On Sept. 4 back in 2003
This is the fourth in what is hoped is a regular feature about Wake Forest in 2003 when the Wake Forest Gazette began publication.
The fate of the proposed annex for the Wake Forest College Birthplace Museum now rests in Wake County Superior Court. (Editor’s note: The annex would become the Wake Forest Historical Museum)
Nancy Bates said Tuesday that she and her husband, Don, had filed an appeal to the Wake Forest Board of Adjustment’s decision to uphold the Historic Preservation Commission’s grant of a certificate of appropriateness for the 10,000-square-foot building. Although the Bates are the appellants of record, other North Main Street neighbors are helping with the costs of the legal action.
Robert Hornik, an attorney with the Brough Law Firm in Chapel Hill who represents the Wake Forest Historic District Citizens’ Group, said he mailed the appeal Thursday. The appeal asks to reverse the board of adjustment’s decision, claiming the decision was affected by errors of law and not supported by the evidence.
A judge will review the request for the appeal and then issue a writ, Hornik said, calling for the Town of Wake Forest to send forward all the evidence in the hearing. At that time, the other affected parties, the town and the Birthplace Society, will receive copies of the appeal and will have an opportunity to file answers.
Tuesday the town’s attorney, Roger Knight, the Birthplace’s attorney, Eric Braun, and Town Manager Mark Williams all said they had not received courtesy copies of the appeal.
The Wake Forest Birthplace Society, which owns and operates the museum which is housed in the Calvin Jones House on a 4.5-acre lot on North Main, plans the annex for exhibits, offices, storage space and meeting rooms. There would be 45 new parking spaces behind the building.
After a March meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission in which several neighbors objected to parts of the design, Winston-Salem architect Ed Bouldin redrew the plans.
The commission held a second formal hearing about the revised plan on April 9 and voted 6 to 1 to issue the certificate of appropriateness. Vice chairman Hal Miller, whose house on Juniper Avenue faces the Birthplace grounds, voted no.
Don and Nancy Bates, who live directly across from the Birthplace, and Steve Grissom, whose house on Walnut Avenue is next to the Birthplace, said during that hearing that the revised plan violates the commission’s design guidelines. There were other speakers who favored the project.
The Bates and their neighbors appealed the commission’s decision to the board of adjustment, which met on July 30 for a hearing. After hearing from attorneys for both sides, the board held a lengthy discussion and voted 4 to 1 to uphold the commission’s decision.
The Bates have said they want to support the museum, “but we believe the current approved design strays widely from the regulations governing construction in the Historic District of Wake Forest.”
This newspaper asked Nancy Bates for a specific list of those differences or violations, but she has not sent it yet. When Murray Greason responded last month to a letter from the Bates, he said they had not provided a list of differences to Braun, who had requested one. Greason has been drawn into the controversy because the Wake Forest native, a Winston-Salem attorney, serves on the Birthplace board of directors and is chairman of the Wake Forest University board of trustees.
The Birthplace Society’s plans also face another hurdle. The Calvin Jones House had been moved to the North Main site before the town redrew its zoning districts and was therefore grandfathered in. The zoning along North Main, R-15, does not allow museums. Before any construction can take place, there will have to be some sort of adjustment, most probably a change in the zoning district text to allow museums.
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Rezoning of South Main Street site to highway business recommended
Tuesday night the Wake Forest Planning Board held open the public hearing on the Crenshaw Hall rezoning, but not before chairman Sherrill Brinkley said, “I make a decision to close the public hearing because I can’t imagine what could be said that we haven’t heard tonight.”
Members reacted with “Wait a minute” and “What was that?” Brinkley reconsidered, the board voted and the hearing was continued until October as a neighbor had asked because he could not attend this month’s hearing. (Editor’s note: Crenshaw Hall is now the Clancy Strickland Wheeler Funeral Home.)
The board did recommend approval of Wayne Gibson’s request to rezone a single-family house at 2517 Burlington Mills Road from rural holding to highway business. Walt Gibson, Wayne’s nephew, said they were preparing a site plan “to modernize that whole corner there” which includes the Capital Truck Stop.
The board also recommended approval of ASB Partnership’s request for neighborhood business zoning for 5.3 acres on the west side of South Main Street immediately south of the N.C. 98 bypass route. On the staff’s recommendation, the board made that conditional use zoning with the condition there be a greenway easement along the bypass.
The conditional use also means neighbor Clara Webb’s questions will eventually be answered when the site plan is presented for board review. “I’m just real interested in what is going to be there. How is it going to affect me?” (Editor’s note: It turned out to be the grocery store Lidl.)
Engineer Harry Mitchell, speaking for ASB Partnership and principal Paul Bunn, said they were negotiating with two possible buyers and had not established a use.
“All these things will have to come back before this board,” Brinkley told Webb.
Board member Michael Martin was very concerned about the right-in, right-out access on the bypass that ABS had negotiated with the state Department of Transportation when DOT purchased some of the land. “It will get a lot of people killed,” Martin said. Planning Director Chip Russell said DOT controls roads but the town controls land use and could specify no access, but that decision would probably end up in the courts. The property will also have access on South Main Street.
The most interest Tuesday night was in the Crenshaw hearing, which drew enough interested residents to fill all the chairs and line the walls.
Crenshaw neighbors had concerns and questions and some voiced opposition to the entire idea of rezoning the historic 1830s home to conditional use neighborhood business.
