Tuesday was a rough night for developers. First the Kinsley developer, Entitlement Preservation Group from Pittsboro, asked that the project be withdrawn from the agenda. Then Wake Preparatory Academy, planned for a site across from Joyner Park on Harris Road, had its site plan and subdivision plan rejected on split planning board votes.
Mayor Vivian Jones stood as the joint meeting of the town board and planning board opened and said the applicant for Case RZ-19-02, the Kinsley subdivision, had asked the item be removed from the agenda. She recommended the town commissioners remove the item, which they did. Further, the mayor said there were two or three people in the audience who had come to speak about Kinsley. The town attorney had spoken with them and they agreed with having the rezoning case removed from the agenda. Jones told those people the town will be in touch with them when the case is again on the planning board agenda. She also strongly recommended the applicant consider holding another neighborhood meeting since the project has been greatly changed since the original meeting.
The reason for the withdrawal probably was that the planning staff and Senior Planner Patrick Reidy said in their report that they found seven instances in which the plan for the subdivision was not consistent with town policies. Also, the report said, since the plan was first submitted and since the neighborhood meeting in October of 2019, the number of single-family homes had decreased from 372 to 225 and the number of townhouses had increased from 392 to 566. “The Developer declined to hold another neighborhood meeting.”
Kinsley was being planned for both sides of North Main Street, on the Calvin Ray property on the west side and on the Owen Wadford land on the east side, about 203 acres.
The planned charter school public hearing was held in September under the quasi-judicial format, meaning that the applicant had to prove he had met four findings of fact: #1 That the plan is consistent with the adopted plans and policies of the town; #2 The plan complies with all applicable requirements of the Wake Forest Unified Development Ordinance; #3 There exists adequate infrastructure (transportation & utilities) to support the plans as proposed; #4 The application will not be detrimental to the use or development of adjacent properties or other neighborhood uses.
Planning board members asked that the hearing be postponed until October to give them time to review all the documentation and public comments.
Member Colleen Sharpe led off the discussion listing all the many ways she found that the applicant had not met those requirements. She and others were concerned that the two parcels of land on either side of the charter school could not be developed. Also, the applicant “is not putting in the required improvements we would ordinarily require.” The reason for that lies in a decision or law passed by the General Assembly. “We the taxpayers are going to end up paying for it,” Sharpe said.
The motions to deny the site and then the subdivision were 4 to 3.
One Response
Please, for the love of Pete, NO MORE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS approved! We have so so many houses already approved to be built and quality of life has long since left this town. You are only doing more irreparable damage with each new development.