The Town of Cary Land Use Plan

8.0 THE GROWTH PLAN MAP: Explanation of key features

8.1 Key Features of the Map

The Land Use Plan Map is built using the various types of land use elements that were described in Chapter 6. That is, the Map indicates where the various land use elements are to be located, and the Plan text -- specifically Chapters 6 and 7 -- provides the complete definition for each land use element, including detailed criteria for the desired form, function, appearance, design, and layout of those elements. Although the Map shows sharply delineated boundaries between land uses, these boundaries are envisioned as generally transitional.

The Land Use Plan Map has three key features that distinguish it from past plans, and from the plans prepared by most jurisdictions. In order to properly read and understand the Map, it is essential to understand these features, namely Alternate Land Use Designations, Flexible Arrangement of Land Uses within Activity Centers, and Proposed Roadways.

Alternate Land Use Designations

For certain areas or parcels, the Growth Plan Map indicates that more than one land use may be equally desirable for the site. This is indicated on the Map through the use of red arrows or text labels for the area in question. Dual-direction red arrows are used to indicate second choice or alternate locations for activity centers and parks (or golf). Text labels are used to indicate second choice or alternate uses for specific sites or areas. The coloring given to the site indicates the first choice of future land use, and the text labels indicate acceptable alternate land uses. These text annotations usually list the preferred option first, followed by acceptable alternatives. For example, many areas west of N.C. 55 have been designated as "LDR OR TND" (Low-Density Residential or Traditional Neighborhood Development).

It is not always possible to select one specific land use as the best land use for a particular parcel or site. Nevertheless, conventional Land Use Plan maps generally choose a single designation for parcels. This approach does not allow a town to respond to development proposals that may be in conflict with the planned use as shown on the Map, but which may be equally desirable. The Land Use Plan Map for Cary, on the other hand, recognizes that alternate land uses may be equally desirable for some sites and labels them with appropriate alternatives.

Flexible Arrangement of Land Uses within Activity Centers

The design of the Land Use Plan Map has been guided by the "activity center" concept explained in Chapter 6. Although activity centers feature a mix of commercial, institutional, office, and high-density residential land uses, the map symbols for these centers do not specify the exact parcels on which these various land uses should develop. For example, neighborhood activity centers located in the undeveloped area west of the current Town limits do not indicate which corner of the intersection should contain the focus area with its commercial core. This provides flexibility for both landowners and Town Council and staff in deciding where particular land uses should go within the activity center, subject to the design guidelines and criteria given in chapters 6 and 7. It is also important to note that the activity center symbols are purely conceptual, and do not denote activity center boundaries.

Proposed Roadways:

This Land Use Plan includes a much larger study area than did prior plans, extending into areas that were not previously covered by Cary’s Thoroughfare Plan. The Land Use Plan also has a strong focus on road network connectivity, and seeks to address areas where connectivity needs to be improved in order for the Plan to work. Thus, the Plan Map not only shows future roadways that are currently on the adopted Thoroughfare Plan, shown as black dashed lines, but also shows conceptual arterials and through-secondary roads that may need to be added to the Thoroughfare Plan in order to accommodate the growth and pattern of land uses envisioned by the Growth Plan. These proposed additions to the Thoroughfare Plan were identified jointly by Planning and Engineering staff and are indicated by brown dashed lines. It should be noted that, in most cases, the locations of conceptual roadways have not been evaluated in terms of topography, drainage, existing land use, and other factors that help determine where roadways are built. However, the conceptual grid represents a "first approximation" of a road network capable of supporting development likely to occur.

The proposed alignment of the Outer Wake Expressway is also shown on the Growth Map. The alignment shown on the Map is proposed only; the ultimate alignment may be different after the North Carolina Department of Transportation completes its study and planning for this facility.

Proposed Parks

Park symbols are conceptual only and may not be placed in their ultimate location. The location of proposed parks will be finalized with the adoption of a Parks and Recreation Plan, which will be included as part of the Cary Comprehensive Plan. Sites where golf is identified as a possible feature are generally based on the presence of large floodplains and proximity to a wastewater treatment plant, so that treated wastewater can be reused for golf course irrigation purposes.

8.2 Land Use Designations within Cary, its ETJ and PPA

The proposed three-tiered hierarchy of activity centers (neighborhood, community and regional) is, as far as possible, distributed across the map at intervals conforming to the spacing criteria given in Chapter 6, Section 6.2. This distribution maximizes public access to activity centers while minimizing the need for lengthy car trips. In many cases, however, the urban design has been modified to incorporate existing activity centers, which do not always occur at equidistant locations.

