Imagine Cary, Art and the Downtown Park

Imagine Cary - or imagine what Cary could become if we let the new-urbanists ruin it. That was my take from the Summit on the Future event held at Embassy Suites.

The Summit was our first crack at gathering community input as we work towards the new Cary Community Plan.

Somebody thought it would be a good idea to invite Mr. Chris Leinberger to serve as the keynote speaker of the event. Mr. Leinberger, a Brookings Fellow, is a developer who specializes in progressive, high density, transit oriented new-urbanism development. Mr. Leinberger also serves as the President of LOCUS. LOCUS is a national coalition of real estate developers and investors whose job it is to lobby federal and state governments for policies that support sustainable, walkable, transit oriented urban development. In a nutshell, Mr. Leinbergermakes his living off of the development of high density new-urban communities. Sounds just like Cary right?

On three separate occasions, Mr. Leinberger presented his vision to approximately 750 members of our community. Needless to say it was an incredibly biased and one sided vision. Following each presentation participants were then push-polled regarding a number of topics to include growth, taxes, transit, affordable housing and density. I have a hard time putting much faith in the data collected given the manner in which we collected that information.

During one of Mr. Leinberger’s presentations he actually compared suburbia (74% of Cary housing BTW) to an X-rated movie theater. Seriously.

What angers me the most about Mr. Leinberger’s presentation is that from the beginning of this process I have made it crystal clear to town staff and the consultant team that I expect balance in any information we disseminate to the public. I stated on numerous occasions that if we have someone speak to the benefits of, say, transit for example, we also discuss the negatives such as cost implications or change in character of the community. We got none of that. All we got was, “all the cool kids are doing rail so you have to do rail also.”

They didn’t listen. So now the council has asked for a worksession with staff and the consultant team to discuss and iron out our concerns prior to continuing with the process.

It’s a shame. But other than the Leinberger disaster the event was very well done. Ms. Leigh Ann King’s presentation regarding the demographics and trends in Cary was very informative. I even learned a few things I didn’t already know; such as more Cary residents travel to Raleigh for work than RTP or that more people come to Cary for their job than leave Cary. Interesting stuff. We needed more of that and a lot less Leinberger.

Another fun topic of discussion this week was the firesculpture at the corner of Academy and Dry/Kildaire across from the Cary Arts Center.

It’s the thing that looks like an old burnt up out-building with a gaping crack down its side.

While the weeklong process to construct and ultimately fire the sculpture was a wonderful community event, that event ended months ago and we are now left with a “sculpture” that is entirely out of place at its current location.

The piece also sits on what will be Cary’s future town square once the downtown park is constructed – which leads one to question why a permanent installation of this magnitude was recommended at this location to begin with.

The council voted 6-1 to direct staff to relocate the piece to a more suitable location.

And speaking of the downtown park, the council has also asked for another worksession on the topic to further discuss our intentions and vision for the park prior to awarding any contract for design and construction services.

I continue to support the public library and seven acre park concept as originally approved by council in 2009. This concept honors the intent of a large central park in Cary’s downtown while also providing for public uses that will compliment and add value to the surrounding community. It indicated a town square, water features and an outdoor amphitheater area along with areas for public art… temporary of course.

National Night Out and National Train Day in downtown were both a huge success and thank goodness the weather cooperated. Hopefully it does the same for next weekend’s Wheels on Academy Car Show. Now thats my kind of art. See you there!

Park It

For over a decade now the town has planned for a destination park in Cary’s downtown.

The downtown park site is the property surrounded by Academy, Park, Walker and Walnut Streets and totals nearly 14 acres. Two historic home sites also occupy this property, and the Mayton Inn Hotel project will be located on the park site as well at the corner of Park and Academy Street. This leaves about 10 ½ acres for development of a town center park.

Countless hours and a thorough community input process went into planning for the downtown park. The Town Center Area Plan, the Town CenterCivic and Cultural Arts Study, the Downtown Streetscape Plan and the Town Center Park Plan all reflect those efforts and calls for a large downtown park and town square.

Here are a couple of examples of past plans.

 

The town has now assembled nearly all the property necessary for the development of the town center park, and you the voters approved the Parks and Rec bond this past fall providing an additional $2 million in funding for park design and construction.

So we’re finally ready to build the park right?

Nope. :-(

Cary’s Downtown Development Manager, Ed Gawf wanted to “take one last look” at the park site, or “opportunity site” as he calls it. Eight urban planners, landscape architects, developers and the like were brought in from out of town for a “charette”. A charette is a fancy word for a group of folks coming together to plan or design. They were in town for two days to brainstorm ideas.

What they came up with resembled nothing like the previous park plans.

The “charette team’s” suggestion is a measly 3-4 acre urban park surrounded by development on all four sides of the park site. There would be 4-5 entrances into the park in between buildings and no town square.

Charette Team Concept



This is NOT the park that was promised and sold to the community.

The town spent over $8 million to acquire the downtown park property from landowners. We used public funds to acquire private land to provide for a public use – a park; not to assemble land for development.

In fact, going back to 2001 I can only find two instances where the council supported any development on the town center park site - one was a library (public use) and the other the Performing Arts Center (public use). Even with those two proposals, the park still consumed the majority of the site. The only retail or residential uses that I recall being discussed were considered as a means to “hide” a parking structure that a new regional library or the performing arts center would require.

Downtown Park with Regional Library Concept

What is the rush to develop this site anyways? Town investment was meant to motivate private investment. It seems we are putting the cart before the horse by not giving the private sector time to react. Previous plans envisioned properties across the street from the park redeveloping as folks would want to locate near the park. Shouldn’t we at least give that a chance to happen?

