The Wake Forest Town Board work session Tuesday evening, March 1, had a short agenda with only a request to waive the fee at the Renaissance Centre for the Launch Wake Forest class graduation and several text amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance. Then at the end of the meeting, Mayor Vivian Jones brought out a letter from the state Department of Transportation and a request.
The town, along with other towns along the S-Line, the CSX Railroad line from the Virginia state line to Raleigh which NCDOT is purchasing, has been meeting with NCDOT about a grant to do some pre-engineering for the line, specifically for a potential hub where all the mobility modes can meet – rail, bus, personal car, etc. It is a matching grant which means the communities have to agree to pay part of the cost, in Wake Forest’s case $190,000, though Jones said there is no requirement to pay for a couple years and the money has to be spent by 2031.
But also, Jones said, people from NCDOT called yesterday and asked if Wake Forest would be the sponsor for the grant because there are restrictions on the number of grants that can be requested by NCDOT in certain time limits.
“They are going to do all the work,” Jones said, and the commissioners voted unanimously for the project, the sponsorship and the money.
Brad Walker with Wake Forest Rotary is in charge of Launch Wake Forest, which is in its fifth year and has 15 students this year. The commissioners agreed to waive the fee because the Town of Wake Forest is one of the sponsors.
Planner Dylan Bruchhaus explained the various changes in the UDO, which included requiring that all sides of a parking structure facing a street shall have screening to hide the cars from view or they can be screened by another building. Another, spurred by inquiries, added the use of indoor recreational facilities to the permitted uses in a light industrial district. There were several changes in bicycle parking, changing it to short and long term parking and more clearly specifying the standards for each type. Another change was in the specific directions about how off-street parking areas should be marked.
Another change corrects an oversight and states that “the sunshine list is the Level 1 public notification.” The sunshine list says that “pending applications or meetings must be advertised by a posting in town hall, on the town’s website and notice of such a meeting shall be mailed, e-mailed or delivered to each person or media provider that has requested such notice.” A public comment notification is required for every amendment to the Comprehensive Plan.
The changes also spell out how the planning board shall submit its recommendations to the town board. If the planning board has not submitted its recommendation about a matter within 45 days the town board can take up the matter without recommendation.
The town board approved all the changes.
#
