With some misgivings but emphasizing how rare it is that Wake Forest has a chance to designate a large property for light industrial use, the town commissioners voted four to one, with Commissioner Greg Harrington voting no, to rezone 72 acres between Ligon Mill Road and the CSX rail line for that use.
Several neighbors at the joint public hearing on the case on Sept. 5 strongly objected to the use and to an entrance on Ligon Mill Road, citing the current morning traffic jams.
Commissioner Brian Pate asked town attorney Eric Vernon if they could put a condition on the rezoning that there be no connection directly to Ligon Mill Road, and Vernon said, “Conditions are not permitted.”
Pate continued to pursue the idea, asking if in the future when a site plan is submitted for approval the board could add a condition at that time. Vernon said any such condition would have to be made part of all light industrial zoning. “It would have to apply consistently across general use zoning.”
Commissioner Jim Thompson was also concerned about a future entrance on Ligon Mill Road. “I think this board would be very well advised to look carefully at it. I do not like the idea of a future connection over there.” He suggested the future developers could use Star Road and Capital Boulevard. The land, currently owned by Frederick Lewis III of Wilmington, does abut Unicon Drive in the South Forest Business Park.
Harrington, like the other two commissioners who spoke, said the town has to take the neighbors’ concerns seriously. “I’m between a rock and a hard place. We need the industrial.” He also said he had not reached a decision about his vote.
The two other planning items on Tuesday night’s agenda – a rezoning for 30.85 acres in the 1500 block of North White Street to allow for 78 single-family lots which will become a part of the Del Webb age-restricted subdivision across Dunn Creek in Traditions and a request to add permitted uses to the 10.88 acres on Capital Boulevard owned by the Wright People – were approved unanimously without any comments.
The board did approve annexation of a 3.2-acre lot at the intersection of the Dr. Calvin Jones Highway (the N.C. 98 Bypass) and Retail Drive.
5 Responses
fyi, an email I wrote to the Board of Commissioners on September 21, 2017:
Mr. Harrington, Thank you for voting against the Light Industrial rezoning proposal.
To the rest of the Board of Commissioners, Stop being in such a hurry to complete the destruction of the town! You and the irresponsible planning board are doing a terrible disservice to those who have made our homes here when you allow extensive development of every bit of open space and forest. The problems with this rezoning action is not limited to traffic. You are failing miserably in your responsibilities to the families in the A Country Place subdivision. Even though the subdivision is in the county, it is ETJ. You must be more concerned and responsible in the future.
Well put! Not that it probably not do any good but I agree with you.
I also agree with Ms. Davis and I agree with you Ms. Harp that it will not do any good! Over the last few months I have seen the Commissioners allow developers to move graves and destroy all the trees on the Kitchin Farm site, not to mention closing Burlington Mill Road for an unreasonable amount of time to accommodate same developer! I believe that moving graves is immoral and should not be tolerated.
The other irresponsible approval was to rezone Ligon and Burlington SE corner to allow a gas station which had been turned down by three former Bd of Commissioners! You must remember this on election day! Your vote can make a difference in this nonsense.
I remember when they were going to build Sheetz on Rogers road, and several neighborhood people said “citing the current morning traffic jams” that it was only going to get worse. Growth is going to happen in Wake Forest, so maybe some thought should be given to the infrastructure before things get worse. But not to retard growth which is needed for Wake Forest.
Don’t understand why the small parcel on Ligon Mill couldn’t be separated from the larger parcel that in effect expands the existing business park. An entrance on Ligon Mill makes no sense; it’s the only road in and out for hundreds of residents – and EMS, police, and fire vehicles.