And if assembling land is such an impediment to redevelopment – which it is - shouldn’t the council have that discussion? Seriously, let’s have an honest conversation about it and see what our options are - but this just feels like a bait and switch.

If your ONLY goal for the park is to redevelop downtown then the charette team’s plan probably makes sense to you. I however, don’t recall that being the park’s primary purpose. Sure, we hope that it encourages redevelopment, but we also intended to preserve and protect what little bit of green space we have left downtown – very similar to the debate regarding the Dix property in Raleigh. Once this green space is gone, it will be gone forever….unless of course the town wanted to buy it and turn it into a park…again….

The park will provide public space for community events, festivals and outdoor concerts downtown. An outdoor amphitheater with water features and a sculpture garden is envisioned. With less than 1.5% of the land downtown being public space, area residents are far underserved when compared to other communities.

We also intended the downtown park to serve as a park for all Cary residents – not just those fortunate enough to live or work in the proposed buildings around the park. Look at the charette team’s concept again – does that feel like a Cary park or a private park to you? As the number of residents downtown increases, the need for park space will be even greater.

While I appreciate the charette team’s efforts to take one last look at this site, after reviewing previous plans and community input it is clear that we got it right the first time - a large central park in Cary's downtown.

This council has an opportunity to do something remarkable by preserving as much of the park site as possible. I hope we make the right decision.

Please let the council know your thoughts by contacting us at council@townofcary.org

Our Water Tower Town

I love what gets folks fired up in this town – it speaks to who we are – what are values are.

I’m sure that by now everyone has heard of the town’s intentions to remove the iconic water tower at Cary High School. I am sure that you have heard about it because we are hearing from you…a lot of you. Emails, a petition, phone calls and even folks coming by the shop to talk about it. You are upset. This is important to you.

When I first learned of this in a staff meeting a couple of weeks ago I too was shocked. “No way!” I said. “That tower means so much to the Cary High community – folks will be very upset”. “Why?”

And then town staff explained why.

The tower has reached the end of its life cycle. The steel is rusting and the costs to repair and repaint the structure are not cost effective when compared to the construction and lifespan of a new tower. The town’s needs have also changed since this tower was constructed 50 years ago. The town now needs a million gallon tank to better serve existing residents and plan for future demands (the existing tank is 500,000 gallons). The existing tower site cannot accommodate a larger structure. The town has acquired a site behind East Cary Middle that can accommodate the new tower and plans to begin construction in the next 3-4 years.

We also cannot just empty it and leave it. Believe it or not the tower needs the weight of the water to help hold it down. An empty water tower in a hurricane would be bad.

This is the most cost effective and fiscally responsible manner in which to proceed.

But it’s pretty darn tough to put a price on who we are.

Given the community feedback (Love ya’ll CHS family! ;-) and that we do have a lot of time to work on this, that’s what we are going to do. The town will be exploring options that could possibly include keeping the tank or possibly an alternate display of the class of 20XX.

Keep in mind that with alternatives to that which professional engineers deem most efficient might come cost. How much is keeping the tower worth to you? And do you think the parents of Green Hope High School seniors want to help pay for you to keep it? ;-)

My lovely wife, Lisa and five of our six children graduated from Cary High School. Liz will be the class of 2019. It just wouldn’t be the same if that tower wasn’t there…

It is kinda funny though. Propose a new tower in a neighborhood and folks will protest it. Propose taking an old tower out, and they protest it. I love this job ;-)

Hang in there folks, we’ll give it our best and if any of you creative folks have an idea, please let us know.

Week in Review - 10/20/12-10/27/12

Our town council meeting this week was a long one. The good news is that we had a number of public hearings and rezonings – things seem to be picking up a bit.

Notable discussion and decision items included:

Consideration of a rezoning and preliminary development plan approval for a senior life care community located off of Cary Towne Blvd. adjacent to Cary Town Center Mall and Triangle Aquatics Center. Geared towards seniors ages 55 and older, the proposed facility includes 128 units and would also provide a number of life care services to include cooking, cleaning, laundry, transportation and even a barber shop/hair salon. The site’s proximity to services, schools, and parks also make this an ideal location for such a facility.

With Cary’s booming senior population – our fastest growing demographic - the facility helps to fill a growing demand in our community and also allows Cary seniors to remain in town and close to their families. The council unanimously approved the request.

There was however an associated roadway improvement waiverrequest that was denied 6-1. I was the one.

The Town of Cary’s Land Development Ordinance (LDO) requires that developers mitigate the impact they create on Cary’s road network. In this case, the developer would be required to construct 600 linear feet of an additional lane of roadway and sidewalk along Cary Towne Blvd, OR provide a payment-in-lieu of $244,897.50 because Cary Town Blvd. is shown on our transportation plan to be a six lane median divided roadway.

The reasoning behind the waiver request was that, well, seniors don’t drive all that much and that the facility provides a number of services on site to include shuttle bus services that would take residents anywhere they needed to go.

I supported the waiver request because I didn’t believe a few more seniors in their Buicks and a shuttle bus were creating a $250,000 impact to Cary Towne Blvd.

Next on our agenda was a public hearing for a multi-family townhome project on the Herndon Burt Property located at the intersection of Hwy 55 and Turner Creek Road. A large number of residents from the Harmony and Chesney Glen communities attended the meeting to express their opposition to the project as currently proposed. After conducting the public hearing it was clear that there is still a lot of work to do and we encouraged the applicant to continue to work with existing residents to address their concerns.

