Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening, and welcome to the Planning and Zoning Board meeting. Thank you for joining us tonight. I call this meeting to order. Our board clerk, Julie Mitchell, will take roll call this evening.

Thank you, chair. This evening, I will call into the record who was present. We have Sal Kamarata, Boshana Etten, Chris Johnson, Mike Roselli, Sean McAndrew, Diane Mayo, Ken George, and Ruben Moore.

Thank you, Julie. The Cary Community Plan will continue to be the guiding document for this board. Our role is to function as citizen advisers to the council who will ultimately make the final decision on all rezoning activity. We recognize not all rezoning requests are supported unanimously, but we strive to balance the impact of increased building density required to support Cary's growth while maintaining the historic charm and character of Cary. Community plan was initially adopted in 2017 following a collaborative effort between Cary citizens and our town government.

That collaboration has continued and resulted in a recently updated version of the plan adopted by council in January 2025. The chapters of the plan include live, work, shop, engage, shape, move, enrich, serve, and act. Community plan can be found on website. Your citizen opinions based on the Cary community plan document play a very important role in advising our leaders. We encourage our citizens to refer to the plan and provide feedback that is based on the guiding principles of the plan as it relates to the zoning request.

While this is a public meeting, it is not a public hearing. There is no opportunity for the public to speak speak during this meeting. If you have comments about any of these items, we encourage you to reach out to staff by email or phone. You may reach out to our board members through email. You may also contact counsel directly through email during the public speaks out portion of any regularly scheduled council meeting. These meetings may be streamed live on Carrie's website and will be will be posted to YouTube. All past planning and zoning board meetings are available to view on YouTube. At this time, we will adopt the agenda. Will someone make a motion to adopt the agenda? So moved.

Second.

All those in favor state aye. Aye. Any opposed state nay. Ayes carry. Next, approval of the regular meeting minutes. Will someone make a motion to approve the October?

So moved.

Second. All those in favor, state aye. Aye. All those opposed, nay. Ayes carry. Our only case in the agenda is 25 R E Z 016708 Bandelier Lane rezoning. Katie Dry, assistant planning director, will share the staff's presentation. The applicant is in attend is not in attendance this evening and will not be providing additional comments. All board members will have an opportunity to ask questions of staff and the applicant following staff's presentation. Ms. Drey, you may proceed.

Good evening, chair and members of the planning and zoning board. This is a rezoning request for a half an acre site located at 6708 Bandelier Lane. The property is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Bandelier And Saunders Grove Lane. It's within Cary's extraterritorial jurisdiction, and the site is currently vacant. The site is located within the Historic Carpenter Special Planning Area, which is shown here in red.

It's also within the National Register of Historic Places Carpenter which is shown in blue. The site does not contain any historic resources. According to Cary's GIS data, a stream buffer may be located on the northern boundary of the site. Across the street from the subject property is the Cary owned C. F.

Farrell store site. There is presently no funding for site improvements for this property. The soon to be adopted and updated Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources System Plan shifts the greenway which was originally shown along with site's Vangelier Frontage south along Cary's property. And as a result, no greenway improvements are expected along the site's frontage. Bandelier Lane is a local street adjacent to the property, and the current zoning is Office Research and Development, or ORD.

The applicant is requesting to rezone to Residential 20 Conditional Use, or R20 CU. This would allow the site to be developed with one single detached dwelling. The Jordan Lake Watershed Protection overlay district will remain. Proposed zoning conditions include limiting the use to one detached dwelling and associated accessory uses, a prohibition on vinyl siding, and as written, this condition would apply to all structures on the site. A traditional pitched roofline for the principal structure, garage doors, whether in an attached or detached garage, would be to the side or rear of the principal structure, and only one driveway will be permitted and shall meet access management standards.

Staff has evaluated the request against the Imagine Cary Community Plan. Our analysis starts with the historic Carpenter Special planning Area. The site lies within the Crossroads Village sub area, where infill development is expected to be context sensitive and compatible with the historic setting. New development should transition appropriately to adjacent historic sites and use mass, scale, settings, and density, as well as architecture and landscaping that fit the area. The Crossroads Village is envisioned as having a mix of uses and housing that revives the vibrancy of the historic crossroads.

The Carpenter Special Planning Area builds on the 2010 Historic Preservation Master Plan. It emphasizes protecting Cary's historic resources and preserving historic context. To support these policies, the applicant has proposed architectural conditions to ensure the new home's building materials, roofline, and garage doors complement the historic character of the district. The 20 foot roadway setback for R20 generally aligns with setbacks of existing historic properties fronting Vandelier Lane. For the move chapter, the applicant has committed to only one driveway to serve the site.

Bandelier Lane has a 60 foot right of way which is sufficient for a local street. We note that without the rezoning, development on the site would be permitted under the current ORD zoning, which would require a development plan triggering LDA requirements like perimeter buffers, streetscapes, and sidewalks. If the rezoning is approved for a detached home, these elements will not be required by the home's building permit. But given the small, half acre size of the lot, a detached home is likely a better fit than a nonresidential use. A neighborhood meeting was held in March.

There were no attendees. There was one call prior to the public hearing. No concerns were expressed, just questions about the process. At the September town council public hearing, there were no speakers or written comments, and no questions or comments from counsel. And following the public hearing, there have not been any changes.

