Tuesday night, October 8, 2024, the members of the Wake Forest Planning Board voted unanimously to approve both the new downtown plan and the comprehensive overhaul of the Unified Development Ordinance.
After Jack Carso went through all the chapters in the proposed downtown plan, there was some discussion about parking decks.
Matt Davis said it seemed to him there were “an awful lot” of parking decks and Elaine Sheppard said she had seen a lot of comments about the lack of parking during the implementation of the plan. Jennifer Currin, the interim planning director, said there was no timeline for implementation.
There was no public comment. Adam Redler made a motion to approve, Anna Shope seconded and the vote was unanimous.
Jackie Berg also went through the chapters in the proposed UDO, which is ready for adoption. During the months while planning staff and consultants have been working on the changes, Senior Planner Kari Grace has been appearing at the planning board meetings, taking the members through the update chapter by chapter, answering their questions and taking back their comments.
Berg and Grace said the new version requires a high quality for building materials – none of an inferior brand of insulation that Berg said “You could put your fist through,” higher cemetery protection standards, higher tree canopy coverage, new building landscape standards with green infrastructure, a new and lower height allowed for retaining walls, more screening between uses, and an overall higher standard for everything.
Between questions from Davis and Michael Almquist and a couple other boards members, Grace was always up out of her front row seat and standing at the podium. There were questions about density, about buffers between uses, watersheds and appearance.
Grace told Davis that lot size and other requirements limit the number of dwelling units in a given area.
The conservation subdivision model would be required on the two overlay watersheds, but Grace said it could be used anywhere. She also said any house could be a “tiny house” as described in the UDO.
Three town residents had comments. Sam Hodges, president of Church Initiative housed in the former Wake Forest Hospital on South Allen Road, said he was concerned the new UDO would limit their expansion plans in the future on their 5.5-acre lot.
Mary Kitcher said soil testing should be required, citing the chromium and other metals found in the soil on the Joyner property, formerly the Wake Forest Country Club. She also had concerns that existing ponds might be drained or dredged to provide more buildable area.
Ken Christie said his concerns were buffering and the traffic studies. “The town should have more say about how it is used.”
The planning board members resumed discussion about ponds and tree canopy with pauses, and Chair Karin Kuropas began asking who wanted to make a motion. Almquist said his concerns had been answered to his satisfaction.
Finally Davis made a motion to approve, the editor did not hear who made the second, and it was passed unanimously.
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