Agreeing with the Wake Forest Planning staff that the 108-unit Greenway Village at Heritage is in the town center according to the Growth Strategy Map and is in ideal spot for apartments because it is close, within walking distance, of shops, grocery stores, restaurants and other amenities, the seven members of the Wake Forest Planning Board voted unanimously Thursday evening to recommend approval to the Wake Forest Town Board.
The second phase of the apartment complex, two buildings with a total of 96 apartments, is unlikely to be built after Mayor Vivian Jones declared she was opposed to it because it is partly in the 500-year floodplain of Smith Creek. D&N Development of Raleigh planned the two buildings if the town decides to change the 500-year floodplain line. “Well, if they are counting on that happening, I would be totally opposed to that. Why should we change that?”
Greenway Village is proposed for the 10 acres along South Franklin Street’s east side immediately north of Sheetz, land that backs up to Smith Creek and the Smith Creek Greenway. About 75 percent of the 10 acres is already zoned residential mixed use (RMX) which allows apartments; the remaining 25 percent is zoned neighborhood business. The approval by the planning board was for three linked buildings, four stories in front facing the street and five stories in the rear.
A factor in the planning board’s decision was the announcements at different times during the meeting by Wake Forest Senior Planner Patrick Reidy and Transportation Engineer Jonathan Jacobs that the traffic overpass bridge over the CSX railroad line on Rogers Road is back in design and should be complete in 18 months and that by the summer of 2021 Holding Village will complete the first two lanes of South Franklin Street to connect with the N.C. 98 Bypass (Dr. Calvin Jones Highway).
With both projects complete at about the same time, the traffic pattern on Rogers Road, South Main Street and Heritage Lake Road will change substantially. Holding Village will build that section of South Franklin Street to four lanes before they can get their 801st occupancy approval. Jacobs said the Town of Wake Forest will be responsible for completing the improvement to four travel lanes and a median between Holding Village’s portion and Greenway Village’s portion. A planned commercial center with shops and restaurants across the street from Greenway Village will build half the portion of the street adjacent to it.
There was some community opposition. About 80 people attended the neighborhood meeting at Hope Lutheran Church on July 16, but only about 20 people were at the planning board meeting Thursday.
Those who spoke in opposition were polite, making short statements or asking questions about traffic for the most part. Bill McKinney from Majestic Oaks said, “No one’s walking along those roads.” Tony Everett, also from Majestic Oaks, said, “It is crazy out there. If you walk out there you’re taking your life in your hands.” Donna McKinney, Bill’s wife, said, “We already have an issue now. Why do we have to pursh through more cars on the roads?” Planning board member Chuck Moseley said, “The roads (Franklin Street and the over pass) will be completed by then (2021).”
Todd Shoffeitt from Heritage was concerned about keeping stormwater out of the town’s creeks and asked about green infrastructure that could counteract “the incursions of runoff” he saw a couple times in the last few weeks. Reidy told him about the retention ponds and other structures the developer planned to keep stormwater on the property. “They have to clean the water and release it as the same rate it would be before building.”
Elizabeth O’Connell from Heritage asked if the land will be kept natural if the second phase is not built, and someone from the planning board said, “Yes. There will be no reason for clearing it.”
Janelle Aldridge was concerned about walkability and wondered, “Can I get all the way to Publix?”
Karen Bradley said the town is always playing catchup and, “We really have to look at all the not-yet-built [projects?] that are going to be built,” referencing a future project near Gateway Commons. Also, “Should things of this impact be approved at this point?” She said she was thinking the election Tuesday “was really a kind of mandate.”
Jeremy Groves who lives in Heritage South but is building in Bridgeport, wrote a letter saying his family has seen “an increase in the number of homes being built and the difficulty families living in Wake Forest are already having with the overpopulation of Heritage schools.” He fears the attendance lines will be redrawn. He also said Rogers Road in the area where the apartments will be built “is a 2 lane road.” At that intersection with South Franklin it is four travel lanes and a turn lane.
Commissioner Bridget Wall-Lennon pointed out, given the RMX zoning already in place for 75 percent of the 10 acres, the developer could build the same number of apartments even if this request is denied. “They don’t have to come back. This can go forward with variations.” Reidy said RMX zoning allows apartment building up to six stories.
When the public hearing was closed and the planning board began its business meeting, Mosely pointed out the importance of the second phase not being built. Karlene Turrentine noted what Wall-Lennon had said about being able to build without this approval. “I’m not excited about apartments,” she said, but these at four and five stories are better than six stories.
Joe Kimray said the news that South Franklin Street will be extended to the bypass about the same time this project is complete “pushes me to the yes side. This is exactly where an apartment complex should go. I think this is a great project.”
Karin Kuropas said, “This is central. This is designed for business and high-density housing. That’s what it’s zoned for. This is where it’s supposed to be.”
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The board also voted unanimously to approve the rezoning of nine acres on Star Road/Cliff Lane, an area locally known as Marshall Village where there are 12 or so rental houses plus some owner-occupied houses that are not a part of the current rezoning request for conditional highway business.
The owner, David Wilson of Raleigh, has said his interest in the rezoning is to be able to sell the property, and he has included a list of possible uses that do not include storage and outdoor sales.
Back in May the town board voted unanimously against a similar request but one that included 18.77 acres after a passionate argument by Commissioner Brian Pate who is opposed to the large self-storage buildings with several stories and feared one or more could be built there. Also, he said the rental houses are one of the few places in town with affordable rent. It is the first sight of Wake Forest for traffic traveling north on Capital Boulevard.
This time there was lively questioning by Turrentine and others about the several permitted uses and how many would be possible. Wilson’s designer, engineer Harry Mitchell, pointed out that it is only nine acres.
“One of the challenges is just what DOT is going to do with regard to this property,” Mitchell said. It is in the US 1-Capital Boulevard zone, according to the town’s ordinances, but the current DOT plan for turning Capital Boulevard into a limited-access freeway involves side roads for local traffic. Right now, Mitchell said, even the design for the freeway is on hold.
Mitchell also said that Wilson is not going to develop the property himself and plans to continue renting the houses that are there.
Jennifer Currin, the development services manager, said a master plan or a special use permit might be required, depending on what a new owner plans to build.
“The UDO will make sure it is built the way it ought to be,” the mayor said.
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