The attorneys for the plaintiffs and the defendants in the most recent rezoning court case filed against the Town of Wake Forest apparently have different opinions about what the judge’s order means.
Wake County Superior Court Judge Donald W. Stephens issued his order regarding suits filed by Frank and Olga McCoy against the Town of Wake Forest for the town board’s decision to approve the rezoning for the Tryon subdivision on Thursday, Sept, 10, although it was not made public for a week.
The order says: “The Court has considered the file, authorities cited by counsel, and other documents submitted by the parties. Upon due consideration of the arguments of the parties and the pleadings before the Court, the Court REMANDS the Decision for further proceedings before the Board to receive public comment and for consideration consistent with the procedures provided for such decisions.”
Nathaniel Parker, an attorney with Ellis & Parker Law in Wake Forest, said in a statement: “The petitioners identified a number of procedural and substantive failures committed by the Town. Without specifying more, the court determined that these failures warranted remand for reconsideration of the July 15, 2014 approvals. The burden is now on the Commissioners to conduct proceedings that follow state statutes and the town’s own UDO. I think it fair to say that people will be watching this time.”
Tobias Hampson, the attorney who advises the town’s planning board and department, wrote in his statement: “As we anticipated, the Court’s Order remands the case to the Board of Commissioners solely for the purpose of allowing the Board to receive additional public comment. Importantly, the Court did not overrule the Town’s decision to approve the conditional district zoning and master site plan. The Court did not find any error concerning the processing of the application and found no error with the conditions as set out in the zoning approval. Specifically the Court did not find error in the condition which allows the developer to seek to remove the 7.9 acres of land from the Smith Creek Water Supply Watershed upon approval of the Town’s Engineering Department. We respect the Court’s decision and expect to hold a further public hearing on this matter soon in order to avoid further delays to the applicant and the existing property owners who have been impacted by this litigation.”
The Wake Forest Town Board will have to officially receive the order and decide how to handle it before any hearing can be scheduled.
