Planning board overrides planning staff recommendation
By a five to two vote, the Wake Forest Planning board politely rejected the planning staff’s recommendation to reject the master plan and rezoning for Devon Square, a 68-acre property on the east side of Capital Boulevard between the Staffordshire subdivision and the planned service road and ramps for a major interchange at Harris Road and Purnell Road.
The developer, Tony Tate Landscape Architecture in Durham, brought eight people, not all of whom spoke, to press its case that the current zoning for highway business was not appropriate for land next to single-family homes and to the jewel of Wake Forest parks, Joyner Park. John Myers with JPM South Development, part of the development team who has been part of several Wake Forest developments, said, “If you look at the whole area you end up with a better result.”
The request was to keep some of the property – the northern end near Harris Road – in conditional use highway business and rezone the rest for conditional residential mixed use. The plan is to build 40 front-loaded (garage and driveway in front) single family homes on a large part of the tract that slopes 70 feet from west to east and build 148 townhouses on the land next to Capital Boulevard and the future service road.
The land in question has been owned by the Pleasants family for two generations or more. After their mother died, the land became the property of her children, two of whom have serious health problems, Beth Pleasants McCain said. “We have tried for 22 year to sell this land.” And, “The sale would help the caregivers in our family. This is the only offer in 22 years.”
At the end of the hearing, Louise Springer, who owns a house in Staffordshire, said the Tony Tate proposal would be a “win-win situation” for the land by protecting the residential property values. She began with a letter from two other homeowners, Adam and Jen Holder, and a petition signed by 40 Staffordshire residents. Springer noted that there has been a reduced need for retail and commercial uses since the onset of online purchasing. She also noted that usually commercial uses are recommended at intersections with access from two sides, not in the middle of block as this property is.
Myers had already pointed out that a typical shopping center would use the front of the property and would need a 30-foot retaining wall on the east side to provide level ground for the buildings and parking. The plan is to use the natural fall to the east by stepping down the single-family homes by two feet or so, echoing a street in Staffordshire. Myers called it “working with what the land has to offer.”
The plan will protect Joyner Park, Myers said, with a 50-foot naturally wooded buffer and stormwater detention to a 25-year standard. Calling Joyner “one of the finest parks in the Triangle,” he said, “We wanted to protect the park, wanted to protect Staffordshire.” There will be a 30-foot berm and buffer next to Staffordshire. In the mixed residential use section, 26 percent of the land is open space, part of it a buffered stream that divides the 68 acres between residential and commercial. The commercial part will be addressed with another master plan. Myers said the current thinking is the commercial would be two- or three-story buildings, “more neighborhood and boutique-y kind of commercial.”
The plan includes a service road along Capital Boulevard, part of the planned freeway, a road that then extends to the east to intersect with Harris Road. The subdivision will be walkable, with sidewalks on both sides of the streets and an extension of the town’s greenway system.
The planning staff, headed by Development Services Manager Jennifer Currin, had argued that the parcels are in a nonresidential planning area and should remain in commercial zoning. “The Town’s ability to recruit new and expanding industries and businesses could be reduced if the amount of land the Town has available for nonresidential uses is diminished for residential purposes.” She wrote that the request is inconsistent with the Wake Forest Community Plan, Unified Development Ordinance, Transportation Plan and US-1 Corridor Plan, is unreasonable and not in the public interest; and therefore, staff recommends denial of RZ-19-17, Devon Square.”
Michael Birch, an attorney at Longleaf Law Partners, led the applicant’s case for the rezoning and master plan and spent considerable time addressing all the points Currin had mentioned in her recommendation.
There was some discussion when the planning board began its consideration. Chairman Ed Gary said he thought the plan was “a terrific transition from Staffordshire to future commercial. I especially liked the buffering on both sides, the stream and adding a greenway. I think it’s a well-thought plan.”
Vice Chairman Grif Bond said that the staff, professional planners, “doesn’t recommend we do this.”
Of the seven members present, Karlene Turrentine and Joe Kimray voted no, with Turrentine noting she did so because she does not think the 50-foot buffer along the Joyner Park boundary is sufficient.
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The planning board also heard a request for a rezoning and master plan for 33 acres on Wall Road, family Soule-Wall land now owned by Ginny Soule. The plan calls for rezoning to conditional residential 10 and rural holding with 14 acres used for 42 duplexes and 18 single-family homes.
Jon Frazier with FLM Engineering said it is an age-targeted community – most residents will be 55 and older – but there will be no formal or required age restrictions. The homeowners association will be responsible for the exterior maintenance.
Two large trees will be preserved, a 52-inch oak in the entrance roundabout and a 39-inch white oak in the park, rural holding, section.
Although there were questions about the density, the garages and other items, including the 19 conditions agreed upon by both applicant and the planning staff, the board voted unanimously for approval.
The requests for Devon Square and the Soule land on Wall Road now go to the Wake Forest Town Board at their regular meeting on April 16. They joined the planning board at the hearings Tuesday night.
