February 22, 2006

Published in Wake Forest, NC

            The result was a set of conditions, with the help of the owner, that placed even more restrictions on the land than the planning board contemplated.

            There will be a 100-foot drainageway buffer on either side of the small stream on the north side of the property, a buffer that will forever be a conservation easement. The only disturbance allowed will be the construction and maintenance of stormwater management systems. The 100 feet on either side are for the Neuse River buffer (50 feet) and the Richland Creek buffer (50 feet), and both would be required for a high-density use, which is planned. The potential buyer for the property is a Jim Adams company, Siena Crossing.

            In addition to the buffer and easement, the approved conditions say the allowed uses will be retail, office, eating places and food sales, and the developer will hold a meeting with the nearby Holding Ridge homeowners before submitting a site plan. They had submitted a valid petition opposing the rezoning.

            Viking III Associates, the current owner, asked to rezone the land to conditional use neighborhood business, the same zoning as on the adjacent 12-acre tract it owns along the nearly-complete N.C. 98 bypass. The two parcels will be developed as one site.

            The commissioners will review the site plan, planner Ann Ayers said. If it does not meet their expectations, Mayor Vivian Jones said, they can always turn it down.

            “And they can’t play with that land until they bring it back to us,” Commissioner Margaret Jones Stinnett said, apparently allaying her last concerns about the rezoning.

            The vote was unanimous, as was the vote to approve a special use permit for a automobile sales and service buildings and lot on the former Weavexx site between South Main Street and Capital Boulevard. Glenn Boyd, who owns Crossroads Ford and Wakefield Ford, has not announced the brand of the dealership.

            The commissioners wrestled with the proposed condemnation and acquisition of close to 13 acres along Richland Creek at a cost of $392,000. The mayor’s yes vote with Commissioners Frank Drake and David Camacho made the difference. Commissioner Velma Boyd-Lawson was absent because of the death of a close friend. Stinnett and Commissioner Stephen Barrington voted no.

            The land, most of it in a floodplain, lies on both sides of the creek in the southwest corner of Oak Avenue (Wall Road) and Harris Road. An inhabitated double-wide home is on the part of the tract the town is not acquiring.

            “The primary reason [for acquiring the land] is so we can place a conservation easement on it to avail ourselves of a half-million grant from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund to rehabilitate portions of Richland Creek,” Deputy Town Manager Roe O’Donnell said. Other reasons, he and Town Manager Mark Williams said, were to give access to the creek from the adjacent Joyner Park and to provide land for the future sewer line for the park.

            One sticking point was the condemnation, which attorney Eric Vernon said was necessary because he could not be sure they had identified all the heirs of George Walker who might have a claim. None of the ones they had found objected to the condemnation and were willing to share in the proceeds.

            The mayor’s vote was also the tipping point – with Drake and Stinnett – to postpone action on the proposed erosion and sediment control ordinance. Drake had not received the copy of the original ordinance town staff proposed last year, a proposal that was rejected in favor of following Wake County’s ordinance. The proposed ordinance before the commissioners was based on the county’s model.

            Camacho said the original purpose was to get an ordinance in place as quickly as possible so the town could begin enforcement. Under the current county enforcement there is one inspector for all of northern Wake while the town has four inspectors. He made a motion to approve the proposed ordinance based on Wake County’s with the proviso they could tweak it later.

            Drake said he wanted a chance to compare the original and the current proposals with the ordinance Apex uses, said to be a very good one.

            Engineer Holly Spring said the staff wants the ordinance to “reflect our goals and ethics here in Wake Forest.”

            “I hate to do things on the fly,” Williams said. “If it’s not necessary to approve this tonight, I would prefer to review it next month. We want to make sure it is good ordinance we can enforce.”

            After hearing from the owner, Dianne L. Jackson, the commissioners agreed to hold off any action about demolishing her house at 326 N. Allen Road for 90 days. Jackson, who had a Raleigh address, said she had not received her mail because she had been ill and staying with friends and family. Her brother has applied for a building permit to repair the house.

            The board did vote three to one with Stinnett dissenting to have an abandoned trailer at 508 E. Nelson Ave. razed at town expense. A lien will be placed on the property.

            In other business, the board agreed:

            -- to place a $5 charge on calls to pay utility bills by credit card over the telephone to discourage these because they take a considerable amount of time to process. Bill payers are encouraged to use the town’s new on-line bill paying process.

            -- to authorize the state Department of Transportation to plant trees and shrubs along the N.C. 98 bypass from South Main to Jones Dairy Road.

            -- to purchase a 25-cubic-yard rear-loading refuse collection truck for yard waste for $108,212. The town will “piggy-back’ on a bid by High Point, and the method will save money because the cost of metal has risen recently.

            -- to ban parking on both sides of Carter Street from South Main to Mangum Street.

            -- to approve a bid of $214,000 from Narron Construction to build the Smith Creek greenway from the soccer center to Rogers Road. This is $14,000 more than budgeted, and that money will come from recreation impact fees while $200,000 will be paid by a recreation trails grant the town received in 2004.