A proposal to build 95 townhouses on the deadend portion of Forestville Road is on the agenda Tuesday, Dec. 5, when the Wake Forest Town and Planning boards will hold a joint public hearing. The plan is the first time a dog park has been included as an amenity.
Three heirs of Reuben Mills are ready to sell the 14.3 acres that are almost entirely on the north side of Forestville Road – a small slice on the south side will be the dog park. The land and two dilapidated houses have been unused for years. The builder/developer is Forestville Partners LLC – an offshoot of White Oak Properties Inc. in Raleigh – and the project is named Forestville Towns.
This part of Forestville Road has no exit except a short street also called Forestville Road that leads to Rogers Road. CSX rail road closed a crossing on the western end two decades ago and the relocation of Rogers Road around 2000 closed off the eastern end.
The Air Liquide plant and storage tanks are across the street from the project; the developing subdivision Holding Village lies behind the planned townhouses and a small stream, the only residential use near the project. Hillyer Memorial Christian Church in Raleigh owns adjacent land.
The developer has asked for several deviations from the Unified Development Ordinance, including having three entrances, one of them a 24-foot wide alley with curb and gutter. The other two are the only public street which forms a U through the middle of the property. The townhouses will also be served by the private alleys which are wider than the town requires.
The land is currently zoned rural holding district and is outside town limits. The request is for conditional mixed use residential zoning.
Because the hearing is for a general rezoning interested people can speak without giving sworn testimony.
People may also speak about the second agenda item, a rezoning to conditional use neighborhood business requested by Optimal Equity Corporation of Wake Forest. Donna M. Broom of Townsville is the owner and the 2.2 acres are across Forestville Road from Heritage High School.
The planning board meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the second-floor meeting room in town hall on Brooks Street. The town board will have a work session in the same room two hours earlier at 5:30 p.m. All town board and planning board meetings are open to the public except for special closed sessions the town board takes.
