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Cary looking to
acquire more land
Cary wants to acquire
over 400 acres near Green Level Rd.
Shawn Daley, Editor
March 25, 2004
It’s certainly no surprise that
ever-sprawling Cary is looking
for more land.
What is surprising is that Cary
officials want Apex to give up
430 acres in the process.
Cary’s request was the subject
of debate during last week’s
Apex Board of Commissioners
meeting.
Although the board was only
supposed to vote on approving
an April 20 public hearing on
the matter, the idea of Cary
grabbing more land quickly
turned into a lengthy discussion.
Cary wants to annex land
located along Green Level West
Road and Wembley Road near
the Chatham County line so it
can complete its White Oak
greenway connection to the
American Tobacco Trail.
Cary also needs a regional
pump station in the area and
would like to build it on the
north side of White Oak Creek.
As a result, Cary has asked
Apex to look the other way while
it grabs land located in an area
that both towns view as a non-
binding agreement boundary.
In return for the land, Cary has
proposed entering into a binding
agreement with Apex concern-
ing the towns’ boundaries.
“The disadvantage to this
would be giving up land in a
future growth area,” Apex
Planning Director David
Rowland told the board. “The
advantage is that we would have
a solid agreement with Cary that
is binding under state law.”
A binding agreement would
be important because it would
prevent one town from annexing
land in an area that is generally
viewed off-limits by both
municipalities.
Commissioner Doug Meckes
and Mayor Keith Weatherly
spoke favorably of the proposed
deal but for different reasons.
Meckes said if Cary wanted to
build a park in an area that was
mostly wetlands then residents
of Apex would also benefit.
“This park will be for our citi-
zens, too, and we won’t have to
spend any money on it,” said
Meckes.
Weatherly said agreeing to
this deal could be a way of
patching up a relationship with
Cary that became strained while
Glenn Lang was mayor.
Now that Cary has a new
mayor he believes the towns can
begin to cooperate with each
other.
“This could be a way for us to
extend the olive branch,” said
Weatherly. “Hopefully, we can
expect reciprocal benefits in the
future.”
Town manager Bruce Radford
agreed.
“If this was a year ago we
would have a much different
outlook,” said Radford. “But
now we have a different group
(of leaders) in Cary”
But commissioners Gene
Schulze, Bill Jensen and Bryan
Gossage didn’t seem overly
eager to watch Cary encroach
even closer to Apex.
Schulze was the most outspo-
ken in his disapproval of the
whole idea.
“If we are going to give up
this land, and (Cary) is taking
everything it can get, we should
be compensated by a land mass
of the same size,” said Schulze.
“I’m concerned about Cary
encompassing us.
“I’m trying to protect us so we
can grow in a nice way. But I
feel we are being forced to grab
land now or Cary is going to get
it.”
When Meckes pointed out that
Apex has no desire to develop
near Chatham County, Schulze
said he was thinking about long-
term goals.
“Maybe we don’t want to go
to there now,” said Schulze,
“but what about 50 years from
now?”
Jensen said the people living
in that. area should be giventhe
chance to vote on the matter.
“I agree with that,” said
Schulze. “This just sounds like
we are coming out on the short
end.”
Gossage made perhaps the
best point by noting that the
land is located in a non-binding
agreement area.
In other words, saying ‘no’ to
Cary wouldn’t necessarily stop
them.
“I don’t agree that .giving up
400 acres balances with getting
a binding agreement,” said
Gossage. “But even if we say no
it wouldn’t prevent them from
doing it. It sounds like they are
just being nice by asking.”
The public hearing will be
held Tuesday, April 20 during a
regularly scheduled commis-
sioners meeting.
“Expect it to be a long night,”
said Commissioper Mike
Jones.
Hello, Spring
Upgrades: Town
makes some improvements in playgrounds
Hilary Caryl Russell,
Staff Writer
March 25, 2004
On a sunny Sunday after-
noon, the playground at Apex
Community Park is anything
but empty thanks to the Apex
Parks, Recreation and Cultural
Resources Department.
Parents sit on benches
catch-
ing up on week’s events while
their kids climb ladders, slide
down open tube-shaped slides
and the sound of laughter rings
out defining the playground, as
well as the park’s additional
amenities, as a place to gather,
relax and commune.
And it could be the site
of a
second playground, one with a
large swing set, if Dennis
Stanley, park maintenance
supervisor for Apex Parks and
Recreation has his way this
year.
He’s hoping to include
the
playground in his department’s
budget proposal, which ulti
mately, will be presented to the
Town’s Board of
Commissioners.
The Parks and Rec.
depart-
ment has spent the past two
years replacing and upgrading
equipment at Apex Community
Park, Sue Helton
Neighborhood Park in the
Perry Farms subdivision, the
Clairmont neighborhood park
at the Clairmont subdivision.
A brand new playground was
also built in the Kelly Glen
subdivision as part of their
neighborhood’s park.
Amy Tomasik said she and
her husband, Mike, bring their
daughters, Marie and Emily, to
Apex Community Park
because she loves the idea of
them playing outside.
“It is easier for kids to play
inside, which in turn, allows
them to be sedentary, but
I think the parks in this area
are fabulous and they give
them a lot of opportunity to
have fun and exercise.
Denise Kebea, who also uses
the park, said she has noticed
the renovation on the equipment
and that now plays a part in how
often she brings her children.
“I didn’t know this was being
renovated, but I did notice it
and while we didn’t use the
playground much before, now
we come about twice a
month,” she said.
