February 15, 2006

Published in Wake Forest, NC

            The hearing for public opinion will be almost the first item on the agenda.          

            Town Manager Mark Williams has expressed a preference for the site at the intersection of Brooks and East Owen, next to the planning and inspections building and near the police station. The town owns some of the property, which is now a parking lot, and would have to purchase more land along Brooks: the Green & Wooten insurance agency and the Laundromat.

            Tom Iversen, chairman of the Downtown Revitalization Corporation, will advocate for the second site, which is at the corner of South White and Elm and is now occupied by the DAB auto dealership. Siting town hall here would help spur investment in the area. Craig Briner, whose East Elm Partners owns the adjacent Wake Forest Plaza and about 14 acres around it, has promised to construct the missing part of Brooks Street, thereby connecting Elm and Holding avenues, and to move forward quickly to renovate the plaza and build a three-story building nearby.

            The Renaissance Plan called for the town hall and a village green to be built in the area of this second site.

            This week Iversen said the DRC’s recommendation is not between a good and a bad location: “It’s a choice between a good and a better location. It will be far easier to put a striking building on that (DAB) location.”

            The commissioners will not take any action about the site at this meeting, and they may not discuss an idea that received some publicity this week – incorporating several uses, maybe even apartments, in the building.

            Williams said the idea for a multi-use, several-story building came up during the recent charette where people could look at the possible sites and contribute ideas. “It started when we talked about the site where the Forks is now and somebody said we could always build a cafeteria on the bottom floor.” Other ideas include a wellness center, the apartments, and retail stores.

            The town has not begun the design of the new town hall yet apart from determining how much space will be needed for staff and operation. “The idea is to keep our options open and possibly generate some revenue, Williams said.

            Iversen said mixed uses in a town hall building could help “create a little bit more night life” in downtown. The building could be designed to allow for future expansion of town offices with offices and stores paying for the use of the space until the town needs it. He conceded the idea “is not the risk-free, conservative approach” most organizations use.

            This will be the town’s third town hall. The first, now the planning and inspections department was built in the 1930s to house the town office, the police department (complete with jail), a fire truck on the first floor and the Recorder’s Court courtroom (forerunner of today’s district courts) upstairs. The one-story addition was built in the mid-1940s to house the first Wake Electric office. The second town hall, the present one, was built in the late 1970s.

Erosion and sediment control plan may be discussed

            There may be a lively discussion about the town’s proposed erosion and sediment control ordinance. During last week’s work session, Commissioner Frank Drake asked for more information about the ordinance, including the original draft the town engineering department prepared which called for strict standards. Last fall the town commissioners rejected that draft, saying they preferred to follow the county’s ordinance. Since then the state has told the county its ordinance was not strict enough. Last week engineer Holly Spring presented a draft following the amended county ordinance.

            (Spring pointed out an error in last week’s article about the erosion and sediment control ordinance. The town does have a $25,000 state grant to cover start-up costs for enforcement of the ordinance, but the town’s share is 60 percent, not 40 percent as reported last week.)

            The other agenda items are:

            - consideration of banning parking at any time on the north side of Carter Street, which intersects with South Main on the west side. There has been concern about the lack of parking and the congestion because of patrons at two new restaurants, the Remington Grill and the Baby Moon Café.

            - condemnation of land along Richland Creek belonging to the George Walker heirs for a conservation easement. The town, with its own funds and money from the state Clean Water Management Trust Fund, plans to rehabilitate the creek from the Franklin County line to Stadium Drive.

            - consideration of a bid to build the Smith Creek Greenway from the soccer center on Heritage Lake Road to Rogers Road. Williams said the cost will be about $200,000.

            - consideration of the two requests heard and recommended by the planning board last week: a special use permit requested by Crossroads Holdings to build an automobile sales and service complex on the site of the former Weavexx plant and a rezoning request by Viking III Associates to change the use to conditional use neighborhood business for 2.75 acres on Siena Drive. Because there was a certified protest by neighbors and because the planning board changed the conditions without the applicant’s approval, four of the five commissioners must vote for the zoning change.

            - consideration of a town staff request to demolish two unsafe buildings at 508 E. Nelson St. and 326 N. Allen Road.

            The board will also probably elect a mayor pro tem and may appoint the one applicant, Leesa L. Finley of 621 Middle Bridge Road, to fill a vacancy on the Historic Preservation Commission caused by the resignation of a member.