Third remains unseen, so who knows
It has been a minor problem for the Wake Forest Town Board, but there were strong feelings and big financial questions at stake involving the zoning for three properties on South Allen Road – a beauty salon in a fairly new house at 238 South Allen, the Church Initiative Inc. at 250 South Allen on five acres in the former Wake Forest Branch Hospital and Life Church PCCF, Inc. at 306 South Allen on 2.75 acres in the former Wake Forest Rest Home.
A few years back the three properties were rezoned as neighborhood mixed use (NMX) without their input. The Cardinal Hills subdivision is on the south side of South Allen Road.
In the last year or so, Life Church owners have put that property up for sale, and a potential buyer had a plan for a four-story apartment building. That plan was shot down by the Wake Forest Board of Adjustment which voted against a needed easement.
Thirty-six Cardinal Hills neighbors, worried about excessive traffic on the street which remains narrow and without curb and gutters or sidewalks, signed a petition asking the Wake Forest commissioners to rezone the Life Church property to ensure that an apartment building could not be built there. They also hired Kate Jones, a lawyer, a Cardinal Hills resident and a signer of the petition, to represent them.
The town board heard from the neighbors and asked the Wake Forest Planning Board to rezone the three properties on the west side of the street as general residential five.
At the September planning board meeting, the lawyer for Church Initiative Iris Maddox said that rezoning would be like the town putting its hand in the nonprofit’s pocket and pulling out most of the value because GR5 zoning would prevent Church Initiative from expanding the building or repairing it in case of serious damage.
Sam Hodges, the vice president, recounted how the town many years ago had helped the nonprofit by rezoning the building and five acres so it could get funding to buy the empty building.
Jones just asked the board to rezone the old rest home property to preclude any other request for an inappropriate use.
After a discussion, Michael Hickey got a second for his motion to recommend rezoning rest home to GR5, leaving the other two as NMX. He had earlier said their zoning might change with the Community Plan update. The vote was four to three.
At Tuesday evening’s Town Board Work Session, Thomas Worth Jr., an attorney taking the place of Maddox who had a conflict, said that GR5 zoning would be very unfair to Church Initiative, and President Steve Grissom pledged to continue to be a good neighbor.
Celine Burcik, the salon owner, said she had just learned about the rezoning question. She said she wants to sell the salon when she retires but it would not be useful home because it was built as a salon and does not have a kitchen or showers or bathtubs in its bathrooms. She said if the zoning means it would revert to home use she is opposed.
Senior Planner Patrick Reidy took Burcik and her lawyer or friend out of the meeting for a conference. When she returned, Burcik said she was content with the GR5 zoning because the use as a salon would continue for a year before reverting to residential.
The town commissioners voted four to zero with Commissioner Chad Sary absent to agree with the planning board’s recommendation. Mayor Vivian Jones apologized to the people with Church Initiative. “It was never our intention to put you in a bad position.”
No one from Life Church has appeared at any of the public meetings about this rezoning.
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