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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 concerning 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
citizens, 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 outspoken
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 given the 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 commissioners meeting.
“Expect it to be a long night,”
said Commissioner Mike Jones.
The Apex Herald
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