The council also held a quasi-judicial hearing to consider an appeal of administrative denial of the Lynch Parcel Subdivision located between Bishop’s Gate subdivision and Westwood Baptist Church. Being a quasi-judicial hearing, this one’s pretty complicated – I’ll do my best to keep it simple ;-)

The applicant proposes 38 single family homes on roughly 20 acres of land that is divided by Crabtree Creek. Cary’s connectivity ordinance requires this subdivision to connect to the Bishop’s Gate subdivision and the church. Connecting to the Bishop’s Gate subdivision would require crossing Crabtree Creek.

Crossing the creek to connect both subdivisions would require raising the creek bed 18 feet and installing 100 foot of 72” pipe. This would take over 1200 cubic yards of fill and impact over ½ acre of wetlands. A significant number of champion trees and vegetation would also be lost…all for a road that would see very little if any vehicular traffic.

Due to the significant environmental impacts and costs associated with the stream crossing, the council supported the applicant’s appeal of Cary’s connectivity ordinance. The developer will however construct greenway connections between the subdivisions and also pedestrian access to the church.

Last but not least was consideration of a Request for ReviewComments from Wake County on a Swift Creek Land Management Plan Variance. In a nutshell, a Dutchman Downs and Wake County resident wanted to install a pool in their backyard. Wake County approved the pool permit under the stipulation that after construction the impervious surface of the site be at or below the 12% threshold as recommended by the Swift Creek Land Management Plan (SCLMP). Pre-pool construction the site was 14.2% impervious. After pool construction and removal of a parking pad/turn around area, the site is now 13.9% impervious – less than before construction but still higher than the 12% recommended by the SCLMP. The SCLMP also recommends connection to municipal sewer for properties that go above the 12% threshold.

The homeowner has asked Wake County for a variance to increase impervious surface area to 13.9% and a waiver from connection to Cary sewer. Wake County was asking for our opinion on the request since the property is in Cary’s planning jurisdiction.

Cary staff were supportive of the variance to allow impervious area of 13.9% provided that the homeowner install a stormwater management device (BMP) but were recommending the sewer connection.

The council unanimously supported the waiver from connecting to Cary sewer as the nearest connection was over 200 feet away and would cost the homeowner over $20,000 to construct. The council was divided 4-3 however on whether or not to support the 13.9% variance without construction of a BMP.

I supported the waiver without the BMP requirement as the site is less impervious than it was before pool construction, and quite frankly, I couldn’t understand why the pool couldn’t qualify as a BMP. I mean, the water that rains into it stays in it right? ;-) To me this is another case of unreasonable regulation – the homeowner made his property more environmentally friendly yet it isn’t good enough for government. I am so surprised…..

This past Saturday I had the privilege of attending Cary VFWPost 7383’s Inaugural open house with Mayor Weinbrecht and Councilman Jack Smith. This was a wonderful event to honor our veterans, active military personnel and their families. The event even included a classic car show and silent auction. Being parents of two sons in the Army – one deployed in Afghanistan and one in Alaska – we can’t thanks the folks at the VFW enough for all they do to support our past and present military service men and women. It was an honor to be in their presence.

Council member Jennifer Robinson and I taped the November episode of Cary Matters this past week. Jennifer wrote the script and did a great job. The main topic was Cary’s Land Use Plan Update/Visioning process which we are calling the Cary Community Plan. Cary’s current plan was adopted in 1996, and while we have made some tweeks to the plan over the years to keep up with changing economic conditions and development patterns, a lot has changed since then and the council felt it was time to undertake a more comprehensive view of the town’s plans for the next 20 years. There will be A LOT of opportunity for citizens to participate in the process. If you would like to participate – and we know you do! – Please visit the town’s website here to learn more and make sure to submit an application by November 30^th.

Lisa and I attended a fundraiser for Gubernatorial Candidate Pat McCrory on Friday with special guest New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. We have known and supported Pat for a number of years now and we are so excited for him to be North Carolina’s next Governor! The highlight of the event however was getting to meet Governor Christie (sorry Pat! ;-). While I don’t agree with him on every issue (gun control for example), I respect the heck out of anyone who’s not afraid to call it like they see it, regardless of political consequences. He has demonstrated the courage to make difficult choices no matter how unpopular that decision may be. He’s also a pretty funny speaker – we had a great time.

I attended a meeting between Silverton residents and Singh Development regarding a development proposal at the corner of Cary Parkway and Evans Road. If this sounds familiar that’s because it is – Singh has been working to develop this site since before I joined the council in 2007 and has offered a number of different development plans over the years – the last of which was a mixed use plan that appeared to have majority community support. Unfortunately however the economic recession and the development of Park West down the street appear to have sunk that plan. Singh is now proposing an all residential upscale multi-family project. While I did prefer the mixed-use plan, I fully understand the impact of Park West on the viability of a commercial product at this location, and the last thing Silverton area residents want is a bunch of vacant commercial buildings.

The greatest concern appeared to be the required widening of Evans Road and associated median installation and vehicular turning restrictions. The residents see no need for the widening of Evans Road and prefer to see it stay as-is. I informed them that the developer could apply for a waiver and/or dedicate the right-of-way and offer a payment-in-lieu instead. That way “if” the town ever wanted to widen the road, we would have the necessary right-of-way and funding to cover this section of Evans.

Well that’s about all for this past week. As always, thanks for reading!

October 2012

Sorry I haven’t blogged in a while; life has been busy. We also went on vacation – first one we’ve taken in years. We took the family and a few of their friends to Topsail beach. I didn’t turn on a computer, check email, text or voice messages for almost a week. It was nice.

