“I hate this process,” Commissioner Chad Sary said, beginning the Wake Forest Town Board discussion about the rezoning of the 36-acre Wellington Mobile Home Park from rural holding district to conditional general residential 10 to allow Middleburg Communities to build 260 rental units – single-family homes and duplexes – on land now owned by former Wake Forest mayor George Mackie Jr.
The town commissioners felt backed into a corner because Mackie sent eviction notices to the 47 families then living in Wellington, and the remaining 27 families – many have already left – have voted to not fight the rezoning and accept the $375,000 Middleburg has promised.
“If this is denied, it will mean no financial help,” Sary said, for the families will have to leave [Wellington] because Mackie is closing the park. “It could have been handled in a much better way. That being said, on this board, I think all of us try to make the right decisions. It’s never easy, and I personally never had to face anything like this.”
The commissioners and mayor were greeted at town hall by about 40 Wellington residents and their supporters, and many were in the room for the town board meeting.
After Sary, Commissioner Bridget Wall-Lennon spoke at length, describing how she had spoken with county and state officials about the Wellington situation, met with the residents at their weekly Tuesday evening meetings and at other times, and met with the staff of Triangle Family Services.
“I had attended meetings over the past three months in Raleigh to try and identify resources for the residents of Wellington Park,” Wall-Lennon said. “I worked with Jason Pfitzer of Middleburg Communities, Wake County’s Affordable Housing Department and Triangle Family Services to identify and put in writing eligible relocation direct payments and reimbursable expenses for the residents.”
She read a list of the eligible expenses that would be directly paid or reimbursed for the resident’s relocation. That list included closing costs for a new home, rent in a mobile home park, utility costs, moving services, truck rental, hotel or motel bills, pet boarding, storage unit rent and others.
She also helped arrange for gas, food and grocery cards each worth as much as $500 each per family for the incidental home search and moving expenses. And Triangle Family Services will have a staff member dedicated to helping the residents as they move.
The developer’s construction plans will not be approved until the residents receive the help they were promised, Wall-Lennon said.
“I wanted to publicly share this with the residents in hopes that it gives you some sense of comfort or confidence that we have done all that we knew to do in this particular situation,” she said. “My heart aches for you. I’m sorry this has come down to this, but I do wish you all the best.”
“I was disappointed that we were even placed in this situation,” Commissioner Adam Wright said. “I hope that we never have to be in anything like it ever again. My heart goes out to all the residents.”
Commissioner Jim Dyer said he wanted the residents to know that the commissioners had read every email and every note from the residents. “We do care.”
“This project has been distressing for all of us,” Mayor Vivian Jones said. “Because of comments made at the public hearing, I would like to point out that the person getting the most benefit from this deal is the owner of the property. And this is perfectly fine because he owns the land and he has a right to do what he wants to with his land. And I want to point out that none of us know whether or not he participated in helping the residents. We don’t know that.
“I think it is important however that we recognize that Jason (Pfitzer) with Middleburg Communities has worked hard to put this together in a way that would impact the residents as little as possible,” she continued. “No, he may not have done everything we would like and he may not have done everything in the manner we might like, but looking back on my experience with developers, I believe he has done more than most do. I think it would be unkind and inappropriate to cast him or Middleburg has the bad guy in this situation. I hope that we can go forward and work together.”
The vote to approve the rezoning was unanimous.
In other business, the board:
— changed the one-way direction of traffic on South College Street and West Owen Avenue from eastward to westward.
— approved a contract with Freese and Nichols for $269,966 for an assessment of the town’s stormwater system and the development of a fee system to sustain the system. Wake Forest has a system of underground pipes that receive stormwater from the drains along its streets and sends it to outfalls on various creeks.
— were introduced to two new employees. Joseph Guckavan Jr. is the new director of engineering and Samantha Sanchez is the new assistant finance director.
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4 Responses
Mackie owns the land. He should be able to do what he wants to with the land. Half the people crying and moaning about the re-zoning have land they could allow a mobile home to be placed on. I know a lady down the road with several acres, her acres do not have any laws against trailers- she is judging Mackie and the rezoning- -but she is not offering to allow them to come to her land.— You want to dictate what Mackie does with his land, offer up your own land. Dig deep into your pocket. Quit digging into Mackie’s pockets- If you are on the board, or in the community and you have a problem with what a citizen does with his own land- give your -own- house and land to someone- that is the right thing to do.
The work that Commissioner Wall-Lennon did on this particular issue was outstanding. That is a great example of going above and beyond. Kudos to her for her time and efforts.
I did some searching and found it is hard to find an instance where a community being uprooted from a place long established, that was afforded more accommodations and compensation. I wonder if this precedent will be retroactive to citizens who suffered similar fates in the past.
Thank you Commissioner Bridget Wall-Lennon for all of the helpful services you researched and provided for the Wellington Park residents. I hope this support takes away even a small amount of the burden they face.