TOWN OF CARY, NORTH CAROLINA
STAFF RECOMMENDATION TO
TOWN COUNCIL

REZONING PETITION:  05-REZ-35 Cary Park Planned Development District Amendment  

This request originally sought to remove the Affordable Housing Policy as a requirement for the Cary Park Planned Development District.  This policy requires that 15% of the units at Cary Park be priced so as to be affordable to persons earning 80% of the median income for the Raleigh-Cary area.  Based on an estimated 2,712 units within Cary Park, a total of 408 affordable units are required under the existing policy.  The original request would have eliminated the requirement to provide these units except for the 152 units of affordable housing that have already been developed.  Upon further discussion with the applicant the request has been modified to maintain the affordable housing requirement while providing the Cary Park developers greater flexibility and certainty in the placement and pricing of the affordable units.    

LOCATION OF PROPERTY:  Vicinity Map
Intersection of Cary Glen Boulevard and Carpenter Fire Station Road

APPLICANT:
Jerry Turner
Jerry Turner and Associates Inc
905 Jones Franklin Road
Raleigh, NC 27606
(919) 851-7150
FAX (919) 851-7547
jturner@jerryturnerassoc.com  

TOWN OF CARY CASE MANAGER:
Philip E. Smith, Comprehensive Planning Manager
Phone:  919/469-4029
philip.smith@townofcary.org 

MEETING SCHEDULE:   

TOWN COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING – November 10, 2005
Action:  The Town Council forwarded the request to the January 17, 2006 Planning and Zoning Board Meeting.  

PLANNING & ZONING BOARD – January 17, 2006
Staff Recommendation:  Staff recommends approval of the request.
Action:   The Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval (8-0)

TOWN COUNCIL ACTION – February 9, 2006
Staff Recommendation:  Staff recommends approval of the request.
Action:

NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS:
A protest petition was received although it did not constitute the required twenty percent of the area to trigger the supermajority vote of Council.  This petition urged the Town to maintain the affordable housing requirement for Cary Park disagreeing with the applicant that there is no market for affordable housing in this area.  Town staff has also received a number of calls supporting maintaining the affordable housing requirement for Cary Park.  One e-mail was received requesting that the affordable housing requirement be removed because of perceived crime problems associated with the Grove at Cary Park apartment development.  

CHANGES SINCE THE TOWN COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING:  
The original request would have eliminated the Affordable Housing Policy in its entirety.  However, after staff discussions with the applicant, the request has been modified to retain the affordable housing requirement of 15% with a few clarifications to the language of the Affordable Housing Policy. These changes are:  

• Section 1 – Clarify the language to specify that the affordable housing sales prices and rents would be based on 80% of the median income of the Raleigh-Cary area.  The area median income is adjusted annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which means the sales prices and rents would be adjusted annually as well.  This has been the practice of the Town but now it will be specified within the PDD documents to provide greater certainty to the applicant in the pricing of the affordable units.
• Section 2 – The applicant requested clarification of the language in Section 2 which seemed to require that all housing product types be provided.  The proposed language modifies Section 2 to allow the applicant to choose from any of the housing product types in meeting the affordable housing requirements.
• Section 3 – Language requiring the affordable housing units to be located within certain pods has been removed to allow the applicant greater flexibility in the placement of the affordable units.
• Section 4 – Language has been rewritten to clarify the method by which the affordable price points and rents will be verified by the Town.

PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD RECOMMENDATION:
The P&Z Board voted unanimously (8-0) to recommend approval of the request in accordance with conditions dated January 6, 2006 for the following reasons:   

(1)  The zoning conditions maintain the requirement that 15% of the units in Cary Park be priced so as to be affordable to persons earning 80% of the median income or below. Other conditions clarify policies and procedures as to how the requirement is to be interpreted and enforced.

(2)  This proposal is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.  Specifically, the proposal in conformance with the Affordable Housing Plan, an element of the Comprehensive Plan.  In addition, the request complies with a goal of the Affordable Housing Plan to “facilitate the creation of a reasonable proportion of the Town of Cary’s housing as affordable units…” 

(3)  The modified conditions are in keeping with the original approval of the Cary Park Planned Development District with respect to how the provision of affordable housing is to be verified.

