In an unusual action Tuesday night, four of the Wake Forest town commissioners brushed off the planning board’s unanimous recommendation and voted to approve a request from Wake Forest developer Jim Adams to amend the conditional use permit for the 2.9 acres at the intersection of Burlington Mills and Ligon Mill roads to allow for gas/fueling stations and a general commercial building of less than 100,000 square feet.
Twenty-five people, mostly from the Deer Chase subdivision, were at the public hearing on May 3 to oppose the change, and 15 or so were at Tuesday’s meeting. The neighbors who spoke on May 3 said the traffic at the intersection was terrible and they feared an increase in crime and problems with ground contamination from the underground fuel tanks. The adjoining subdivision, Deer Chase, and another close by, Whippoorwill, as well as the Richland Creek Community Church all use water from several wells in and near Deer Chase.
Tuesday night all the commissioners cited the traffic as the reason for voting for the change in the permit. “With the development there [the gas station and store], you are going to get improvements in the traffic,” Commissioner Jim Thompson said. He noted that there was an “overwhelming” amount of comment about the heavy traffic on the two two-lane roads.
Commissioner Brian Pate, after saying he was at first opposed to the Sheetz on Rogers Road but is no longer – “ . . . and I’m closer to Sheetz than [the people in] Deer Chase are to this place” – went on to say, “Traffic is the ultimate problem in this area and this is the way to get it solved.”
Commissioners Greg Harrington and Anne Reeve both said they had concerns about the water as well as the traffic. Reeve said, in regard to the neighbors’ concerns about groundwater contamination, that the state has a very tough policy about underground fuel tanks. Commissioner Margaret Stinnett did not speak and voted against the motion to amend the conditional use permit.
There are two letters to the editor in this issue of the Gazette protesting the vote by the town board.
The town annexed the property in 2005 although it was and still is far outside the town limits. It was rezoned for conditional use neighborhood business in 2007, something requested by Adams along with gas sales, but the town board imposed conditions which allowed for many uses but not for gas stations.
During that same segment of the agenda, the board unanimously approved the Oak Hills subdivision and divided on extending the conditional approval for the Regency at Heritage subdivision which expired earlier this year. The subdivision is on Forestville Road and part of its plan will extend Marshall Farm Road from Heritage to Forestville Road. The developers argued that several conditions outside their control – the replacement of the Forestville Road bridge and the new sewer line in the area – mitigated against carrying out the development plan. But, they said, they have acquired the majority of the approvals for the project. Pate and Stinnett voted against extending the permit.
13 Responses
I wish they would require those who approve these kind of things that they would have to do hospital visits also attend wakes and funerals
I wish they would require whoever approves this stuff to have to do hospital visits wake visits and also attend funerals
I would comment as well but evidently my opinion doesn’t matter.
We live in Dansforth and have lived here almost 7 years. We would have never came to WF if we knew what we know now. Seems to us , the decisions are always based on money, and not traffic and safety. Listen to the people! Lives matter more than money! Do you ever say no?
We have no problem with growth but there comes a time when you need to control the growth until roads and schools catch up! We have lived in bigger cities and the traffic does not compare to what we experience around WF. Putting too many people on a road that cannot handle it causes major problems.
Not to mention the health issues that are involved with this decision.
This is a game of smoke and mirrors. First, a gas station at the SE corner of the intersection is not required to get the intersection improvement. The improvement should come with any use of that lot. Why is a gas station being pushed on the community when there is absolutely NO need and NO demand for it by anyone close to the intersection. Within close proximity to the intersection are four gas stations and an additional convenience store.
Secondly, the safety issue identified by the John Hopkins study was not from the tanks, though there is risk there. The study discovered that spills at a gas station leak into the ground, leak through the concrete into the ground, then into the aquifers and into the wells. Spills occur for a number of reasons regularly at gas stations. There is a definite health hazard that is being ignored by the Town of Wake Forest. All the members of the Commissioners have been made aware of the John Hopkins study.
So a decision has been made on information that was incomplete and misleading.
Brazen disregard for the residents in this heavily populated section of Wake Forest; arrogance at its worst. These Board members will be remembered for what they’ve done and how they’ve done it come time for re-election. Get these incompetent people out of office!
Is Ms. Reeve and the Commissioners delusional? They acknowledge that DOT has no plans to do anything to that area so, let’s see, let’s put a gas station there and see if someone will fix the area. That’s the most irrational thinking I’ve ever heard of coming from a governing body. Here’s a thought, how about Wake Forest acquire the land across the street and put up an EMS station. That way the victims of the accidents that will happen won’t have to wait so long for medical attention. If you don’t think there are an excessive number of accidents there, do the research. I’d provide the numbers but don’t know where that data is.
Look, Deerchase is in the county and has no say in the politics of Wake Forest. I get that. We have no way to voice our concerns by voting out people that misrepresent their constituants . I ask each Commissioner to take 15 minutes out of their day and observe this intersection during rush hour when it’s the busiest and imagine a gas station in that area. Imagine people turning into that area and exiting and perceive how that will ultimately choke the traffic in that area. You will have grid lock and a lot of disgruntled Wake Forest residents that will be highly inconvenienced.
If you can’t afford the time to observe, I’d suggest you talk to Commissioner Stinnett who did just that back in 2007. It changed her mind and I applaud her for standing her ground on this rezoning.
I agree with all the previous responses and very disappointed in the decision. As a home owner in Deer Chase I feel helpless because I can’t use my right as a voter to get rid of commissioners that make decisions that impact my quality of life because we are outside the city limits. What is the purpose of a planning board if their recommendations aren’t valued?
As a Deer Chase resident that frequently travels in all four directions from the Burlington Mills/Ligon Mill intersection, one thing that’s not needed there and probably will not be successful is a gas station. Yes, I’m concerned about the water my family drinks, even more than traffic issue. But, traffic will NOT be alleviated by putting an in-and-out type business on the corner, I dont care how many turn lanes Mr Adams buys for the city. I think my neighbors and I would be very much in favor of a small locally-owned business that served our community responsibly, rather than a business that might negatively effect property values and quality of life.
The town has made an irresponsible decision impacting residents that don’t vote for them or contribute to the tax base in WF. More disappointing is the lack of regard for resident feedback. The biggest difference between this project and the Sheetz is that water for the Heritage neighborhood is supplied by the Town of WF and piped in. For this location and surrounding neighborhoods such as DeerChase, community wells are the basis for the water systems, thus the increasing the risk of contamination. It’s a shame that a town, in good financial condition, cannot pay for traffics improvements on its own or in collaboration with the county. Perhaps loading this responsibility into developers is easier than negotiating.
In Brian Pate’s Heritage neighborhood, the closest homes to the Sheetz are about a quarter mile away and draw their water from the city. In the Deer Chase neighborhood, existing homes share a backyard fence line with the proposed gas station project, and all 200+ homes in Deer Chase, Whipporwhill communities, and Richland Creek Church draw their water from wells located in the community.
There is no comparison between the Sheetz and this new proposed project.
There were no comments allowed by the citizens at last nights meeting although there were many in attendance prepared to speak against the proposal as they did at the planning committee meeting two weeks prior. It’s worth noting that at the planning meeting, it was recorded that no one in attendance spoke in favor of the proposal.
So adding a gas station relieves traffic? That is illogical. Even if the developer is paying for a much bigger intersection with turning lanes for each direction, I fail to see how this will be accomplished.
The ground water issue is an even more important concern.
It seems WF can’t say no to any commercial development, no matter what the issue. I’m very disheartened that this passed.
Many are disappointed…. it seems progress is more important than 200+ families that now worry about their water supply in the near future.