Cary residents raise concerns about potential housing project along Trinity Road
Developers want to build hundreds of new rental homes at an eastern Cary intersection near the Lenovo Center.
Seven properties along Trinity Road in Cary, near the N.C. State Fairgrounds, could be rezoned to a mixed-use area to make way for 375 multi-family homes and some commercial space. The area is also close to Interstate 40, SAS, Carter-Finley Stadium and the WakeMed Soccer Park.
At a meeting last week, the applicant, town and developer fielded questions from neighbors who raised concerns about the plan. The meeting is the first step in the rezoning process to notify property owners about projects and gauge interest or concerns.
Parker Poe, a law firm based in Raleigh, submitted the rezoning application for the property owners who are selling their land for the potential project. If approved, the Trinity Planned Development District project, or Trinity PDD, will be located at the corner of Chapel Hill and Trinity roads. The application lists these addresses for the rezoning:
Chapel Hill Road
Trinity Road
Tecumseh Court
1209 Trinity Road
1215 Trinity Road
1317 Trinity Road
1321 Trinity Road
The rezoning application asks the town to rezone the area for multi-family, mixed-use development to provide a “greater variety of housing densities and types in the area while creating a transition between single-family neighborhoods and commercial uses.”
The homes will be suitable for seniors, young families, young professionals, multi-generational households, empty nesters, and local workforce members, according to the application.
The commercial buildings could include restaurants, retail and convenience stores, personal services like a bank or dry cleaners, and a neighborhood recreation area. The buildings would be capped at four stories with pedestrian connections to other neighborhoods and properties.
Cary has lost affordable rental housing options in recent years as prices have increased. On average, Cary residents pay about $1,400 in rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the town and over $2,100 for a rental home, according to the latest estimates from Zillow.
Neighbors raise concerns of noise, traffic and the environment
On Feb. 5, over 20 neighbors raised concerns during a Zoom call about how the development would impact the existing problems they already face, like traffic.
Justin Allen, who lives on Trinity Road, said there’s already no safe way for people to cross Chapel Hill Road.
“There’s no pedestrian light there,” he said. “What is going to be done to ensure that infrastructure and pedestrian safety is going to be looked after?”
Charlotte Jones, a resident in the Bedfield neighborhood along Trinity Road, said she was concerned about adding to the traffic congestion and asked if there would be any effort to add public transportation. She also asked about plans to increase the community gathering area, which is proposed for 6,000 square feet.
Cary planned a traffic study for Trinity Road through the state Department of Transportation but it is on hold due to the state’s railroad project on the same road.
“Are there other alternatives to get to NC State, to SAS, to other places that Trinity is sometimes a cut though for?” Jones said. “I’m guessing that the traffic study did not happen during a Hurricanes game or the State Fair or a soccer tournament because we had gridlock.”
Some residents expressed concern about losing champion trees, which the town defines as hardwoods 32 inches or more in diameter and pine trees that are 40 inches or more in diameter.
Richard Jefferson, who lives along Tecumseh Court, had concerns about safety, noise on Chapel Hill Road and bright lights from event fields.
“You’re impacting our privacy, impacting our usability and our value of our homes,” he said. “People who don’t live here also poses a security threat to us.”
Jamie Schwedler of Parker Poe said the town has requirements developers need to follow to address noise, privacy, buffers and traffic. She said the town would also conduct a traffic study through a consultant that the applicant pays for.
They will also continue to examine ways the project will impact stormwater, the tree canopy and residents downstream from Trinity Road who use well water.
The plans for the project could change between what residents saw at the meeting and what is presented to the Cary Town Council.
“The decision is very far from being made; the purpose of the meeting is to solicit feedback which is typically mixed in a project like this,” Schwedler said. “We’re going to take that feedback into account as we listen to the town’s comments and reconfigure things before we submit.”
Next steps in the rezoning process
The rezoning application will eventually go to a public hearing at a future Cary Town Council meeting. After that, the plans will be sent to Cary’s Planning and Zoning Board for a recommendation to the Town Council on how to vote, which is the last step.