Tuesday evening the Wake Forest commissioners waived the six-month waiting period before the Glen Oaks subdivision in Franklin County can begin the regular process of review and hearings.
David Arnold with The Nau Company in Rolesville based the request on the changes made to the plan for 294 homes the commissioners strongly rejected in May. The 74 acres are directly south of the large-lot Rolling Acres subdivision, and many of the subdivision residents were in the meeting room Tuesday. Some of the changes are adding 25-foot undisturbed tree buffers to the northern and eastern boundaries, removing the townhouse section, adding park space and reducing the number of lots to 268.
Three commissioners agreed rather forcefully that it was time to increase the town’s recreation impact fee schedule – the amount builders pay – despite pushback from Commissioner Greg Harrington, who said it was “too much at one time.” Commissioner Liz Simpers was absent. This is the first increase in 15 years.
“Why has it been so long since we had this increase?” asked Commissioner Anne Reeve. She pointed out the town has had to spend “a lot of tax money” to rent gyms and fields from the school system to meet the needs of the recreation programs. She also said home builders who have been working in town were not protesting the increase but others not represented in town were. She and Commissioners Bridget Wall-Lennon and Brian Pate noted that the Raleigh-Wake County Homebuilders Association questioned the increase’s effect on affordable housing and asked for more input from stakeholders.
Pate, a realtor, said the town is spending $13 million in bond money to build the Joyner Park community center and has had to cut the basketball courts from three to two. “We have lacrosse players coming out the wazoo. We have four pickleball courts and need twelve.”
On Wednesday Pate added detail about home prices. “The HBA in their email to (town board) members referenced that this goes against affordable housing. As of yesterday, there were 240 single-family homes for sale in Triangle MLS that were new construction. The AVERAGE list price was $485,130. For the HBA to use that as an argument is laughable. Based on that average list price, the ~$1,800 increase is less than one half of one percent on each home and the builder will pass it along to the buyer in the sale price anyway.
“In addition, the HBA referenced in their email that this was being ‘rushed through.’ We have been discussing this for over six months at this point. They have had plenty of time to keep up with what is going on. As Commissioner Reeve said last night, the builders that have been here for a while have not said a word because they know they have been the financial beneficiary of unaltered fees for almost 15 years.
“Going forward, I want us to be able to afford to build what is necessary for the families of Wake Forest to be able to participate in the opportunities provided by the parks and recreation department.”
Later there was a bit of a problem when no one seemed to find a picture of the sculpture the town is buying. Remember the list in The News & Observer last week of the different towns benefitting from General Assembly appropriations, something often referred to as pork? Wake Forest also benefitted because state Sen. John Alexander designated one appropriation of $18,000 to purchase John Galucci’s Oak Leaf Horizon which has stood next to town hall for a year. It is now near the Walker Garden in E. Carroll Joyner Park. Public Art Commission Chairman John Pelosi said, although the piece is designed as a gate and could not be used as the gateway to the garden because it is not ADA approved for that use and “no one with handicaps would be able to use the pathway. He assured Wall-Lennon the sculpture is safe – “The town has strict standards for safety” – and it has been used by families with children a great deal all year.
The commissioners approved this year’s temporary art placement programs, the seven sculptures in locations around town and the paintings by four local artists that will be on billboards attached to town-owned buildings. See the article in this issue for more information about each project.
The board also:
*Approved the rezoning of 2.96 acres on Oak Grove Church Road to conform to adjacent zoning.
*Voted to delay consideration of a planned unit development zoning district because of the complexity of that zone.
*Approved resolutions recognizing Purple Heart recipients, the week of Aug. 7 as Purple Heart Week, World War II veterans and Korean War veterans.
2 Responses
The recreation impact fee is negligible and of little import to the cost of housing in WF. Do all the impact fees for roads, water and sewer and schools, etc., actually reflect the true cost of the impact to the community?
HBA mentioned the possible effect on ‘affordable housing’. Is there any affordable housing in WF? Whether wanting to rent or buy, there is a minuscule amount for those who do service jobs that are typically on the lower end of the pay scale. Also, there is little affordable for the majority of retirees. Instead, we have the high priced homes built on top of each other (10′ between dwellings?) WF is rapidly becoming challenged in economic and age diversity. Do the math on someone making $10-$15/hour or living on Social Security and, maybe, a small pension.
Maybe it is a return to times in the past (Walton’s) where necessity requires 3, even 4, generations living in the same house. This is happening now in WF in growing numbers. The main external issue is that code does not require sufficient parking, especially in new neighborhoods where two cars is a tight fit. As observed in another community of the typical 3-4 BR, 2 1/2 bath 2000 sq ft $300K+ houses, people sleeping in van in the driveway because the house was full. This was not a vacation visitor situation, long term reality because of lack of affordable housing. The alternative, of course, is these economic outcasts are banished to the mobile home parks of neighboring counties, or, as it is now becoming, one county removed from the neighboring county.
The impact fee on new home building should be sufficient land for Habitat for Humanity to build a couple of dozen homes, just 10% of the dwellings planned in the mentioned Glen Oaks. That is, of course, if economic diversity is a goal?
Wake HBA has fought impact fees for the last 30 years. All of those fees would have been pasted on to the buyer as part of the cost of the new house. Those fees could have then been used to offset the impact of the new family and their 2.4 kids. Financially, Wake would be in much better shape if that had started then. I don’t think anyone would have not moved here because of the fees, so there wouldn’t have been a downside…