We surfed fished, ate killer food (LOVE fresh flounder and swordfish!), played with the dogs (they love the big pond and chasing birds ;-) and just relaxed on the beach with a margarita or few. Good times. Now we just need a vacation to recuperate from our vacation ;-)

While the beach was nice, I’m glad to be home…until I checked email that is; 397 of them. Yay…;-) I’m caught up on most everything now except blogging so here we go!

Council Meeting – 10/11/12: Notable discussion items included the purchase and conveyance of property for economic development – downtown hotel, Bees, sound level increase for three shows at Koka Booth Amphitheater and electronic gaming.

Property buy and sell for ED – downtown hotel: This one’s kinda complicated, so I’ll do my best to keep it simple. The owners of the King’s Daughter’s Inn in Durham want to construct and operate a 46 room boutique hotel in downtown Cary at the corner of Park and Academy. We want them to do this as well. The town owns two of the three lots needed to construct the hotel and rehab two historic structures – the Waldo Rood House and the Mayton House.  We acquired the third lot and then sold all three lots to the owners of the hotel. They agree to construct and operate the hotel AND restore the two historic homes which will be incorporated into the project. The hotel will have a restaurant and bar and the “backyard” will be the downtown park.

 

A great example of a public/private partnership; we assist them them with financing the project (the town gets paid for the property at a rate of 6%) and they construct and operate a significant investment which will serve as a catalyst for our downtown revitalization efforts, generate tax revenue and create jobs.

The council also unanimously approved the bid award for the downtown Cary theater project.

While maybe not as sexy as chickens ;-) the council approved an ordinance allowing for the keeping of bees in Cary. Kinda similar to what we did for chickens – limits on # of hives, set-backs, stupid $50 fee, etc…

We also agreed to increase the sound levels FOR THREE EVENTS at Koka Booth Amphitheater for next season. The last sound level increase to 95 db last year seemed to work out ok and the thought is that by allowing three shows to go to 98 db might help us land even better acts and increase revenues and reduce taxpayer subsidy.

I had a great time meeting with Kingswood Elementary 3^rd graders to talk about local government and more specifically, why government works better when multiple opinions are considered; “Why do we have seven members on the town council and not just one person calling all of the shots?” “Good question”, I said. “It would be so much simpler if the others just stayed home and let me handle everything” ;-) Kidding!....sort of…..;-)

The council held a worksession to discuss future traffic improvements at the intersection of Cary Parkway and High House. Yes, we’ve been working on this one for a while now. Staff presented additional options for improvements to include everything from turn lanes to three roundabouts – three lane roundabouts at that. The council agreed to direct staff to move forward with plans that include additional turn lanes and is sensitive to existing structures and landscaping.

We also held a session with board and commission members to receive their annual reports and say “thank you” for everything they do to make Cary an even better place to live. The manner in which the boards presented their reports was very creative and entertaining. The planning and zoning board, for example, decided to sing their report – I’ll leave it at that. ;-) Council members served as wait staff with each of us responsible for serving two tables. We all had a good time while learning about the work and accomplishments of all our boards and commissions.

Cary Community Investment Bonds: A number of folks have inquired about the bonds. I would encourage all of you to visit the Town’s bond website here to learn more about the three separate bond referendums that will be on this November’s ballot; fire, transportation and parks and recreation.

Bottom line is that all three bond referendums total $80 million. If approved by you, the voters, taxes will increase 2 cents in 2013 and 2 cents in 2015. If the referendum(s) fail, it is unlikely that any of the proposed projects will be completed in the next 3-5 years.

So again, please visit the bond website to learn more about the specific projects and financial impact to you, the taxpayer and please VOTE on November 6^th.

I also wanted to comment on the firing of Wake County Public Schools Superintendent, Tony Tata. This was an epic failure of board leadership.

Superintendent Tata was removed from his post for doing nothing wrong other than having been hired by the previous school board majority. This was political payback. Tata is a leader who achieved a number of successes in a very short period of time; he brought calm to an angry and divided community, student achievement is up and he worked to improve special needs services just to name a few.

Superintendent Tata’s achievements in what could easily be described as a hostile environment earned him the respect and support of parents, students, teachers and community partners.

From the News and Observer: School board members Hill and Sutton stated the problems with Tata included his inability to bridge the partisan gap on the board. Are you kidding me? It is Tata’s fault that board members can’t put partisanship aside and work together??? Hill and Sutton (and all the board members for that matter) need look no further than a mirror to see what many of the board’s problems are.

I have yet to speak to any teachers or parents who are pleased with the decision. I have spoken with many who are angry – very angry. One teacher told me, and I quote,“No superintendent has done more for teachers and students in such a short amount of time than Superintendent Tata.”

Tata’s only fault that I can see is that he wasn’t a yes-man – something most folks look for in a leader. If we could afford it, our daughter would be in private school yesterday.

That's all for now. As always, thanks for reading!

8/23/12 Council Meeting and Lazy Daze

Our last council meeting was a long one – six public hearings, a special recognition, Ed’s swearing in, and chickens - and we had to take a new group photo. Yay....

The town council had the pleasure of honoring Cary’s own Sue Rowland, who was recently named the 2012 North Carolina Association of Municipal Clerks Clerk of the Year! This of course comes as no surprise to any of us who have worked with Sue as we are all well aware of her talents and commitment to excellence. I swear I don’t know how we could do our job without her. Congratulations Sue!

Its official - Ed Yerha is a Cary Town Councilman. Ed, with his wife, Carolyn by his side was sworn into office at the beginning of our meeting by our town clerk, Sue Rowland. And what a first meeting right? Chickens and protest petitions, woo hoo! All kidding aside, Congratulations Ed!