Under the activity center model, most nonresidential land uses occur within activity centers. In some cases, however, commercial and other land uses do not lend themselves to the model and therefore occur in other locations. For example, car dealerships, although a commercial enterprise, cannot be located within activity centers because of their acreage needs and non-pedestrian character. In other cases, office, industrial, and institutional uses may benefit from being gathered in large clusters of similar land uses. These clusters form employment centers and are generally located near major transportation arteries such as I-40 or U.S. 1.

Several considerations, including environmental and site constraints, airport noise, proposed roadway locations, economic factors, compatibility with adjacent land uses, and existing and proposed land uses in bordering jurisdictions play a role in determining the geographic arrangement of Cary's future land uses. For example, the 60 LDN⁶⁸ contour formed by air service at Raleigh-Durham International Airport and the proposed location of the Outer Wake Expressway play the predominant roles in locating the office/industrial park north of Morrisville-Carpenter Road and east of the future expressway. An option for limited high-density residential development is allowed in that part of the office/industrial park area that falls outside the more severe impact zones for airport noise (see Map labels). This allows for additional housing near places of employment within that office/industrial park area. However, the following conditions are placed on high-density housing within this area:

(1) The residential option only applies to lands west of Alexander Drive and north of the proposed Koppers Road extension;

(2) No more than 25 percent of the land in this area may be used for high-density residential development; and

(3) Noise attenuation through structural design of residences constructed within the 60 LDN contour is required.

Proximity to major transportation arteries and compatibility with nearby development in Cary and Raleigh play a major role in locating office park and higher-density residential uses in northeast Cary, just inside Interstate Highway 40, east of Harrison Avenue and north of the Medfield Estates area. These designations critically rely on the planned extension of the Cary Parkway from North Harrison Avenue to Trinity Road (and thence into Raleigh) in order to provide arterial access to the currently "landlocked" sites in that area which do not have nearby arterial access.

Other employment centers, particularly along U.S. Highways 1 and 64 and Cary Towne Boulevard represent the Plan's recognition of existing development. Although these centers have been built or are governed by the master plans of existing planned unit developments, in some cases there is a possibility that future redevelopment will bring some of these centers into compliance with the design criteria set forth in the Land Use Plan.

Schools, churches and other places of worship are included in the office/institutional land use category. In many cases, these appear on the map as relatively small, discrete parcels (colored light blue) adjoining or surrounded by residential land uses. It is important to note that although the Land Use Plan Map indicates these parcels as office/institutional, the Plan does not support the conversion of these sites to other office/institutional uses. (See Chapter 6, Subsection 6.4.1.)

The Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) option is available in any area designated for low-density residential use (see Section 6.5.1). However, areas where the TND option is most suitable are given on the vicinity map in Chapter 6 (Figure 6.9), and are indicated on the Land Use Plan Map with alternate land use labels. As noted in Section 6.5.1, the TND option refers to a style and type of urban design, and does not necessarily indicate a particular residential density.

The designation of Special Opportunity Sites (SOS) was based on several factors, including: (1) the presence of historically significant structures; (2) potential for destruction of these structures by new development; and (3) opportunities for redevelopment or conversion to other uses. Presently, SOS have been designated at: (1) downtown Cary, centered on the intersection of North Academy Street and East Chatham Street; (2) the Carpenter Community, located at the intersection of Morrisville-Carpenter Road and Carpenter-Upchurch Road; and (3) the Green Level Community, which is also designated as a Neighborhood Activity Center. It should be noted that the SOS designation does not imply the designation of an historic district, where historic structures are preserved in their present uses. Instead, the SOS designation signifies that these locations possess special characteristics that present opportunities for redevelopment and reuse of historic structures.

Conservation corridors are designated along all local perennial streams. These should not be confused with greenways, indicated by dashed green lines. However, in some cases conservation corridors may form the basis for future greenways and an interconnected greenway system. The location of greenways that appear on the Map are tentative. These locations will be finalized when the Parks and Greenway Plans are updated and adopted. One greenway of special note appears as a north-south line just to the east of Jordan Lake, extending from Durham County through the Town of Apex to the south. This greenway follows a former railway corridor and is known as the North Carolina Tobacco Trail. A number of state, regional, and local organizations are participating in the planning for this greenway, with coordination being provided by North Carolina Rails-to-Trails. Cary fully supports this effort.

