Tuesday night the Wake Forest Planning Board recommended the town commissioners approve the master plan for the third phase of the Reynolds Mill subdivision without requiring the developer, Orleans Home Builders in Cary, to build Ligon Mill Road across property it does not own to connect to the N.C. 98 Bypass (the Dr. Calvin Jones Highway.)
That connection had been required in March of 2005 when the master plan for the first two phases were approved because, both Planning Director Chip Russell and Assistant Planning Director Chad Sary said, that was the closest road to provide a second access to the subdivision. Its only outside connection was by way of Forbes Road to South Main Street. The connection had to be made before the first 75 homes were complete; the count is now about 71.
In the intervening 10 years, Sary and the staff analysis said, Ligon Mill Road and Caveness Farm Avenue have both been extended to meet at the corner of the property owned by Orleans Home Builders, thereby providing a second access South Main Street and to Capital Boulevard. Orleans asked, and the planning staff recommended, that 2005 requirement be waived and Orleans required to dedicate the entire four-lane width of the future road and build the western two lanes from the Ligon Mill/Caveness intersection to the northern edge of the Orleans property.
The new phase, 69 lots for single-family homes on nearly 20 acres, snuggles up to the already-built part of Reynolds Mill.
The planning board members, despite the recommendation from staff, continued to question the off-site construction across land owned by the Forbes Family Trust. “Why are you giving up that section of road?” Chairman Bob Hill asked. “We are not giving it up. They will have a second access . . . and that road will be built [in the future].”
There were questions about the cost of building the access to the bypass and connecting it – perhaps $1.1 million in 2004 or perhaps the fee would be waived or a recommendation had been made to waive it.
Some questions may have been calmed when Forbes family member said they would dedicate the right-of-way across the land between the subdivision and the bypass, apparently when they decide to sell it for development. “That’s a requirement the town insists on.”
After a motion to deny failed because there was no second, board member Dehaven Fields asked town attorney Tobias Hampson how they should evaluate the findings of fact and the financial obligations. Hampson apparently calmed some fears by saying he was not sure the board had to deal with the financial obligations. He said they should ask if the proposal meets all the four findings of fact: Is it consistent with town plans and policies; does it comply with the Unified Development Ordinance; is there adequate infrastructure; and, will it not be detrimental to other properties or uses?
Hampson also said both town and planning boards are in a “very difficult position,” but if this was a new plan without the old condition, “none of this road [to the bypass] could be required because it is an off-site improvement.”
Planning board member Chuck Moseley said the road to the bypass will be built in the future. “It seems to me that’s the situation’s analysis.”
Grif Bond, another member, said he did not think the plan met numbers one and three, and Steve Stoller said he would question number two. Sary said it did meet all open space requirements.
“Adequate is the key word. From what we’ve heard the infrastructure is now adequate,” Hill said. Ed Gary asked that there be a condition that the amenities center be completed according to the timetable offered by Orleans spokesman Todd Lipschutz and before a certificate of occupancy is issued for homes in phase three.
Colleen Sharpe made the motion with Gary seconding. The vote was six to one with Bond voting no. Members Shirley Sulick and Steve DeRosa were absent.
Two Reynolds Mill residents spoke during the hearing but not about the master plan. Instead Robert S. Anthony and Stan Cherry complained about current conditions. Anthony pointed out the significant narrowing of Forbes Road inside the subdivision and the dirty condition of the pond which will be part of the open space. Cherry said “boulevard” trees hang over Forbes Road, also narrowing it.
“The trees on my lot are not the correct trees approved by the town,” Cherry said. There was a fund to replace the trees, he had heard, and “I would like to have the correct trees on my property.” He also asked about the amenities center – clubhouse and pool – which were approved separately but not yet built.
Lipschutz replied that the amenities center will open in the spring of 2016.
Engineer Michael Allen with Mulkey Engineers said he would work with the town to see if substitute trees were used. “I can work with the town.”
Commissioner Zachary Donahue noted that decreasing the width of a street and trees along the street are traffic-calming methods that can be used in subdivisions.
Commissioner Margaret Stinnett asked about mailboxes, and Sary said the standard now for the U.S. Postal Service is banks of boxes in convenient locations, perhaps in this phase’s pocket park. “I don’t know if they will make an exception.”