Notable public hearings included:

Cary’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Master Plan. You can view the staff report here and the complete plan as proposed here. A number of citizens spoke in favor of the plan. The plan now goes to our Planning and Zoning Board for review and input before final council approval in a couple of months.

Rezoning for Village at the Park: The proposed rezoning would modify a previously approved phasing plan for Phase 3 and Phase 4 of the project. Phase four includes 95,000 sq. ft. of commercial use, 88,000 sq. ft. of office, and 45 multi-family units. Prior to development of phase four, the developer must also widen Kitt Creek Road, Green Level Church Road and Hwy 55 along the property’s frontage. The developer however is only looking to construct 17,000 sq. ft. of the 95,000 sq. ft. allowed. They requested breaking phase four up into two phases – 4a. which includes the 17,000 sq. ft. of commercial and requires the developer widen Kitt Creek Road and Hwy 55, and 4b. which includes the remaining commercial, office and residential uses and requires the developer widen Green Level Church Road. The council unanimously approved the request.

Rezoning for Weston PDD: This request would amend the previously approved PPD to allow for a wellness center as a permitted use in the office district. A few folks, including an adjoining business owner spoke in opposition to the request. This kind of surprised me as I consider a wellness/fitness center to be a good use in an office park for obvious reasons – but I appreciate and understand some of the concerns presented.

Special Use Permit, Preston Golf Course: This request was to approve grading revisions in the FEMA designated flood plain on the Prestonwood Highlands Course. During the maintenance and renovations of two golf course greens, Prestonwood inadvertently altered the grades a whopping .3 feet from what previously existed. Now, not only must Prestonwood obtain FEMA, state and federal approval, but town council approval as well. This was a total waste of time, and yet another example of government regulation run amuck. Lord knows how much all of this cost…

Chickens: Cary residents who live on single family home lots can now keep a limited number of backyard hens PROVIDED THAT YOU DO NOT LIVE IN A COMMUNITY WITH HOA COVENANTS THAT PROHIBIT IT. HOA COVENANTS TRUMP TOWN CODE. I highly recommend you visit Cary’s Chicken FAQ page here and inquire with your HOA (if you have one) about any restrictions prior to getting chickens. DO NOT contact the town to complain that your HOA will not allow you to keep chickens – it is out of our control. YOU agreed to your HOA covenants when you bought your house and this is a private agreement between you and your HOA.

I believe the approved ordinance to be a good compromise that allows folks to keep a limited number of backyard hens and also protects adjoining property owners from any negative impacts associated with their neighbor’s hobby. Notable rules include:

·         Limit of 5 hens – NO ROOSTERS ALLOWED

·         Coop must be set back 15 feet from all property lines

·         Coop must be located closer to the owner’s home than any neighbor’s home

·         No on site slaughter

·         Chickens only allowed in coop or run – no free range

·         One time $50.00 permit fee

Please visit Cary’s chicken FAQ page here for more info on Cary’s chicken ordinance.

I hope everyone had a great time at Cary’s 36^th annual Lazy Daze Festival in Downtown Cary! Thank goodness the weather cooperated this year. With an average attendance of 50,000, the Town of Cary's Lazy Daze Arts & Crafts Festival is the highest ranked one day festival in the Nation for Classic & Contemporary Craft Shows by Sunshine Artist Magazine. You can see some great pictures from this year's festival here and here.

Thanks so much to everyone who worked so hard to make this year’s festival a huge success. A very special thanks to Joy Ennis and Lyman Collins and their staff, Cary’s Festival Committee members, Public Works Dept. and especially all the volunteers – you all are awesome!

On a sad note, we have learned that former Cary Town Councilman, Jess Ward has past. Jess served as the District A Representative on the Cary Town Council from 1997-2001. Jess’ funeral is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 8, 11 a.m. at Mt. Zion Church in Cary.

That’s all for now, and as always, thanks for reading!

Appointing Ed

I am pleased with the council’s selection of Ed Yerha to fill the remainder of Julie Robison’s expired term. I am not however pleased with the manner in which it occurred.

I have known Ed Yerha for about ten years now. Ed is a good and honest man. He is professional and kind and treats everyone with respect. And for as long as I’ve known him, he has always volunteered his time and energy towards making Cary a better place to live. I worked on his campaign for the Cary Town Council in 2005. Here’s proof for you non-believers. ;-) I'm the one who didn't hide their beer. ;-)

I am confident that Ed will serve Cary well as a member of the Cary Town Council.

I hate I couldn’t vote for him.

This council always prides itself in being able to work together as a team, and I think most folks would agree that we’ve done a pretty good job of it. We have always avoided partisan conflict unlike many other area boards. We respect one another’s thoughts and opinions, and we have always tried to find common ground or consensus whenever possible. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t, and that’s ok – at least we tried.

Except this time.

When the Mayor began our meeting, he immediately recognized Mayor Pro Tem Adcock who immediately made a motion to appoint Ed to the council. Councilman Jack Smith seconded the motion. It was clear this decision was made in advance of our meeting, and without consideration of other council member’s thoughts or opinions.

The council had narrowed the list of 59 applicants to 6 – one later withdrew from consideration leaving us with five. After council/candidate interviews, we all submitted our list of top 2-3 candidates to Cary Town Clerk, Sue Rowland who tallied the results for us prior to our meeting. Julia Rudy received 5 votes, Ed Yerha received 4 votes, and the remaining three candidates each received 2 votes respectively.

