Tuesday night the Wake Forest Planning Board members voted six to one with Grif Bond dissenting to recommend full approval of the revised master plan for the Glen Oaks subdivision in Franklin County. The Wake Forest commissioners will make the final decision on Sept. 18.
Several people spoke against the subdivision which is immediately south of the large-lot Rolling Acres subdivision. Mark Rider said the developer, The Nau Company, removed the townhouses in the original plan and reduced the size of the single-family lots that abut his property. “There is no precedence for lots this small.”
Jim Bell, who recently bought property in Rolling Acres, complained about the road stubbed to his property line. “I see it as an invite for anyone to come right onto our property.” Later the developer’s spokesperson, David Arnold, agreed not to pave that stub but to keep it wooded as part of the 25-foot undisturbed buffer this revised plan calls for on the northern and eastern sides.
Arnold, when he made a statement before the open comment period, said the off-site costs are driving the need for the maximum homes and smaller lots – 268 lots. Those off-site costs include Raleigh water and sewer. Because there is no waterline available for the subdivision, the developer has to pay to build a new line north on Wall Road and then Capital Boulevard. A sewer analysis showed the existing system will not support the new customers so the developer has to pay to upgrade sewer lines. Arnold said it will cost about $1 million “to make the site viable.” He said they were trying to provide affordable housing.
Between May when the Wake Forest town commissioners voted against the first Glen Oaks master plan and rezoning and now, an abandoned family or neighborhood cemetery was discovered on the land. Researcher Deborah Joy with Legacy Research Associates in Durham used various methods, including ground-penetrating radar, to determine there are 28 marked and unmarked grave site, most in an east-west orientation, on the site. The graves, names unknown, will remain undisturbed, and the developer will preserve the site and turn it over to the future homeowners association for preservation, including fencing and maintenance.
Brenda Thorne objected to the closeness of several homes to that cemetery site. “The houses are just jampacked on that cemetery.” She also questioned whether the HOA would be able to maintain the cemetery and whether it would attract children and teens. She also compared Glen Oaks on one side of Capital Boulevard to another subdivision on the other side that has large lots and several amenities.
Thorne was told that cemeteries are protected and it is a criminal act to deface or vandalize a cemetery however old.
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In other action, the planning board
*approved several amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance, including one that will remove the Manual of Specifications, Standards and Design so that it can be updated without requiring an amendment to the UDO
*another amendment will allow for homes to be built that are not on a public road, leading to “cottage homes” and other, more flexible methods of providing housing. They will have to be in a planned unit development or another conditional zoning district.
*approved a rezoning of 21 acres at O One World Way to light industrial. Craig Moffat, who owns several other properties in the South Forest Industrial Park, said it seemed to be consistent with surrounding properties.
*approved a rezoning and master plan for 25.15 acres on Averette Road – the Flynn properties – which will become part of the Tryon subdivision with 72 single-family lots.
Two adjoining property owners, Jim Burson and Paul Eitel, asked that stubs to their property lines be instead converted to cul-de-sacs. Tommy Craven, speaking for the developer, said those could be difficult, particularly the one to the south, Eitel’s property. After planning board member Chuck Moseley including a condition in his motion to approve the project, a discussion ensued during which it was determined the right condition would be in place for the town board’s meeting on Sept. 18.
