use:  Recreation and Entertainment, Outdoor

     Existing Zoning: Residential 40 (R40)

     Existing Land Use Plan Designation:  Low Density Residential (LDR)  

Parks & Greenways: There are no parks or greenways proposed for this site based on the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Facilities Master Plan.  

Traffic Impact Analysis:  This rezoning will reduce the proposed trip generation. No traffic impact study required.  

Reference Information:   

         Schools:   The school information is being provided for your review; however, the
         Wake County Board of Education controls capital projects for school capacities.  

    Current Enrollment and Building Capacity is based on the 20^th day of the school
                 year for 2003 as supplied by the Wake County Public School System.  School
                 assignment will be determined at the time of development.  

                             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.  

Development Plan Issues:   

The purpose of a rezoning is to evaluate the appropriateness of this land use for these parcels of land.  Specific development requirements related to the technical aspects of land development, such as access, storm water management, road improvements, utility line placement, road connectivity and landscape plantings, are not considered during the rezoning process.  However, all of these development issues must be addressed for compliance with existing requirements spelled out in the Land Development Ordinance (LDO) when the site or subdivision plan is submitted.  All such requirements can be found at http:vic.townofcary.org.