As much as I like Ed, he wasn’t my first choice. Like I said in an earlier post, there were a lot of extraordinary people who applied for the position. My first choice of the remaining five candidates was Kelly Commiskey. Kelly served on Cary’s Planning and Zoning Board for six years – three as the board chair. Prior to that she served on Cary’s Information Services Advisory Board. I actually served with Kelly on Cary’s Planning and Zoning Board prior to my election where I witnessed first hand her passion and commitment to our community. She always voted her conscience and what she believed best for all of Cary – not just a vocal minority. She has stood strong in the face of some pretty fierce winds – and I believe we could use some more of that on the council.

But unfortunately for a couple of us, Kelly didn’t receive as many votes as Julia or Ed. Since more of us recommended Julia Rudy (Jack Smith was the only one who didn’t recommend her, and that was because she voted for an apartment complex in his neighborhood…the only one Jack hasn’t voted for in years btw, but I digress…) than Ed, I felt like Julia could be our consensus candidate. But it’s pretty difficult to have that discussion when there’s already a motion on the table.

What disappointed me the most was that just that morning, I spoke with a council member who said to me, and I quote, “I just hope we have a good discussion before somebody tries to make a motion”. …and then he seconds the motion prior to any discussion. Nice.

My only real concern regarding Ed’s appointment is the perception of cronyism. Ed has supported a number of sitting council member’s political campaigns and vice-versa. I can assure you that this is not the case, but the perception issue is real nonetheless. An honest and transparent discussion could have gone a long ways towards addressing this concern.

Cary citizens - especially the 58 other candidates who applied for the position – deserved better.

To support Ed’s appointment under these circumstances would have been an endorsement of my colleague's actions, and I just couldn’t do that. I hope Ed understands.

My neck, The James Jones House, The Council Vacancy and Politics

The last few weeks have been rough. Back in April I had surgery to fuse three vertebras in my neck; I had two herniated discs that were wreaking havoc on a nerve and causing tremendous pain. Well, everything was doing fine until I started to experience the same pain again, only this time on my left side. The doc gave me some anti-inflammatory meds and in about a week, the pain was gone. Yay! Or so I thought. A few days later the pain came back with a vengeance on my right side and my hand was numb. Nice. We tried meds again with no luck before sending me for another MRI. I was on the operating table the next day. Turned out I had another damaged disc that was pushed into my spine causing all kinds of problems. Here is the MRI image where you can see the disc pushed into my spine. Hurt like hell….

I’m back at home now doing the best I can to rest and heal. The majority of nerve pain is gone and I am starting to feel most of my hand and fingers. My neck and throat are sore from the surgery, but that’s to be expected and it gets better each day. It will be a while before all the feeling returns to my hand and I regain arm strength, but I can deal with that. The pain, not so much.

Thanks so much to everyone who has called, emailed or stopped by to express your concerns. Your thoughts and prayers mean the world to me.

The next day I had a Planning and Development Committee meeting and then interviews with the five candidates for the vacant council seat.

The Planning and Development Committee meeting was light with the only discussion item being consideration of a resolution authorizingthe lease of the James Jones House at the corner of Academy and Dry to Lawrence Coffee and Bar LLC. The resolution passed unanimously.

In a nutshell the town will commit $150,000 to restore and make improvements to the historic James Jones House, and Lawrence Coffee and Bar LLC agrees to lease the property at a tiered rate for five years. The lease agreement totals $139,794, nearly the entire cost of renovations…which the town would have made to this historic property regardless.

Lawrence Coffee and Bar LLC will operate Larry’s Beans out of the house. Larry’s Beans serves wines, local beers, local kombucha (a fermented tea), cocoas and craft sodas, as well as sandwiches and salads.  The business will operate from 7:00 AM through 6:00 PM, Monday through Friday and 8:00 AM through 7:00 PM on weekends.  This schedule may be adjusted in conjunction with special events at the Cary Arts Center.  They will also employ 15 persons.

This is a wonderful use for the historic James Jones House and I wish them all the best in their efforts, and truth be told I also look forward to a great coffee shop on my route to work each morning! ;-)

Afterwards the council met for candidate interviews for the vacant council seat. We split into two groups of three and spent 20 minutes interviewing each of the five candidates. It was kind of like speed dating.

I have to say that all five of the candidates are extraordinary people; each with different skills, talents and backgrounds to offer; and all of which would be valuable to have on the council and to the town. Each of them have also served on our Cary’s Planning and Zoning Board, as well as other boards and commissions and are very familiar with town operations and departments. This is important to me as I am looking for a candidate that hit the ground running and need little time to adjust to their new role.

Council members are to now pick our top 2-3 candidates and we’ll see who gets the most votes and go from there. I know who my first and second choices are, but I’m still torn on who to pick for my third choice. Like I said, they are all extraordinary people – this is not an easy decision. We have a worksession scheduled for the 31^st and we hope to make our selection then.

I want to thank each and every one of the 59 Cary citizens who applied to serve. Cary is one of the greatest communities to live in largely because of citizens like you; people who care enough to give back and volunteer their talents to make our community an even better place to live, work and raise a family. We are so blessed.

I also spent a great deal of time this past week reviewing citizen applications for all of our boards and commissions before submitting my recommendations to Deputy Town Clerk, Karen Gray. The council will further discuss the applicants at an upcoming worksession.

I want to take a minute to talk politics, and about my involvement with the Romney for President Campaign.

About a month ago we hosted a press conference on behalf of the Romney campaign at our business along with NC Speaker of the House, Thom Tillis and Dr. Jim Fulghum to discuss the recent Supreme Court decision regarding the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and more specifically, the small business community’s concerns with the fiscal and regulatory impacts of the act. I have also met with Senators Rob Portman of Ohio and North Carolina’s own Richard Burr for a business roundtable discussion about small business issues and concerns and the need for regulatory and tax reform at the federal level.