Owner John Bennett III called the house a white elephant that is very expensive to maintain, saying he had spent half a million already in renovations and would spend another half million to make it usable for wedding receptions and similar events.
As it is zoned now, Bennett said, he could level the plantation house and build 15 houses similar to the houses in Crenshaw Hall Plantation and Crenshaw Manor, both built on farm land formerly attached to the house.
“The choice is really in you-all’s hands,” Bennett said to the planning and town boards. “I’ve got to have some economic basis to maintain it.”
Bennett said the plans are to preserve the old kitchen building with its big fireplace, but some other outbuildings like the chicken coop and laundry were too damaged to keep. “Obviously we’ll keep the cemetery” where family members are buried and where a slave burial ground was reinterred during the subdivision construction.
“What’s good today might not be so good tomorrow,” Joe Pfohl said, voicing the concerns of many that Bennett’s commitment was not firm enough and might not hold through the years.
“I’d rather see 15 houses,” Bill McKee said, rather than commercial development.
“You would prefer to see yet more houses as opposed to the loss of the structure,” planning board member Frank Drake asked.
“I was saying you could have both. I’d like to preserve that house. When we moved here, I thought that house would be preserved,” McKee said.
Dick Bowes also said he was assured Crenshaw Hall was a historical site and was going to be preserved. “Just to restore that house is great, but then what happens five years from now? Maybe we’ll tear that down and build a high-rise office building.”
His wife, Mary, said there should be an environmental study of the property.
Commissioner Rob Bridges asked if condition #2 does not address concerns about future use. Yes, Russell said. The condition states: Any plans for use of the property which does not include the existing principal residential structure or involves the demolition of the existing principal residential structure will be subject to board review and approval. Architectural renderings of building elevations will be required to ensure compatibility with adjoining residential property.
The first condition says any plans for the preservation and reuse of the existing principal residential structure will be subject to administrative review and approval and specifically says the cemetery will be preserved and maintained and any new buildings will be compatible with the existing house.
The conditions go with the land regardless of ownership.
“We have no accessory buildings planned,” Bennett said from the back of the room.
Audrey Thorngren was very concerned about the traffic at the intersection if there are special events at the house.
One speaker, Preston Miller, wanted the house left as a historic site. Another, Kim Parker, asked if the town did not get a lot of money from Target. “If we really want to preserve it, why doesn’t the city buy it? Offset the commercial things you’re doing with something like this.”
Two neighbors brought out that someone had cut down the required 20-foot tree buffer on the Trammel Court (west) side of the Crenshaw property before two spec houses were built.
Also, Dave Tubolino said, the buffer between their neighborhood and SuperTarget and Home Depot was razed and has not been restored. “Whey they came in and started bulldozing, they went farther than they were supposed to go.” The few trees that have been planted with be a buffer 30 from now, he said, but now “we see right into Home Depot.” There should be a buffer around Crenshaw, he said. Subdivision residents “bought their houses so they can look in their backyard and see trees and not see parties.”
Phil Clawson said he could see Crenshaw Hall as both an event site and a bed and breakfast. Along with asking for a buffer and preservation of the pecan grove, Clawson said, “I think Mr. Bennett has a great solution for this property.”
Bennett’s response to the idea of a buffer, which is required between commercial and residential uses, was to ask the neighbors to provide a 10-foot buffer. “If it protects them it protects me.”
After the hearing was continued to next month, Brinkley asked the neighbors to “bring information that we have not heard before.”
The planning board’s recommendations go to the town board, which has the final vote. The town board may or may not follow the recommendations.
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Public comment set for Oct. 6 about Wake Forest’s water situation
The consultant firm paid by Wake County, CH2MHILL, did not have all the figures ready for the Wake Forest Town Board’s work session Tuesday night.
Instead, the commissioners will meet with CH2MHILL at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 16, to receive the updated study about handing over the water and sewer systems to Raleigh.
The board also set Monday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. in town hall as the time and place for a public comment session about the water situation.
This fall, the commissioners can decide to go forward with negotiations and indicate their intent to allow Raleigh to take ownership of the utility systems or they can spend $300,000 on engineering studies to bring Neuse River water into a still-independent Wake Forest water and sewer system.
They could also vote to do both, leaving their options open still further.
School bond issues may be heard
The Oct. 7 bond issues for school and library construction led to a bit of disagreement. The Wake Education Partnership, a group that promotes Wake County Schools, had asked the board to pass a resolution in favor of the school bond.
“I think we shouldn’t get involved in that,” Commissioner Chris Malone said, adding he was not sure it was appropriate for the board to take sides. Commissioner David Camacho said he personally favored the bonds but wondered at the appropriateness.
Town Manager Mark Williams said he was not sure if the board had ever been asked to endorse a bond vote.
“We heard the other night we’re underfunded (for schools),” Commissioner Thomas Walters said. “We’re a nonpartisan board but we have to look at it from the betterment of Wake Forest and the betterment of our children.”
“There’s going to be a big fight (about the bond issue),” Malone said. Groups like the Friends of Wake County are mounting a campaign, Malone said, to bring forward different numbers showing where there is more money. “It goes back to the fiscal responsibility on the part of the school board.” But, Malone said, “Quite frankly, I don’t care. It’s not one of my high priority issues.”
The commissioners agreed to ask speakers from both Wake Education Partnership and Friends of Wake County give succinct presentations at the board meeting Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 7 p.m.
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