Concerns Discussed:

• Verification of Incomes — Board members questioned staff regarding how the Town would ensure that the affordable units would be purchased by low and moderate income families.  Staff responded that 1) the original approval of the Cary Park PDD did not require income verification; 2)income verification is not normally required where there are no public subsidies provided to the developer as is the case with Cary Park; and 3) staff’s interest in maintaining the affordable housing requirement is to increase the supply of affordable units in Cary that can then be made available for other assistance programs available at the federal, state and local levels designed to assist low-income homebuyers in purchasing homes.
• Timing and Build-out of the Affordable Units—Staff was asked whether the affordable units would be brought along with the market rate units and dispersed throughout the project.  This amendment does not affect the build-out schedule as currently required by the Cary Park Planned Development approval.  This schedule requires that a percentage of the required affordable units be constructed along with the construction of market rate units. 
• Dispersion of Affordable Units in Cary Park – Staff was also asked whether the affordable units would continue to be dispersed throughout Cary Park and where such units are likely to be located.  This amendment continues to require that affordable units be located in at least four pods.  Such units have been located in MR-1 and MR-9.  Other units may be located in the remaining undeveloped pods including MR-5, MR-7, MR-8 and TC-3.  

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of the request.  With the modified conditions that the applicant has agreed to, the intent and purpose of the affordable housing requirement has been maintained.  This amendment also clarifies language that has proven to be a problem for both staff and the Cary Park developers in the past as this requirement has been implemented.  The modified language of the Affordable Housing Policy is primarily editorial in nature and reflects how the Town has enforced the Affordable Housing Policy to date. 

SUGGESTED COUNCIL STATEMENT

Town Council states that:
This proposal is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.  Specifically, the proposal is in conformance with the Affordable Housing Plan, an element of the Comprehensive Plan.  In addition, the request complies with a goal of the Affordable Housing Plan to “facilitate the creation of a reasonable proportion of the Town of Cary’s housing as affordable units…”  ; and

ZONING:  Zoning Map

Current:  Planned Development District (PDD)
Proposed:  Planned Development District (PDD)  

PROPOSED ZONING CONDITIONS

APPLICANT’S JUSTIFICATION STATEMENT (September 26, 2005):  
For approximately three years now, the developer of Cary Park (East West Partners) has made a good faith effort to implement the affordable housing policy that is a part of the approved Cary Park PDD. Unfortunately, there has not been the anticipated interest by buyers or renters to live in the affordable units provided for in Cary Park. It has been difficult at best to rent or sell these units. Among other things, the affordable buyer and/or renter are looking for housing that is near mass-transit and/or closer to jobs and services. The Cary Park PDD currently lacks the critical mass and/or other attributes necessary to make this location ideal for affordable housing development. Given what these buyers and renters are looking for in a place to live, there currently does not appear to be a significant demand for affordable housing in Cary Park. By keeping the policy in the PDD, the issue of affordability is not being addressed if the units cannot be rented or sold. 

Given this, the proposal is to delete the affordable housing policy from the PDD. As shown on the map and the accompanying documentation, the affordable units will be maintained in parcel MR-9 for a total of 120 and the current units in MR-2A will be maintained which is 32. All other parcels in Cary Park PDD will not be required to provide for any affordable housing units. The current availability of affordable units in MR-9 and MR-2A indicates the strong commitment made by Cary Park PDD to provide affordable housing to a portion of its residents.  

TOWN OF CARY LAND USE PLAN DESIGNATION:   Land Use Map

Current:       Cary Park contains a variety of land uses including Low Density Residential (LDR), Medium Density Residential (MDR), High Density Residential (HDR), Office and Institutional (OFC/INS) and Mixed use (MXD)

Proposed:    No Change

Adjacent Zoning & Land Uses:
North:
Existing Use:  Vacant, with some residential uses
Existing Zoning:  Planned Development District (PDD), Residential 40 (R-40)
Existing Land Use Plan Designation:  Medium Density Residential  

East:
Existing Use:  Vacant
Existing Zoning:  Planned Development District (PDD), Residential 40 (R-40)
Existing Land Use Plan Designation:  Mixed Use, Medium Density Residential, Parks, Office and Institutional  

South:
Existing Use:  Vacant
Existing Zoning:  Planned Development District
Existing Land Use Plan Designation:  Conservation Residential Low Density  

West:
Existing Use:  Vacant, with some residential uses
Existing Zoning:  Planned Development District (PDD), Residential 40 (R-40)
Existing Land Use Plan Designation:  Low Density Residential, Medium Density Residential  

Parks & Greenways:  According to the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resource Facilities Master Plan a neighborhood park is needed in this area of Town.   

Traffic Impact Analysis:  The requested change does not increase nor decrease the number of trips generated so a traffic impact analysis is not required. 

Reference Information:
Schools: 
The requested change does not increase nor decrease the number of residential units approved within the Cary Park Planned Development.  Therefore no impact on school enrollment is anticipated.   

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, stormwater 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.