I am helping the Romney campaign because I am angry with what I see as nothing short of an assault on private business and free enterprise from our federal government and our President. I am done with being demonized by a President hell bent on turning public opinion against us – the job creators. And I am sick of hearing that all us “rich” small business owners aren’t “paying our fair share”, or that we somehow owe our success to the government. If anything we’ve managed to succeed despite government.

What the hell happened anyways? There used to be a time when we looked up to successful people – we aspired to be them. Now we are told they are evil.  I don’t get it.

Along with Governor Romney, I will be supporting those candidates who value the contributions of small business to our economy and our communities. I will be helping candidates who understand and appreciate entrepreneurs who take a huge financial risk and work endless hours starting and running their businesses. I will be speaking out about issues of concern in the business community, and I will be contributing both time and money to those candidates who believe in free enterprise and individual responsibility.

This should not come as a surprise to anyone as it was an attack on business – to include our business - that got me involved in politics in the first place. And ever since then, whether as a small business owner, a Cary Town Councilman, a member of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) NC Leadership Council or the Cary Chamber of Commerce, I have continued to work to help the business community.

After all, the number one indicator of one’s quality of life is a paycheck.

If you don’t have a good job, there’s a pretty good chance your quality of life stinks. I don’t want your life to stink. :-)

You may disagree with me and that is fine. We can agree to disagree. I encourage everyone to get involved and support those candidates who best represent your values.

That's all for now. As always, thanks for reading!

June 28, 2012 Council Meeting

The first order of business was to recognize retiring councilwoman Julie Robison. Julie and her family are moving to West Virginia as Julie’s husband, Dan has been named the Dean of the college of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design at West Virginia University. We all took turns saying our “goodbyes” and talked about what we would remember most about Julie. I talked about how I first met Julie about 10 years ago during the whole downtown auto issue, and that I and business owners throughout downtown are forever grateful for her efforts to help us fight city hall and save our businesses. We also surprised her by naming the volleyball courts at North Cary Park after her.

The council approved the creation of Cary’s first ever Business Improvement District (BID) in downtown. While BIDs are usually created to generate revenue (special tax district), our purpose for creating the BID is to provide the legal mechanism necessary to allow the town to mitigate impact fees associated with private development. Unlike most cities, Cary’s BID actually reduces fees on businesses, and hopefully will incent additional private investment in our downtown. The BID will exist for three years unless the council chooses to extend it.

The council also unanimously approved the FY2013 budget. The budget totals $232 Million and includes:

·         Tax Rate of 33 cents unchanged – lowest in Wake County

·         Garbage fees unchanged at $14.00 month

·         6% Utility fee increase to pay for the state mandated Western Wake Water Reclamation Facility

·         No New Debt for general capital projects

·         Seven new town employees – 4 related to WWWRF, 1 Detective, 1 Downtown Theater

This was a tough year. The economic recession continues to impact growth and revenues and ultimately, our budget. Their simply wasn’t any extra money to do some of the things we wanted to do.

The adopted budget is responsible as it continues to provide the high levels of services that Cary citizens expect at the lowest possible cost to you, the taxpayer.

During the November Election, Cary citizens will have the opportunity to decide for themselves whether or not we move forward with a number of transportation, parks, and public safety projects that we could not include in this year’s budget.

And last but certainly not least, the Town of Cary and Chatham County have approved a joint land use plan and interlocal agreement! Any new development within the Cary/Chatham plan boundaries must conform to this plan, and any changes to the plan must be approved by both the Chatham County Commissioners and the Cary Town Council. The plan strikes a good balance between folk’s rights to develop their properties, the rights of others to not be negatively impacted by that development and protecting our environment. The plan limits densities and utility services as you move closer to Jordan Lake to better protect water quality while also preserving the rural character and charm of Chatham County.

I have to say I never thought I’d see the day when both Cary and Chatham County would agree on a plan. I remember former (thank goodness) Chatham County Commissioners coming to Cary Council meetings to tell Cary to “stay the hell out of Chatham County”. Many thanks to the staffs of both Chatham and Cary for all their hard work, and to the Cary/Chatham Committee members for all their efforts. This was truly a team effort and a great example of cooperation between communities

Help Wanted:

I spent a great deal of time this weekend going over statements of interest and qualifications for the vacant at-large council seat; all 59 of them. This is not going to be an easy decision as there are a lot of extraordinary and highly qualified individuals to choose from.

We have our first council worksession on the vacancy this coming Tuesday where we hope to whittle the list down to a manageable number for interviews. Following the interview process we will meet again to hopefully pick our newest council member.

Be careful what you wish for! ;-)

Help Wanted: Cary Town

Council Calls for Candidates to Fill Vacancy

CARY, NC – Interested Cary citizens have from noon on Friday, June 1 until noon on Friday, June 29 to place their names into consideration for the unexpired At-Large Cary Town Council seat that will be vacated by Julie Robison effective June 30. To be considered, candidates must be at least 21 years old, live within the Cary corporate limits, be registered to vote and not have any disqualifying factors, such as sex offenses and felonies. Current Town of Cary employees are not eligible for appointment.

