W.C. and Irene Stephenson would be delighted by Wake Forest plan
Monday the Wake County commissioners gave their backing and $12.6 million to develop nine affordable housing developments, one of them in Wake Forest.
The money will be loaned to the developers who will add 920 affordable rental units if they can get tax credits from the N.C. Housing Finance Agency this fall. The rental units will be built in five Raleigh developments, two in Garner, one in Apex and the one in Wake Forest.
That Wake Forest plan is to build 68 units for people 55 and older with rents ranging from $467 to $1,086 on the south side of Durham Road in a project called Crenshaw Trace. There is a long story associated with that land.
The Woda Group won a rezoning to residential mixed use for the 4.2 acres in March 2018. Assistant Planning Director Brendie Vega said today the applicant has not submitted a site plan.
The land has belonged to the Wake Forest Baptist Church since 2005. Before that it was owned by W.C. Stephenson and his wife, Irene, both school teachers who would have been thrilled to give haven to older people with limited means. In January 2005, the Gazette wrote:
“The couple lived in a rambling house on 19 acres on Wake Union Church Road. (The 4 acres were cut off from the rest of their land in the 1930s when Durham Road or its earlier version was built.) They delighted in their home, and for years W.C. maintained a boxwood facing Durham Road that he shaped like a couch. They were also faithful congregants at Wake Forest Baptist Church and told friends and neighbors they wanted to leave their home and land to the church. That is what they did in the wills they made in 1991.
“W.C., also called by his middle name Cecyl, died later that year. Irene’s health began to fail in 1994 and she moved to the Wake Forest Rest Home (later Wake Forest Care Center and now closed). W.C.’s brother, L.K., also called Linwood, Stephenson took over paying her bills and also had her power of attorney.
“The maneuvering for the land began in 1995. According to a court document later filed in Irene’s name, she contracted to sell the land to Ten Oaks Partnership on Aug. 11 of that year.
“There were four partners in Ten Oaks, and two of them were L.K.’s stepdaughter, Donna Pace, and her husband, Robert P. Pace, both of Wake Forest.
“In September of 1995, Irene changed her will, leaving the house and 19 acres to L.K. Donna Pace is his only heir.
“Church members heard about the contract and the new will, and in late April of 1996 the Rev. Dr. Thomas Jackson, then the pastor but now retired, wrote to Robert Pace and asked him not to sell the land for development. Jackson said he had promised W.C. to protect the land from commercial use.
“At about the same time, Hilda Warren and Douglas Leary, the two people who had witnessed the Stephensons’ 1991 wills, went to visit Irene. While they were at the rest home, Irene signed a deed giving the land to the church.
“Shortly afterward, Ten Oaks filed a request to rezone the land (the 19 acres, but the 4 acres were still regarded as part of the whole) for commercial use, but the planning board took no action because there was not a clear title to the land. The request was withdrawn in September.
“On Sept. 6, 1996, the winds of Hurricane Fran toppled an enormous oak onto the house, which had been vacant for two years.
“Ten days later, L.K. filed a civil suit against Wake Forest Baptist Church, Hilda Warren, Hilda’s son, attorney James Warren, and his partner, Michael Perry, Douglas Leary and Dr. Tom Jackson. The suit was brought to overturn the new deed.
“The defendants asked the judge for a summary judgment in their favor, and they won, but L.K. appealed that ruling to the state Court of Appeals. There one of the three judges raised the question of whether the church or its members exerted undue influence on Irene when she signed the deed.
“Irene died in 1997 and L.K. died in 1999, but the legal mechanism ground on until June of 2002 when a trial was finally held before Wake County Superior Court Judge Evelyn Hill to determine whether there was undue influence.
“One of those testifying was Irene’s physician, Dr. A.N. Corpening, who said she was capable of handling her own affairs.
“The jury found for the church, whose members testified to Irene’s desire that the land remain residential.”
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According to the Raleigh News & Observer, “Wake County’s area median income (AMI) is $59,100 for an individual or $84,300 for a family of four. A majority of the units in the nine projects are below 60 percent AMI, meaning one bedrooms would be offered at $877 instead of the fair market rent of $949 or the $1,193 average listed on real estate website Zillow. A one bedroom rent would be $456 for someone making below the 30 percent median income.
“More than 80 percent of the rooms will be available who make 60 percent of Wake County’s AMI, with 15 percent made available for those who make less than 30 percent.
“ “The housing opportunities that have been put forth are indicative of our priorities in terms of serving the most difficult individual to serve. Those individuals that many cities and counties tend to avoid,” said Commissioners Chair Jessica Holmes. “I am very proud of our staff for having the difficult conversation to uplift and advocate for our most vulnerable within our community, not just the easiest to reach population.”
“The Wake County Board of Commissioners voted to raise the property tax rate to generate $15 million for the county’s affordable housing efforts, including the creation of a housing department last year.”
