The public hearing for the requested rezoning and subdivision master plan for Radford Glen was opened Tuesday evening, but Jennifer Currin, the development services manager, said because of contract issues between the owner and developer they had asked for the hearing to be continued to July 10, the second continuation. Currin said because of those continuations the Community Development Department is giving the principals until only June 19 to work out the issues before refusing to schedule the request on July 10.
Because the hearing was opened, the people in the audience who came prepared to speak were allowed to do so, leading to a long litany from five neighbors in Bowling Green subdivision about traffic, uncontrolled runoff in Austin Creek, cutting down of mature trees on Bowling Green property, and the need to widen a Bowling Green street, Frog Hollow, if it is to be used as a second exit from Radford Glen.
Alice Chalona disputed the report about the neighborhood meeting in the staff report, saying it was held two days before Thanksgiving – “Who goes to a meeting two days before Thanksgiving?” – the sign-in sheet did not ask for email addresses, and the absence of the architect and others on the developer staff. “We were asking how much water his holding pond can hold. It doesn’t take a hurricane to flood.” Others at the meeting, she said, were complaining about their access to N.C. 98 (Wait Avenue). “They can’t get in and can’t get out.”
Chalona’s neighborhood in Bowling Green, Charleston Homes, has small lots and small homes. She and other her neighbors area concerned that homes in Radford Glen on a terraced hillside will overlook their houses. Dan Miller said the garages in Radford Glen would look into Bowling Green second-floor windows. Miller also said the creek “is a little bitty creek and there’s a lot of sediment in there now,” leading to his concern about flooding because some homes in Bowling Green are in low areas and could be flood-prone.
John Policastro said his concern is his children. “My kids play in back [of his house]. If there’s a road there [the alley behind the planned townhouses] I would lose the use of my back yard for at least a year” because of the construction. He also said the alley does not provide a place for snow plows or garbage tricks to turn around. Frog Hollow, he said, is only 19 feet wide and people park on the street because the driveways are so short cars block the sidewalk.
Those complaining brought documents and photographs to illustrate their contentions. Commissioner Bridget Wall-Lennon asked about the trees that were removed, and Planning Board Chairman Ed Gary asked, “Can we get town staff to investigate and report back next month?” Planning board member Al Hinton looked at one picture and asked, “Is this in Bowling Green?” The answer was yes. Marty Bizzell with BNK, the applicant, said the work done there was “just clearing underbrush.” Chuck Moseley, another planning board member, asked if there were any before pictures, and Brendie Vega, the assistant director of community development, said the staff will look at aerial photographs and other information to determine what was done.
In the midst of the other speakers, Bizzell said his firm and the owner “fully intend to proceed. We have a good plan.” He said they would try to address the other speakers’ issues by email rather than another neighborhood meeting. He also said they are trying to get additional right-of-way for Frog Hollow, enough to widen the street.
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The quasi-judicial hearing for the Tru Hotel requested by Milan Patel should have been rather quick because the only question was if the town would allow a four-story building in that zoning district. Patel, whose company also owns and operates Candlewood Suites on Retail Drive, said the Hilton chain Tru Hotels, “don’t allow any hotels less than four stories.”
There were questions about the two streets. Wake Union Church Road is a minor thoroughfare, and Hampton Way Drive will become a backage road once Capital Boulevard is converted to a freeway. Rynal Stephenson, the traffic engineer hired by the town, said the state Department of Transportation could require some changes at the intersections where Hampton Way meets Wake Union Church Road and Durham Road, and he foresees no impact on this project from the traffic improvements due to happen when Wake Union Place – homes and commercial uses – is built out.
But then Frank Cording went to the podium with three notarized statements objecting to the hotel. Cording is an employee of Stewart Engineers, a company that is the international leader in float glass technology and equipment. The family-owned business moved to Wake Forest a few years ago and in 2016 moved from its first location and bought a building on Hampton Way.
The problem is, Cording said, there is an easement through its parking lot and people are continually walking and driving through their parking lot to and from the Hampton Inn and Briggs restaurant. Their cameras counted 178 cars in two weeks; there was a domestic dispute “with damage” that was not specified by Cording; someone attached his hose to their outdoor spigot and washed his car.
The company had recently asked the town to close the easement and was refused. Stewart Engineers was objecting to the new hotel because it could add to the traffic in their parking lot.
Currin pointed out that a hotel with three stories could be built by right in that zoning district; the planning board only had to decide whether Patel could build a four-story hotel. “That easement is a separate issue.”
The vote was unanimous, seven all, to allow the four stories. Member Joe Kimrey was absent and Thomas Smith resigned and has not been replaced. Now that the planning board academy for 2018 has ended there are apparently a few graduates who plan to apply for the vacant seat.
