The Town of Wake Forest is introducing important changes aimed at increasing citizen awareness of scheduled public hearings. The first involves a redesign of the Town’s public hearings notice signage which are posted on properties being considered for public hearing – typically a minimum of two weeks prior to the public hearing date. The signs, which were green and white, are now bright yellow, so they are easily recognizable. In addition, the information on the signage has been streamlined and the text enlarged to make it easier to read. The reusable signs also feature sturdier bases making them less likely to tip over. Moving forward, each public hearing will be assigned a unique ID# which will be clearly visible on the new signage. Anyone with questions about a scheduled publRic hearing should note the ID# then choose one of the following options to obtain complete information about the upcoming public

The Rockin’ the Forest music series continues with the popular beach band Steve Owens & Summertime on Saturday, Dec. 28. The concert gets underway at 7:30 p.m. at the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre for the Arts, 405 South Brooks Street. The 2012 winners of “Best New Artist for Beach Music,” Steve Owens & Summertime performs a variety of beach music classics, along with covers and original tunes guaranteed to get you up and out on the dance floor. Advance tickets are $15 each plus tax and selling fast. Tickets can be purchased online with a Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover credit card at www.wakeforestrencen.org/tickets-events<http://www.wakeforestrencen.org/tickets-events>. Advance tickets may also be purchased with cash, check or credit card at the Renaissance Centre Box Office, 405 S. Brooks St. On the day of the concert tickets can be purchased at the door. Assembling some of the top musical acts in our area, Rockin’

There are three possibilities for hearings during January and February before the  Wake Forest planning and town boards: the Kinsley subdivision, an amendment for the Kitchin Farms subdivision and the Cottages at Cardinal Hills. The developer for Kinsley proposes 764 dwelling units on 203 acres along North Main Street in Wake and Franklin counties. It is case RZ-19-02 and was submitted for review in the planning department on March 4 of this year. Included are five parcels on the west side of North Main Street formerly owned by Calvin Ray S. and his wife and now owned by Calvin Ray Jr. and Mary Ann Hughes. Together the parcels are about 65 acres. Also, on the east side of North Main Street in Wake County the 58.74 acres were owned by Owen Wadford before his death and are now owned by Site Investments LLC from Knightdale. The rest of the affected

The Wake Forest Inspections Department issued permits for 55 single-family homes, five townhouses and one mobile home during October. The mobile home will be installed at 107 Quail Crossing in the Deerfield Crossing Mobile Home Park on Wait Avenue. The fees were $240, and the home will add $84,000 to the town’s tax base. The five townhouses will be built along Treetop Meadow Lane in Traditions. D.R. Horton paid $1,345.25 in fees for each, and they will add $628,000 to the tax base. The department inspected seven fit-ups and six pre-occupancies for new businesses. The fit-ups were for Brewer Insurance Group at 1904 South Main Street, Suite 116; Caban & Co Hair Salon at 610 Dr. Calvin Jones Highway, Suite 108; RPM Media at 3150 Rogers Road, Suite 218; Ellebe Salon Studios at 1633 South Main Street; Southern Royal Tea Room at 1936 Heritage Branch Road, Suite 101; Smoky Tony’s

The Wake Forest Renaissance Centre for the Arts will host three performances of Live from Nashville – Merry Country Christmas on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 14-15. Saturday’s show time is 7 p.m., while Sunday show times are 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. It’s a Merry Country Christmas indeed, when all your favorite Christmas songs are presented in authentic Nashville country style with dazzling guitars and fiddles along with soaring harmonies. The joy of Christmas comes to you in this delightful production of toe-tapping, heartfelt music of the holidays. From the fun of “Old Saint Nick” to the profoundly moving “Oh Come all Ye Faithful,” and from the playful “Up on the Housetop” to the poignant “Silent Night,” songs of fun, faith and hope are presented by the finest musicians and singers steeped in the traditions of America’s genre – country! Tickets are $25 each plus tax and can be purchased