Stanley said the improve-
ments were based on the rec-
ommendations of the National
Playground Association’s
playground committee.
The committee creates a set
of standards for the associa-
tion, which are then distributed
nationwide. The purpose of
creating those standards is to
ensure that playground is safe
and useable.
“Some of our playgrounds
were out of date and the stan-
dards were that anything over
‘10 years needed to be
addressed. Those include that
we made sure the playgrounds
are safe for example with
handicapped accessibility. We
work towards minimize risk
and ensuring that kids don’t get
hurt,” said Stanley.
“Swings take up a lot of
space, so our biggest thing was
layout issues aád making sure
we had enough room .There
was too much stuff crammed in
together, especially with slides,
swings and tire swings, there
was a minimum space require-
ment between the items, so that
was our task .“
The renovating and in the
case of the Kelly Glen play-
ground, construction and
building of these playgrounds,
were completed in phases.
It’s taken two years to get it
right,” said Stanley. “First we
had to get the play structure
right and then we’d put the
mulch down, so we’d work on
a few one year and then do the
rest the next year.”
Unless you have an unlimited
budget and can destroy it and
rebuild it, it needs to be done in
phases and that’s what we did.”
Stanley said The KidsTowne
Community Park, which was
designed by Leathers and
Leathers, a nationally recog-
nized playground design firm,
is one of the most popular
places in town where kids go.
The park, which is still fairly
new, is an acre in size, and was
a community project.
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Jensen disapproves of
mayor's appointees
Commissioner wants more public input on UDO Task Force
Shawn Daley, Editor
March 25, 2004
It was a simple matter on the
meeting agenda that would lead
to a process that has been played
out countless times.
Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly
would present a list of names
that he had chosen for a certain
board or commission, the town
commissioners would nod their
heads in approval and the selec-
tions would be approved unani-
mously.
But at last week’s town board
meeting Weatherly’s list of
names for the Unified
Development Ordinance Task
Force irked Commissioner Bill
Jensen.
The mayor had selected eight
individuals t&review the town’s
two-year-old UDO, which is a
combifiation of zoning codes for
subdivisions and developmental
rules for site plans involving
commercial development.
Those chosen for the task
force included town commis-
sioner Mike Jones, planning
board member Tommy Morgan,
chamber of commerce president
Daniel Davis and five develop-
ers — Boots Elam, Chuck Smith,
Mike Whitehead, Stuart Jones
and Jerry Turner.
In a letter that he sent to those
individuals, Weatherly outlined
what he hoped the task force
could achieve.
The “mission” of the group
was:
Insure the town has first-
class, high-quality development
•Examine the practicability
of development regulations
•Determine if regulations are
understandable and presented in
user-friendly language
•Examine any areas of need-
ed improvement
•Examine if development
regulations balance the protec-
tion of the environment and
neighborhoods with equal con-
cern for eliminating burden-
some and unnecessary over-reg-
ulation.
But because five of the eight
members of the task force are
developers, Jensen feared any
input from the group would be
slanted in favor of development.
“I don’t see a balance between
the general population and
developers,” said Jensen. “I
would like to see the homeown-
ers associations represented.”
Weatherly said the task force
was only doing a “technical
review” of the UDO and was not
part of any policy reviews. He
pointed out that the developers
already had a great deal of
knowledge concerning the UDO
and could provide valuable
insight because of their experi-
ence.
Jones agreed with the mayor
and said if any policy issues
arise then public input would be
used.
“But why shouldn’t (the pub-
lic) be involved from the begin-
ning,” said Jensen. “If there is an
issue. and they are asked to show
up for half-an-hour and then
leave their input is minimal.”
Commissioner Bryan Gossage
pointed out that any policy
issues would have to be dis-
cussed by the planning board
and the town board before a
decision was made.
“That’s true,” said Jensen,
“but anything we get from (the
task force) is going to be sloped.
I’m not saying they are bad peo-
ple. I would just like to see more
of a balance.”
The commissioners eventually
approved the selections with a
4-1 vote, Jensen being the lone
dissenter.
TRAFFIC PROBLEMS
Haddon Hall Homeowners
Association President Charles
Portnoy addressed the board
about his displeasure with the
traffic situation in his subdivi-
sion.
Portnoy called it a “traffic
nightmare” and said residents
have been inundating him with
e-mails about the problem.
He said the traffic light at
Haddon Hall Blvd. and NC 55
needs to be turned on and urged
the commissioners to make it
happen quickly before someone
gets seriously injured in an acci-
dent.
Jensen said the board has tried
to get the light turned on but it’s
up to the NC Department of
Transportation.
“Mr. Jensen, you’ve been a
proponent for a lot we have
asked for,” said Portnoy. “Right
now, your best isn’t good
enough.”
Portnoy said he would attend
every meeting and voice his dis-
pleasure until the matter is
resolved.
That prompted town manager
Bruce Radford to point out that
the town has attempted several
times to convince NC DOT that
the light needs to be turned on.
But NC DOT claims the light
isn’t needed until the businesses
open in Beaver Creek
Commons.
“What do you think we could
have done differently,” asked
Radford.
“It’s not like we aren’t aware
of all of the issues,” said
Commissioner Doug Meckes.
Portnoy said he planned to
contact NC DOT and find out
for himself what can be done.
He said Haddon Hall has over
600 children and that it was his
responsibility to look out for
them.
“That’s our job as well,”
replied Meckes.
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