Heartwood Montessori School

112 Byrum St.

Cary, NC  27511

April 2, 2008

Sandra Stepney, PE

Town of Cary - Engineering Department

316 N. Academy St.

Cary, NC  27513

Dear Miss Stepney,

              On behalf of Heartwood Montessori School, I would like to request a wavier from road improvements at the property addressed 503 Kildaire Farm Rd.  The school currently uses the structure, a cinder block duplex, as a storage space, and have done so for the past two years.  We want to proceed with our plans to change the usage of this space into another classroom space.  At the preliminary meeting with the representatives of each of the Town’s departments, it was determined that we may need to make road improvements.

              The road frontage of the property at 503 Kildaire Farm Rd. is only 82’ and would create an awkward transition at the corner of Kildaire Farm and Byrum St.  There is also a fire hydrant and a main telephone pole on that corner within 4 feet of the road edge. 

               I feel that the improvements are not justified at the present time because Kildaire Farm Rd. is already a marked four lane road with curb and gutter on both sides of the road in the area of the property at 503 Kildaire Farm Rd.  Although the road does not yet meet the Town’s future standard of 57 feet, the east side of the road in front of our property only lacks 5’ and 4” from the center of the existing double yellow lines.

              The only widening that has already been done in this section of Kildaire Farm Rd. is in front of Glenaire Retirement Village bordering Cornwall Rd. and at BB&T Bank in front of the shopping center with Food Lion and K-Mart.  Both of these properties are on the west side of the road, seeming to make it more consistent for any future widening.

              According to the engineering department, a rough construction estimate for widening the school’s “half” of the 82 feet of Kildaire Farm Rd. was approximately $10,000, not including engineering costs.  As a small business, this cost could not come at a worse time.  We have occupied our current property at 112 Byrum St. for the past four years.  We were able to purchase it two years ago with the help of our dedicated families who invested in our school.  We promised to return those investments in December 2008, with our sincere gratitude.

              Heartwood started out in Cary in 1991 in Cary Christian Church on Walnut St.  As the church realized the potential for a child care program of it’s own, we have since then moved on three times into other churches before finding our permanent home on Byrum St.  We would like the opportunity to continue to offer a quality private school experience for Cary residents.  We have inquires from dedicated, Montessori families from all over the United States who want to find a Montessori school in the Cary area. At the present time, Heartwood is the only private Montessori school in the Town of Cary.  Although the addition classroom space will not give us a significant increase in student population, it  will give us more spacious and desired classroom conditions.

              We have no problem with dedicating the proposed right of way for these improvements if they become necessary sometime in the future.  But, if we can delay the outlay of the cost of immediate road improvements, we would be in a better position financially in the future to pay our share of any required improvements.  Thank you for your consideration in this important matter for our school’s success.

Sincerely,

Sue Daniel

Owner/Director