Candidates hear about growth, traffic, trees

This week the five candidates for two seats on the Wake Forest Town Board – John Van Ness, Ned Jones, Liz Simpers, Thad Jusczcak and Bridget Lennon-Wall – answered this question: What are the problems or difficulties that town residents are telling you they think the town is facing? Are they the problems you see? If not, what do you think the challenges will be for the town in the next four years?

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John Van Ness: The main issues that I hear our citizens are most concerned about are: growth, traffic, schools overflowing, how student placement will be affected by growth, and that we are losing the “forest” in Wake Forest.

The concerns I’m hearing today were the same concerns voiced during the 2015 municipal election. Our town has had tremendous growth and it will continue to grow because of the enviable community we have all built. We are proud of our town, and that we’ve been able to offer big-city amenities while maintaining the small-town feel.

To improve traffic flow, we need leaders who can work with NC DOT and Wake County to make sure that our community is well-represented during project proposal discussions; the same goes for WCPSS. My wife and I have always been active in our children’s education- I have volunteered alongside them and built those relationships with school board members and community stakeholders. With regard to losing our “forest”, I would work with the Urban Forestry and Tree Steward programs to require developers and builders to plant a tree for every tree that they cut down.

I have been a problem-solver for the past 25 years during my day job.  I will use those same skills to work with key stakeholders from state and county agencies as well as businesses and developers to make sure that Wake Forest keeps moving in the right direction.

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Liz Simpers: The most consistent story that I am hearing from folks is the concerns about growth. This election will be crucial, because decisions in our next 4 years will affect our next 40 years!

We all hear parents say how they wish they could “freeze time” during a point in their child’s growth. But kids have to grow up, and so does our town. The real question is how we foster growth in the RIGHT ways. As available land dwindles, decisions on how that land is used becomes more and more critical to our property values, job availability, schools, and traffic patterns.

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Bridget Wall-Lennon: I am hearing from voters who are concerned about how growth might impact our town overall. Will we lose our quaintness that makes Wake Forest so unique? How will development impact their neighborhoods? Downtown business owners are concerned about the survival of the businesses with the influx of commercial development in close proximity. Will this take away from their businesses or will, hopefully, generate more foot traffic for them. Voters I spoke with are concerned about the safety of their children due to drivers speeding and driving erratically in their neighborhoods.

In addition to the concerns raised, I think one of our challenges is keeping in the forefront of our thinking and planning is that economic development and infrastructure go hand-in-hand. When we have development of commercial and residential properties, we need to make sure we take into account the influx of traffic that will be generated in and out of these locations. An example of this is on Rogers Road where the new Starbucks, Culver’s Restaurant and Mod Pizza are located. The side road to exit this newly developed complex is Heritage Center Drive where Christian Brothers Automotive is located.  With there being no turn lane, it is nearly impossible to exit this location without fear of being hit by another car from either direction on Rodgers Road. This is the same concern when trying to exit the new Mobile gas station and Sam’s Carwash across the street on Rodgers Road.

These are the everyday types of issues and concerns I hope to address and find attainable solutions when elected as Wake Forest Town Commissioner. For more information on my platform, please stop by my Meet & Greet on Thursday, October 12^th from 6 pm to 8 pm at the Stonegate Clubhouse located at Coach Lantern and Rainey Lake Road.  You may also visit my website at www.BridgetForWakeForest.com.

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Ned Jones: Many of the residents I talk have talked with are concerned with our basic road infrastructure inadequacies which are causing growing traffic problems.

Residents are also concerned with the ongoing growth of Wake Forest. They are concerned with the possible loss of the small town feel we have in Wake Forest and the resulting traffic problems growth causes i.e. see issue #1.

I also had one concern the lack of downtown parking for Wake Forest events.

I also one resident concerned with crime in her neighborhood.

Indeed these are the same issues I see. The challenge will be getting the NC DOT to address our growing road needs. Growth is certain; the challenge for the Wake Forest Board from my prospective will be to manage the growth and maintain the character of the Wake Forest we all love so much. After all that’s why we moved here.

Indeed downtown parking is an issue when events occur; however, is it reasonable to increase parking for just a few events a year? Where would we get it? And at what cost?

The resident concerned with crime, I suggested contacting the Wake Forest Police, Wake Forest’s finest. I believe our police would like to know about such issues. We have one of the finest small town police departments there is.

The challenge for the board for the next four years will be to have the vision to manage the growth and infrastructure needs. We must have a long view when making decisions because their impact will be greatest 10, 20, 30 and event 50 years from now.

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Thad Jusczcak: The problem I hear mentioned most often is “growth,” and by that people usually mean the changes that come with growth. After all, if we weren’t growing, we’d be declining, and that would not be a good thing. By offering a great quality of life, Wake Forest provides people an excellent place to have a home and raise a family. That’s what attracted most of us here in the first place. The Town must figure out how to manage change so that growth can benefit both those who want to move here as well as those of us who are already here. In every decision that supports growth, the Town must identify and relieve (to the extent possible) the changes that come with that growth. So, for example, when the Town approves zoning changes that allow light industry near residential neighborhoods, the Town must also guarantee adequate tree buffering so that the view from those residences will not be the light industry itself.

Another problem I hear is “traffic,” which is usually another way of saying growth. The Town does not have direct control of major roads in Wake Forest, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t work with NCDOT to require traffic impact studies before we approve additional development and to improve existing traffic flow. However, we all must remember that traffic improvements often mean worse traffic in the short-term. Think of the Rogers Road bridge closure. As bad as that closure was, traffic on Rogers Road is now much better with the new bridge.

The other challenge that I see is that the Town is running out of land. So, we must ensure that we use available land for the best benefit of the Town, not just some benefit. We should be asking ourselves whether a proposed development is really the best use we could make of that land. This will be difficult because NC law gives a lot of deference to the land owner.

There are challenges ahead; there always have been. But I think this is a great time to be living in Wake Forest.