New residential development is rapidly expanding to the west, in the vicinity of N.C. Highway 55, and to the south of Penny Road. Since it is feasible for Cary municipal services (e.g., water and sewer) to be extended to these areas, two study areas not currently within Cary's official planning jurisdiction or perimunicipal areas have been included on the Land Use Map. The first is the "Chatham County Study Area," which is the area just west of the Chatham County-Wake County line, and east of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land around Jordan Lake. The second study area is the "Upper Middle Creek Study Area," which lies to the south of Ten-Ten Road (S.R. 1010), north of Middle Creek, west of Bells Lake Road, and east of Kildaire Farm Road. These two special study areas are discussed separately, below:

8.3 Chatham County Study Area

Cary's ability to expand or provide urban services to the Chatham County Study Area is constrained by a number of geographic factors. Chief among them are the proximity of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land surrounding Jordan Lake and the Water Supply Watershed (WSWS) Critical Area Buffer which extends one mile outwards from the edge of the lake. Cary's policy on urban service extension into the area recognizes this one-mile boundary, measured from the normal flood pool elevation (216 feet above mean sea level). This boundary, and the predominance of soils with very low percolation rates, led to the designation of much of this area as very low density residential (less than one dwelling unit per acre). As described in Chapter 6, Subsection 6.5.1, areas designated as very low density residential do not receive municipal water and sewer services. A small area outside of the one-mile limit, just to the east of S.R. 751, has also been designated very low-density residential, due to topographic constraints that would make sewer extension unfeasible. The Plan thus has an Urban Services Boundary which divides the portions of Chatham County that will be provided with municipal sewer services from those areas that will not.

The rural road network to the west of N.C. 55 will not be able to support anticipated growth during the next twenty years. For this reason, a number of new interconnecting arterial roadways have been proposed on the Land Use Plan Map, including new roadways in Chatham County. Where possible, the plan proposes additional north-south and east-west connectors that establish an arterial grid system with roadways spaced at approximately one-mile intervals. Also spaced at appropriate intervals are a series of neighborhood activity centers.

8.4 Upper Middle Creek Study Area

Unlike the Chatham County Study Area, which is not presently threatened by development, the Upper Middle Creek Study Area is rapidly changing from a landscape dominated by agriculture to a vast area of large-lot residential subdivisions. This is made possible by extensive use of groundwater and soils that readily support septic systems. At the present rate of growth, the area could build out in one-half to one-acre lot subdivisions within the next ten years. Approximately 4,000 acres of land are still available for development in the area, out of a total of 5,644 acres.

Extension of the Outer Wake Expressway through the area will serve as a magnet for growth. Pressure to develop land more intensively, particularly near expressway interchanges, will rise. The existing roadway network will be profoundly affected by continued development, and will likely prove incapable of handling a continued progression of suburban sprawl without significant improvements. Many residents of the area primarily depend on two roads, Kildaire Farm Road and Holly Springs Road, to reach shopping centers and places of employment. This "funneling" effect, created by the absence of a roadway network designed to accommodate Middle Creek's growth, is likely to create congestion throughout the study area, with the most significant impacts occurring on Kildaire Farm Road and Holly Springs Road. For this reason, the Plan suggests additional north-south and east-west connectors and inclusion of the area in the updated Thoroughfare Plan in order to more efficiently serve anticipated growth.

Additionally, the provision of other vital public services, including police, fire protection, parks and schools may not be able to keep pace with the demands imposed by continued growth, without careful planning. Demands for local recreational resources, opportunities for shopping, and so forth, are likely to increase as the local population grows, and as the long commute to and from goods and services provided outside the area becomes more onerous. Demand for more readily accessible goods and services will increase the pressure for commercial and other nonresidential development.

Present patterns of development and the eventual establishment of nonresidential land uses could lead to the destruction of the rural environment many Middle Creek residents sought when they relocated to the area. This is particularly true if nonresidential uses are allowed to develop in strips along formerly rural roadways, with few controls addressing site design, open space preservation, tree removal, signage and other issues. Through non-point source pollution, a sprawling sea of suburbia would also have a negative impact on water quality in Middle Creek and ultimately the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound. Unattractive, unwise development and its negative impacts on land values, quality of life, and water quality for downstream neighbors can only be avoided through careful planning. The plan therefore proposes that: (1) nonresidential uses be concentrated at the activity centers proposed at the interchanges of the future Outer Wake Expressway at Kildaire Farm/Holly Springs Roads and at Bells Lake Road, and (2) that only very low-density residential uses or clustered low-density residential uses be used south of Optimist Farm Road, thereby forming a buffer for Middle Creek.

At present, the Town of Cary has no jurisdiction over this area, but has located a sewage treatment plant on Middle Creek. With the Town's connecting sewer main bisecting the area, its policies regarding extension of sewer services into Middle Creek could play a role in future patterns of development. However, current development trends have been toward large-lot (1/2 to 1 acre lot) subdivisions, serviced by wells and septic systems. The lack of sewer service extension into the area has therefore not forestalled continued development. The demand for municipal water and sewer service may change, however, as the area builds out and pressures for commercial and other nonresidential development increase. It is therefore possible that Cary could play a role in influencing future patterns of development. This role would be strengthened if Cary and Wake County enter into an agreement to jointly plan for the area.