Harold’s Blog: A Short Week
Cary, NC — This week was a lighter week than expected due to two cancellations.
Monday
Monday’s meeting with the interim town manager was very brief, and we only talked about a couple of construction updates.
Wednesday
Wednesday, I was scheduled to meet with the owners of the mall, but, since there was a quasi-judicial matter at our Thursday meeting and since we are not allowed to discuss anything related to the matter with anyone, the meeting was rescheduled for February.
Thursday
Thursday, the council held a quasi-judicial hearing for two cases. The purpose of a quasi-judicial hearing is to hear proposals for special use permits, for certain subdivision and site plan applications and for certain other applications.
The quasi-judicial hearing is an evidentiary hearing, which means decisions must be based on the written and oral evidence presented. Unlike legislative decisions (like rezonings), a quasi-judicial decision must be based solely on the evidence presented and cannot be based on opinions of members of the council.
Cary Towne Center Property
Our first hearing was to consider a sketch site plan to develop a commercial building on a three-acre portion of the Cary Towne Center property located at the intersection of Southeast Maynard Road and Cary Towne Boulevard. The proposal included modifications to the Town’s development standards, including streetscape widths and roadway setbacks. This was a continued hearing from November. After the evidence was presented, the council approved the request unanimously.
Point Church
The second hearing was to consider a special use and site plan to construct a 4,979-square-foot addition to the existing 7,261 square-foot Point church on Walnut Street.
The proposal included modifications to the Town’s requirements for a removal of three champion trees, for a reduction to the minimum required width for a perimeter landscape buffer and for a reduction to the minimum required width of the streetscape. After the presentation, the council approved the requests with little deliberation.
Saturday
Saturday, I was supposed to participate in the Three Kings Day Parade in Cary. This is an annual parade put on by Diamante that showcases Hispanic/Latino costumes, music and song. Unfortunately the parade was cancelled due to the prediction of stormy weather. As it turned out, the weather was fine.
Emails from Staff
Emails from staff included the construction and activity report for the month of December. Points of interest include:
- The Middle Creek Community Library was approved
- 308 multi-family units were approved
- For the year, there were 332 townhomes, 517 multi-family and 768 single family houses approved
- The average single family dwelling was 3,553 square feet compared to 3,485 square feet in 2011
- Cary had a little over 10% of Wake County’s single family homes permitted in November, which was the 4th most in the county
Emails from Citizens
Emails from citizens this week included:
- A complaint about the bump on Harrison over the railroad (NCDOT project)
- A complaint about a water main issue in a neighborhood
- A complaint that council wasn’t doing enough to help Cary Towne Center mall
Next Week
Next week will include a closed session to decide how to proceed with filling the vacancies of the town manager and the town clerk. The week also includes a meeting with a school board member to discuss issues in Cary, the unveiling of a sister cities sign, a town council meeting and a panel discussion at the International Diversity Summit.
Get in Touch
Well, that is all for this week. My next post will be on Sunday, January 17th. Although I have Facebook and Twitter accounts those are not the best means of communications with me. Please send all Town of Cary questions or comments to Harold.Weinbrecht@townofcary.org and email personal comments to augustanat@mindspring.com.
From the blog of Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht. Photo by David Lindquist.
