May 17, 2006

Published in Wake Forest, NC

            To the east, Wake Forest and Rolesville have a long-standing annexation agreement, a boundary within which each town can annex. The land between the respective town limits and the boundary is referred to as its future urban services area and is where it is expected to grow.

            Russell is proposing a swap with Rolesville under which Rolesville will take the land east of Averette Road and north of N.C. 98 into its urban services area while Wake Forest will acquire an almost equal swath of land south of N.C. 98 and east of the approved Austin Creek subdivision.

            Commissioner Frank Drake asked why the town did not make the land south of N.C. 98 part of its extra-territorial jurisdiction. Russell asked him if he had ever been to a meeting where a town asked for more ETJ land, which removes it from county planning and zoning control and puts it in a town’s jurisdiction. The process is so long and involved, it would be a year or more if Wake Forest was successful.

            By then, Russell said, the town will probably be annexing the property, indicating there is interest in developing it.

            The land farther to the east is part of the Little River watershed. Wake County is purchasing land for a future water-supply reservoir which will become part of Raleigh’s water system. Recently Raleigh refused to provide water to a subdivision in the watershed that Rolesville had approved and wanted to annex. The subdivision will be built, Russell said, 47 houses with wells and septic tanks.

            The extension to the northeast will require going into Franklin County, which the town has already done in the Richland Hills and Sedgefield North subdivisions. Municipalities can annex into another county, Russell said, “just as long as it meets the requirements for voluntary annexation.”

            Russell showed the CPC members a map identifying five properties clustered north of Wake Forest along U.S. 1-A with three abutting Richland Hills:

            -- the former Triangle Metro Zoo which Larry Seibel is reported to be selling to a residential developer

            -- the Calvin Ray property

            -- the Teresa Baker property

            -- the Waddell property

            -- and property reaching from Holden Road to the Richland Hills property. Russell did not identify the owner but said he was talking to the town about Wake Forest providing services. There is no sewer south of Holden Road in Franklin County.

            Andy Ammons’ tract of land west of the Smith Creek reservoir extends into Franklin County as do several other properties on the east side of the reservoir.

            Russell said he was showing them the maps and asking for discussion but no action now. His outline for discussion said any policy for future annexations should include           

            -- the Richland and Smith creek drainage basins

            -- the existing water and sewer lines in Franklin County and planned extensions

            -- political boundaries

            -- natural and man-made features such as ridge lines and roads.

            Looking at the five properties, Commissioner David Camacho said, “That’s not a long distance from the heart of the town. There are some complexities in moving across a county line, but there are also some complexities for Youngsville to serve this area. Perhaps what we should do is set up a meeting and talk to Franklin County about the requests we already have.”

            “We need to go talk to Franklin County,” Russell said, to learn where they are planning roads and other infrastructure. He needs to work with Youngsville and with the county “so we do things right.”

            The committee members then turned to the update of building permits for homes using Wake Forest water since the first of the year, 223 for the four months. (A large portion of Richland Hills will be built with homes using Franklin County water and Wake Forest sewer.)

            April was a slow month, Russell said, and Camacho said there will soon be a push to get permits for the houses in the Parade of Homes.

            “If we hit 400 (permits) by the end of June we’ll be on track” to be at or near 800 homes for the year, Drake said. The town board has set a goal of 800 homes this year.

            Russell said he has amended statement he gives to developers, “Review of Proposed Developments.” It notes that the CPC reviews all proposed development and annexation requests and prioritizes them based on location and public benefit. Russell has added “water conservation measures” to the list of improvements the CPC can consider.

            That led to a discussion about planning board member Kim Parker’s analysis of the town’s water allocation problem. Parker said he had wanted to see the town address the demand for water after 2010. “I want to see some projections that say where we are going. We have a limited boundary. I want to relate that back to Raleigh and [merger] contract.”

            One of Parker’s contingencies was running out of water for new development before 2010. In that case, Russell said, “if there’s a need for the property owner [to have the water now], let them front the money so it doesn’t extend the payback period.”

            The town’s water and sewer customers are paying off the $19 million in merger costs through the difference between the town’s rates and Raleigh’s. With the growth around 800 new dwelling units a year, the payback period should be about seven years. After that, Wake Forest customers will pay the Raleigh water and sewer rates.

            Finally, the committee looked at the map showing the designated flood hazard areas along Richland, Smith, Horse and Sanford creeks.

            The major creeks through the town are Richland to the west and Smith to the east, the boundary between the two being, roughly, U.S. 1-A and the CSX rail line.

            Horse Creek affects a small portion of land inside town limits to the west and then runs through county-controlled land and into Falls Lake.

            Sanford Creek affects a small portion of land south of Rogers Road.

            Russell said the blue color is the area with a 1 percent chance of flooding each year, the former 100-year-flood level, and the red is the former 500-year-flood level, now identified as a 0.02 percent chance.

            “There is no red in Richland Creek because we based it on the future floodplain study,” Russell said. “We were told that if we were to do the same study in Smith Creek it would be where the 500-year floodplain is, hence us saying there is no difference.”

            The Flood Damage Control Ordinance the town board considered Tuesday night treats both watersheds equally.

            Camacho said that if he had had the map earlier this month at the work session he would not have had any questions about the ordinance’s effect.

            “I’m satisfied that the amount of property affected is not significant,” Camacho said. “I’m in favor of it.”

            Drake echoed that opinion.

            Drake did have questions about possible situations for homeowners, and Russell said there is an exemption process, a rather tough variance procedure, and grandfathering of existing structures and platting.

            The aim of the ordinance, Russell said, “is we try not to put things that can be damaged in harm’s way.”  

            Earlier this month, a spokesperson for the Homebuilders Association of Raleigh and Wake County urged the town not to approve the ordinance because it has more restrictions than needed for the town to qualify for flood insurance.

            The CPC meets the third Tuesday of each month at 7:30 a.m. at The Forks Cafeteria. It does skip meetings if there are no agenda items. The members are the two commissioners, Camacho and Drake, and two planning board members, Parker and Bob Hill. Hill was absent Tuesday. The meetings are open to the public.