NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 8, 1999

CARY LOOKS TO CITIZENS FOR "OK" ON
NEW, LONGTERM GROWTH PLAN

CARY, NC – Cary citizens will have a chance to weigh in on the Town of Cary's new Growth Management Plan which will be presented for comments during the Cary Town Council meeting on November 10^th. The Growth Management Plan is intended to serve as the policy document that sets forth the Town's long-term goals and objectives relating to growth and development. Cary’s Council decided to pursue a Growth Management Plan in late 1998.

"We are very excited about this plan and the step it represents towards fulfilling the total Comprehensive Plan," said Cary Planning Director Jeff Ulma. "This plan sets forth long-term policy for how the Town of Cary should deal with growth issues and sets out a long-term direction to follow.

Cary’s Plan identifies guiding principles for growth management by way of five distinct areas: rate and timing of growth, the location of growth, the amount and density of growth, the cost of growth, and the quality of growth. The goals of the plan are included in these same five areas:

• Rate/Timing: Ensure that adequate infrastructure and services are available concurrently with new development.
  
• Location: Concentrate growth near existing and planned employment centers and available and planned infrastructure to minimize costly service-area extensions. Ensure that future growth protects sensitive natural resources and preserves open space.

• Amount/Density: Increase permitted densities in preferred growth areas to encourage desired forms of development. Ensure that the overall amount of development in Cary is consistent with the Town’s growth management goals.

• Cost: Identify sustainable funding sources for community infrastructure, services, and amenities. Ensure public investment decisions are consistent with the Town’s growth management goals.

• Quality: Continue Cary’s leadership role in quality growth and development.

Development of the plan was formally initiated at the Council/Staff retreat in February 1999, and Council appointed a 14 member Growth Management Plan Advisory Committee to participate in the Plan’s design. Consultants Chris Duerksen and Matt Goebel of Clarion Associates, Denver, CO, and Jim Duncan and Lee Einsweiler, Duncan Associates, Austin, TX, worked on the Plan along with Town staff from Development Services, Parks Recreation and Cultural Resources, Budget, and Finance.

Although some of the suggested tools are used by other jurisdictions, such as adequate public facilities ordinances in Maryland and Florida, the plan itself was not modeled after any other communities in the United States. The Advisory Committee met with the staff and consultants in April, May and September to review progress of the plan. The Final Draft plan was completed, including a detailed implementation program, in October. Some key recommendations of the Plan include:

• Continue with the use of new and improved adequate public facilities ordinances to ensure sufficient infrastructure to support new development
  

• Identify a long-term, sustainable growth rate for the Town
  

• Concentrate development near existing and planned employment centers where infrastructure exists or can be more-easily provided; coordinate actions with neighboring units of government
  

• Develop a plan to identify and prioritize important natural resources, and seek to protect sensitive lands and open space through public or private acquisition or other methods
  

• Create a system to monitor the Town’s balance of residential and nonresidential land uses
  

• Regularly evaluate and revise development fees to ensure equitable distribution of costs
  

• Continue to refine Town regulations and procedures to maintain high-quality development
  

• Implement a development impact analysis system that evaluates new development proposals against Town growth management objectives
  

• Develop a periodic "quality of life" index to monitor progress in meeting growth management goals.

After Wednesday's public hearing, the Growth Management Plan is scheduled to go to the Planning and Zoning Board for consideration. In a few months, the Board will send the Plan back to Council with its recommendation.

The plan may be reviewed on the What’s New portion of the Town's website. Citizens may comment on the Plan at the public hearing or Planning and Zoning Board meeting, or directly to staff, Planning and Zoning Board members, and Town Council.

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