Board may annex Forestville Townes

A preview of the Wake Forest Town Board agenda for Sept. 17

The most momentous part of the Wake Forest Town Board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. will be its discussion whether to transition the independent Wake Forest Fire Department into the town’s organizational structure. The board may take a vote on the transition that night or it may come later, in early October.

But there are other agenda items which relate to planning and growth. In one of those, the commissioners will hold a public hearing about whether to annex three properties on the dead end portion of Forestville Road where the owners, Forestville Partners LLC, want to build 95 townhouses. Any one in the audience will be able to voice an opinion about this annexation.

This project, which both the planning board and town board liked for its design, has been stalled since December of 2017 because of its location near Rogers Road with its only entry to that road a choke-point during high-traffic times, the short street next to the Real McCoys restaurant. It was approved by the planning board on Dec. 6, 2017 and denied by the town commissioners three to two on Dec. 20, 2017. Then it was denied by the planning board five to four on March 7, 2018.

When it arrived at the town board two weeks later, Commissioner Brian Pate, working with one of the owners, Scott Murray, had worked out a deal by which the town shall not issue any building permits for residential construction before March 1, 2019 and no more than 39 residential building permits shall be issued between March 1, 2019 and April 1, 2020. Roland Gammon, the manager of Forestville Partners, said he agreed with the conditions and the vote was unanimous to approve. Commissioner Anne Reeve was absent.

The day after the March 21, 2018 town board meeting Pate said by email, “I believe that the Rogers Bridge over the railroad tracks is scheduled for start in 2019 and completion in 2020. Holding Village is around 190 permits so far and projection is for them to be around 300 in the next 18 months which would trigger the build [of the missing section of South Franklin Street to meet the N.C. 98 Bypass.]” The construction of that missing section will reduce traffic on Rogers Road and South Main Street.

There will also be a public hearing on the intent by the town to permanently close a portion of Brewer Circle as part of a project in which the town will upgrade and pave Brewer Circle and a developer will plat nine building lots where he will build nine affordable houses.

The commissioners can take action on both the public hearings immediately afterward.

After the public hearings, the board will consider the consent agenda and the first item affects the proposed Averette subdivision which would add 677 single-family homes and 288 townhouses. The owners of eight properties that will be purchased for the subdivision are asking that their land be annexed, and the question during the Sept. 20 meeting is whether the town commissioners will accept their petition for annexation; there will be a later public hearing about the annexation itself. Any member of the public or the town board can ask that the item be removed from the consent agenda and placed on the regular agenda for discussion, but only the town commissioners can discuss the question.

There is another annexation petition also that evening, one submitted by Alice Soule for property on Wall Road where a small subdivision has been approved.

Since the Wake Forest Planning Board meeting for Sept. 3 was cancelled, there are only two items about planning. One is a review and possible approval of the Wheatfield minor site at 1009 Forestville Road. The other would be approval of a deed of gift and memorandum of understanding with the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology to curate the artifacts from the Ailey Young House.

You can see the agenda after it is posted later this month by going to the town’s website, clicking on Government and then clicking on Streaming Media Archives. It will also provide access to all the paperwork behind each agenda item.