Cary citizens interested in the job should prepare a Statement of Interest and Qualifications (SOIAQ) that addresses all -- but need not be limited to -- the following:

• Name, street address, mailing address (if different from street address), zip code, telephone number, and email address;

• Describe why you want to serve as a Cary Town Council member;

• Describe your perspective on Cary’s growth management and what you would do, if anything, to change it;

• Describe your perspective on Cary’s financial management and what you would do, if anything, to change it;

• Willingness and ability to serve until citizens elect a successor in the fall 2013 Cary municipal election;

• Community involvement, community connectedness;

• Previous government experience;

• Other relevant experience;

• Education;

• Occupation and place of employment (if applicable); and

• Other personal qualities.

SOIAQs should be submitted to Town Clerk Sue Rowland by noon on June 29, 2012 via email at sue.rowland@townofcary.org. All persons who submit an SOIAQ will receive an email confirmation.

Following the deadline, all SOIAQs will be placed on the Town's website. SOIAQs are public records under North Carolina law and will be shared with others upon request and without notice; therefore, please do not include private identifying information on the SOIAQ, such as Social Security numbers. For more information, search “Council Vacancy” at www.townofcary.org or call (919) 469-4011.

###

PRIMARY CONTACTS:       

Sue Rowland, Town Clerk, (919) 469-4011

Carrie Roman, Public Information Specialist, (919) 481-5091

Susan Moran, Public Information Director, (919) 460-4951

RELATED LINKS:

Complete List of Disqualifying Factors

2012 Cary Town Council Vacancy

***Please note that email sent to and from this address is subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.

May 24, 2012 Council Meeting

Thursday evening’s council meeting included a number of discussion items to include land development ordinance amendments, a rezoning near Wake Med on Kildaire Farm Road, the Panther Creek ninth grade center request from WCPSS, a report from staff on the proposed Technology Task Force, and chickens – not necessarily in that order.

Keisler Rezoning: The council unanimously approved the applicant’s request to rezone 3.5 acres along Kildaire Farm Road from residential to office. The applicant has proposed a 50,000 sq. ft. office building on the site. Conditions include a 40 foot opaque buffer with no averaging, a 100 foot building set back from the rear property line, shielded lighting and storm water BMP’s that will be designed to accommodate a 50 year storm event. This site has been identified on Cary’s Land Use Plan as O+I since 1996. The site is not viable as a residential use (except for high density).

Technology task force: Councilmember Lori Bush and I initiated a request for Cary to consider creating a Technology Task Force to help Cary better understand and utilize technology and social media in communicating with citizens. Council unanimously approved the request. The clerk’s office will handle the application process so if you are interested in serving on the task force, please contact Town Clerk, Sue Rowland at sue.rowland@townofcary.org .

Chickens: Discussed numerous times ad-nauseum. We conducted a public hearing and heard from many in support of allowing folks to keep a limited number of backyard hens. Two people spoke in opposition. The council forwarded this item to Cary’s Planning and Zoning Board for review before coming back to council for final decision in July or August. Yes, government moves slow – and that’s usually a good thing.

Yes, I still have a few concerns with the proposed ordinance; the $50.00 fee is too high, the recommended number of chickens allowed (6) is a couple too low, and the set-back requirements for coup placement are a bit difficult for the average citizen to understand, but I’m not going to win these arguments right now. The council consensus is to take it slow and see how this goes. Not a bad idea at all. If we find we need to make some adjustments in the future we can do so. I believe what is proposed to be a good balance of allowing folks to keep some chickens for personal use while protecting those who do not want to be impacted by their neighbor’s chickens.

One last point on chickens – if you live in a community whose HOA covenants prohibit the keeping of chickens, you still cannot get chickens. HOA covenants trump town code and you agreed to those rules when you bought your house.

Panther Creek 9^th Grade Center: The council unanimously denied WCPSS’ request to amend the Town of Cary’s Land Development Ordinance (LDO) to allow for the construction of a “temporary” 9^th grade center at the future site of the Alston Ridge Middle School (M16).

The overriding concern was with having to amend Cary’s LDO to allow for temporary classroom space in the absence of a principle structure (existing school). This amendment would not only apply to this specific request, but would also apply to any educational/institutional use town-wide. Any public or private school, trade school or other educational uses would be allowed to construct “temporary” facilities in the absence of a principle structure. We are all unfortunately familiar with WCPSS’ practice of adding trailers/modulars to alleviate overcrowding at area schools. This is the first time I can ever recall where they want to install the temporary classrooms first.

If council were to consider supporting the amendment, town staff recommended defining “temporary” as 2 years with a possible 2 year extension for a total of 4 years. WCPSS is on record stating they would need the 9^th grade center for 6+ years.

Should WCPSS construct middle school M16 within four years of constructing the 9^th grade center, that would then provide the principle structure required for the modulars to remain indefinitely – whether as a 9^th grade center or to alleviate overcrowding at the middle school.

I blogged about this request last week in an effort to solicit citizen feedback, and boy did we get it. The emails and phone calls were overwhelmingly in opposition to this request with only 2 supporting it.

Make no mistake – this was not an easy decision. We all are well aware of the overcrowding issues at Panther Creek High School and we know we need additional school seats. Sacrificing our development standards however is not the answer. Council members also expressed concerns about the urgency of this request. I think councilmember Bush said it best, “Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on our part.”

I don’t have an answer to this problem – none of us do. I wish we did and we will continue to try. But this isn’t our responsibility; it’s the school system’s. Cary works very hard to communicate development data and trends to WCPSS staff. What they do with that information I do not know.

UPDATE: WCPSS has filed an appeal with Cary’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. I will post an update as I learn more.

Land Development Ordinance (LDO) Amendments: There were a number of amendments discussed and approved – too many to write about and not as interesting as chickens ;-). You can view the staff reports here and here.

Well, that's our council meeting in a nutshell. As always, thanks for reading!