So this brings us to staff's preliminary finding. We note that policies in the Carpenter Special Planning Area and Historic Preservation Master Plan, as well as the Shape, Engage, and Move chapters of the Imagine Cary Community Plan apply. Under the Carpenter Special Planning Area, Historic Preservation Plan, and as referenced in the Engage chapter and Shape chapter, the proposed detached dwelling and the accompanying architectural conditions may promote compatibility with the adjacent historic structures and character of the Carpenter National Register Historic District. For the move chapter policies, Bandelier Lane provides an adequate right of way, and a single driveway will meet caries and DOT standards. This concludes my presentation, and, the property owner is not in attendance but did also, indicate that they, did not have anything further to indicate or to share with the the board, given the presentation tonight.

So I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have on this case.

Thank you, Ms. Try. The care community plan is in place to guide development in care. As you think about your questions, keep in mind how this proposed case fits or does not fit the community plan. When making a motion, it would be helpful to describe how you see your motion impacting the Cary community plan, for example, with work, shape, or live chapters. While this is not a requirement, it would help town council understand how you think this case applies to the plan. Do any board members have any questions? Start with Sal. Yeah. We just got one question.

Does the fact that it's in a historic district not trigger any more, you know, requirements than the four zoning, conditions that were that were agreed to enlisted in in the plan?

Yeah. So with this with this historic district, we have the adopted Cary Community Plan, which, you know, describes kind of the nature of the plan in the historic area. So we typically do a review of that special planning area against what's proposed, and they ended up offering the conditions that they did. We do know that the conditions that have been offered and changing these to single family or single detached, is much closer to the historic district goals than the ORD zoning district that's currently there.

Thank you.

I don't have any questions. The question is One of the things that said associated accessory uses, I'm just thinking, you know, small, you know, accessory homes. What is what are the rules with that in general? And what is

Yeah. Good question. So accessory uses could include, like, an accessory dwelling unit, or it could include adding a chicken coop with a certain amount of chickens per the the land development ordinance, beehive, you know, things like that. Those are all allowable accessory uses for a single detached home. Permitting is required with any of those, so we would have to review them to make sure that, in the case of chickens, that they have a certain amount of chickens, and do not exceed that number and that the chicken coop meets setbacks.

And then with accessory dwelling units, we would also follow, you know, similar rules, making sure setbacks are met, all building codes, and inspections are met as well. Thank you. Yep. Questions?

As far as the, I think you read from the Cary Community Plan about the architectural and landscaping in keeping with the this historic district. And then are you saying that only the vinyl siding, a pitched roof, and garage doors on the side or rear, that's sufficient to is that and is or is there because there's nothing or is it codified what those things, architectural and landscaping, mean at all?

Yeah. So the the conditions that were offered are a little more deep are little more detailed or expanded out than what we have on the screen here, but this is just a general summary of what was proposed. And in in general, when looking at the other detached dwellings in the area, this is generally in keeping with those. I would say the main component of the the Carpenter Historic District is that historic crossroads area, which is the stores that are associated with it. So, the the detached dwellings are a little more secondary to that, and this is in keeping with some of the features that a lot of those, have.

So I'm sorry. I didn't I didn't was there anything about a a porch or anything on this?

Not with not no. Not with

the case. Okay. That's all my questions.

I'm also, asking questions about the architectural features. I noticed, there's, three or four other buildings on the road. They all are painted white. They're all single story. Looks like that roof pitch is maybe one to one. There's at least two porches. They're varying depth on the different properties. Is there a one story requirement in here anywhere?

There is not a one story, requirement currently.

Alright. Thank you.

I think the only question I had was the staff findings on the policies that would apply, the, historic master plan, shape, engage, and move, but LIV was kinda noticeably absent, and that's kinda the one I think of when I think of residential. Was there any particular reason why we didn't think LIV was supported? Or

Yeah. So LIV is certainly one of the one of the policies that apply. Because it's one detached dwelling, I don't think it rose to the top. And it may have had, like, a higher, you know, higher higher, relevance if there was, you know, multiple. But since it was just one, didn't necessarily raise to the top. I don't think there was any more, reason than that as to why further analysis wasn't done. Okay.

Alright. Would someone make a motion for 25 R E Z 016708 Bandelier Lane Rezoning? Motions are provided on the screen for you, and a printed copy has been provided.

I move that the board find 25 R E Z 01 consistent with the comprehensive plan and all other applicable plans for the reasons set forth in the staff report, presentation, and discussion by the planning and zoning board.

We have a second. Second. Any discussion?

Yeah. I I would like to say, I I think without, the architecture landscape, it bothers me, I think,

what you brought up too.

I I think it bothers me that there's no porch. I think it needs to fit. Probably needs a chimney. There's things that I would say that I I do not think it fits the it's just not enough there, so I'm gonna I'm not gonna support it. And I appreciate what Ruben said. I think the single single half I live on a road that's got flat top roofs, and they definitely don't fit. So I'm glad it's got a pitch roof. But with, it still could be ultramodern with a pitched roof and no front porch and big glass windows on the front. I don't think it would match, so I'm I'm not without this architectural, I don't think it fits the care community plan for architecture and landscaping.

Any other discussion?

Mike, could I add one thing? Yeah. I think what bothers me only about this as far as not having more specific requirements is that it is in a historic district.

Mhmm.

K. Alright.

Well, we will vote on the motion. All those in favor, aye. Aye. Any opposed, state nay. Nay. Two nays. Ayes carry. At this time, unless there's any other business, we will adjourn. Thank you for participating in tonight's meeting. This meeting is adjourned.