Raleigh’s city council will take up the rezoning of the 80-acre property off of Forestville and Ligon Mill Roads at its next meeting.
Attorneys working on behalf of the potential developer and county residents who live in the adjacent Chesterfield Village neighborhood will attempt to negotiate compromises that will address many residents’ concerns over traffic, increased stormwater runoff and the preservation of the character of the area.
The developer has reduced the planned residential density from 4 to 3 dwelling units per acre for the property, in an effort to alleviate residents’ concerns about flooding.
However, under Raleigh’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), the developer is prohibited in the rezoning phase from altering plans for a connector street linking the property to Chesterfield Village. Many Chesterfield residents—who live outside Raleigh’s corporate boundaries — oppose the connector street because of the potential for increased traffic routing through their neighborhood.
City leaders have the authority to make changes to the connector street plan in later stages of the project.
Sig Hutchinson, Wake County’s District 1 Commissioner, wrote a letter last week urging the council members fully consider strategies that address the county residents’ concerns during rezoning and in subsequent stages of the site plan design and approval.
“As urban services and development extend into transitional areas where County and City jurisdictions abut, it’s important that we recognize the various impacts to existing communities and continue to collaboratively plan for growth in transitional urban areas,” Hutchinson wrote.
“We’re cautiously optimistic that we can come to common grounds with the developer and work with the city of Raleigh and the County to come to a good solution for all of us,” said Chesterfield Village resident Larry Matthews.
