We do not yet know the revisions Priest, Craven & Associates have made to the master plan for the Averette subdivision, but the revised plan will be heard before a joint meeting of the Wake Forest Town and Planning boards on Tuesday, March 3, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
There will also be a public hearing and possible planning board action on text amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance, sections 2.3.3; 3.5, 17.3; and 17.4, to create outdoor seating as an accessory use and amending definitions about types of dwelling units. Several restaurants have requested outdoor seating similar to that in Raleigh and other Wake County towns.
Tryon Investment Partners LLC had proposed to build 677 single-family homes and 288 townhouses on 272 acres lying along Averette Road south of Oak Grove Church Road and north of N.C. 98. The ultimate build-out in that plan would stretch east to N.C. 96. The first phases were planned adjacent to the Tryon subdivision which was approved in 2014 for 268 single-family houses and 136 townhouses with an entrance on Oak Grove Church Road and access through Bishops Grant and Kings Glen subdivisions.
Since 2014 the Tryon owners have acquired three tracts called the Flynn property immediately to the east where 69 single-family homes will soon be built. Again, the engineers are Priest, Craven & Associates. The three subdivisions, two underway and one proposed, have interconnecting streets.
Together the three projects could result in construction of 1,014 single-family homes and 424 townhouses or 1,438 dwelling units. Our current household count (dwelling units of all types) is 16,788, and this would be an 8.6 percent increase.
Averette Road is a two-lane winding road between N.C. 98 (Wait Avenue) and Oak Grove Church Road and will be in the middle of the Averette addition to Tryon. Oak Grove Church Road is also two lanes and only runs between N.C. 96 (Zebulon Road) and Traditions Grande Boulevard. N.C. 98 is also two lanes at its intersection with Averette Road, but there is a traffic signal at that intersection. All of these roads, or a part of them, are owned and maintained by the state Department of Transportation, which can require improvements at new intersections.
The first version of the subdivision master plan did provide for some improvement to Averette Road, but that was not viewed as adequate by the speakers during the first public hearing about the Averette subdivision that was held on Oct. 1, 2019. At least two nearby residents spoke about the blind curve in Averette near one of the planned entrances. Others warned about storm runoff in the four connected lakes in the adjacent Millrace subdivision.
Former town commissioner Brian Pate was a strong critic during the hearing, homing in on road improvements that would be needed at the blind curve and the intersection of Averette and N.C. 98. He said the state Department of Transportation does not have the funds to do the necessary work to make the roads safer.
Pate also spoke about fire protection. The town’s last fire station, #4 on Jenkins Road, cost $3.5 million. He totaled the amount of the fire protection fees, $337 for single-family detached and $253 for single-family attached homes of the three associated subdivisions at build-out, which came to $448,990, about 13 percent of the station’s cost. He said the infrastructure is not yet present that will serve this subdivision.
There were a number of other objections to the plan, including Frank “Spank” McCoy who owns six acres in the Rock Ridge subdivision which would abut some of the proposed townhouses. He came with his own PowerPoint and protested the proposed subdivision would place maximum density housing directly against rural density. He also said the maps used for the subdivision do not show stream features and an Austin Creek tributary does not have the necessary buffer.
When it came to a vote, the planning board voted seven to one not to recommend the Averette subdivision. When the plan went to the town commissioners two weeks later, Mayor Vivian Jones, with the approval of the five commissioners, continued questions about the annexation, rezoning and master plan until November. Jones said that since the planning board’s vote not to recommend, the developer could request another public hearing in 45 days, during which it could make changes. Since then there has been at least one request for more time to make changes.
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The other large subdivision still being reviewed by the planning department, Kinsley, does not have a date and neither does the Star Road planned unit development that would include some commercial as well as townhouses.
Also, the planning department had listed the Cottages at Cardinal Hills and an amendment for the Everly subdivision on Stephen Taylor Road in Franklin County in March, and those hearings will have to be in future months.
The Cottages at Cardinal Hills is proposed as 30 residential units in three sections off Cardinal Hills Drive. The houses will have communal parking areas and will be reached by paths. The plan was submitted by Red Line Engineering. An amendment to the Kitchin Farms subdivision needs to be heard this spring.
Radford Glen could be heard in April or May. It is proposed for about 47 acres on the south side of Wait Avenue owned by former mayor George Mackie, the Mackie Family LLC and Glendora Keeton Heirs. The plan calls for 172 single-family lots.
April or May may be the time a small subdivision on Jeanne Street would be heard.
Currin lists April, May or June for a hearing about the Forest Pines Retirement Community on Caveness Farm Avenue.
There will be quasi-judicial hearings for two projects. The first is Caddell Street where a builder wants to divide one larger lot into four lots where he will build four houses. That may be heard in April. The Wake Prep Academy slated for the 700 block of Harris Road does not have a date yet.
The Wake Forest Planning Department has begun providing a monthly update of the future public hearings before the planning and town boards with approximate dates for those hearings as well as other information. Readers can find the updates shortly before the monthly planning board meetings by going to the town’s website, clicking first on “Government” and then on “Streaming Media Archives.” There you will find the agendas for the town board work session and the joint hearings before the town and planning boards. The updates are at the end of the planning board agenda.
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One Response
For those who might not know, “quasi-judicial” hearing means the hearing follows the same rules as if you were in a courtroom. Sworn testimony, testimony from “expert witnesses” and rules of evidence. Your opinion does not count unless you are a recognized Expert. Nor does “my neighbor told me.”