November 2015 Update

Sorry it’s been a while since my last post. I’ve been trying to dig myself out of a honey-do hole since the election ended. ;-) It has also been nice to get back in the swing of things at work and get my hands dirty again. I am thankful I get to make a living doing something I really enjoy, and plus I get to work with my wife so that’s awesome – if we didn’t work together we’d hardly ever see each other.

There’s a lot to talk about since I last posted. I’ll do my best to keep it short and sweet but I’ll also go ahead and apologize in advance for it running long. ;-)

Post-election

Congratulations to Cary’s newest council member, Ken George. I look forward to Ken joining the council and participating in a meaningful way. Ken is a long time Cary resident having raised his family here and he owns and operates his business here. Ken has a good feel for the community and the Cary way and will serve District D and Cary well.

Thanks again to the 60% of District B voters for your faith and trust in me to serve as your representative for another four years. To the 40% who preferred one of my opponents, I promise to work even harder to earn your support.

Here is our new council group photo.

Just kidding ;-)

Congratulations also to my good friend, Michael Schlink on his reelection victory to the Morrisville Town Council and also to Satish Garimella for his election victory. Michael is a great guy. I don’t know anyone in Morrisville who cares more about their community than Michael and he deserved another term to continue his work to make Morrisville a better place. I also had the pleasure of getting to know Satish during the campaign and he, like Michael, also brings a community over politics attitude to their council. Given the partnerships and regional interests of both our communities, a quality council in Morrisville is important.

Who’s got Spirit?

Anne B. Kratzer, Brent Miller and Desiree Kettler that’s who! Anne, Brent and Desiree were the nominees for this year’s Hometown Spirit Award and who are all extraordinary folks who give so much of themselves for our community and are deserving of such recognition. I’m glad that council members aren’t on the awards committee ;-) The winner of the 2015 Town of Cary Hometown Spirit Award Winner is……….., Anne B. Kratzer!!! Congratulations to Anne, Brent and Desiree for being nominated and thank you for all that you do for Cary!

Desiree, Brent and Anne

The “That is so cool Award” however goes to Brent Miller. Brent nominated Anne. How cool is that? ;-)

Veterans Day Celebrations

I had the honor and privilege of participating at Cary’s Veteran’s Day Luncheon at the Herb Young Community Center and Cary’s Veteran’s Day Celebration at the Veterans Freedom Park Memorial. Both events were a moving tribute to our nation’s veterans and their families. We are forever grateful for their service and sacrifices.

I also had the privilege of speaking to Cub Scout Pack 208 about elections and my service on the council. I always enjoy speaking to kids. I especially enjoy the questions they ask! Kids don’t sugarcoat a thing – I love it. I do my best to answer those that I can without scarring their minds or upsetting the parents or teachers ;-) But once in a while I do find myself staring at them for a few seconds before I smile and say, “next question” ;-)

The funniest political question I ever got - While speaking to 3^rd graders I had a kid ask me, “What is the difference between a Republican and Democrat?” I looked at the teacher with a smile and said, “Can I answer that?” She thought about it for a few seconds and said, “Probably best you don’t”. Smart…. ;-)

Next question!

Downtown Library Update

The council held a worksession to discuss design considerations for the new downtown Cary regional library, an update on Imagine Cary, and to talk about the upcoming council retreat.

While the topic that received the greatest discussion was the library building and parking layout options, we also learned a little more about the library itself.

The new library will be between 22,000-25,000 sq ft and two stories tall. It will include large and medium sized multipurpose programming rooms as well as a quiet study lounge. There will be 11 librarians on staff - compared to 3 at the existing library - and over 125,000 books along with increased public computer space.

In order to stay on schedule and not jeopardize Wake County’s Bond funding requirements the library needs to be completed by the fall of 2018. To make this happen Wake County needs to begin design work by January. If we do not hustle, the downtown library will have to wait until Wake County passes another Library Bond referendum, and all of our work to get the downtown library included as a bond project will be lost.

The council affirmed previous decisions. The library will go where we always said it would and we will be constructing a 4 level, 350 space parking structure in conjunction with the library. The deck will not only serve the library; but also provide public parking for the Cary Arts Center, the park, downtown events and future private development.

The council also agreed to invest in a façade that disguises the deck as a residential/office building to soften the views from the park. In a perfect world we would have preferred to wrap the deck with residential and office development, but given Wake County’s time constraints and the complexities of bringing in a private developer to make this happen, well, it just isn’t going to happen. And that’s OK.

The end product will be remarkable. Private development will occur between the deck and Walnut and Walker Streets similar to the image below. Private development – especially office or commercial – needs the visibility and access from the street to be viable.

Council Retreat

The council will be traveling to Greensboro for our retreat. Our main discussion topic will be redevelopment and infill development as this will be one of Cary’s biggest challenges from here on out as there aren’t many large undeveloped tracts of land left in Cary. The majority of future development will be infill or redevelopment of older properties and we need to better understand how to support that while protecting the character of existing development and especially neighborhoods.

Town Manager Search

The council has spent a great deal of time reviewing potential candidates to be Cary’s next Town Manger. After narrowing a large field of quality applicants down to our “top ten”, we then whittled the field down to six. After a day and a half of interviewing those six candidates we then narrowed the list down to three finalists so we’re getting close! Unfortunately there isn’t much more I can tell you as this is a confidential personnel matter, but please know that we are working as hard as we can to find the best person possible to be Cary’s next manager.

Council Meeting

We had a long meeting this past Thursday. Highlights include:

The council held a public hearing for the proposed Lewter property rezoning at the intersection of Carpenter Fire Station and Green Level Church Roads. The land is currently zoned for medium to high density residential. The applicant is proposing commercial to include a Publix grocery store.

A number of folks showed up to speak in opposition to the project with a couple of folks speaking in support of the proposal. Council has also received a number of emails on the topic and those run about 50/50 for and against.

At the end of the day, the question for me is do I believe the best use of this property to be commercial development or more apartments? I have my thoughts but will let the process run its course before commenting further. Cary’s Planning and Zoning Board will review the case and make a recommendation to council prior to our decision.

The council also approved a new connectivity ordinance that creates three tiers to determine whether or not connectivity to adjoining properties would be required. This – hopefully – will provide greater flexibility to applicants and neighborhoods who oppose connecting adjacent properties when public safety and traffic flow requirements are adequately addressed.

In a nutshell, new development adjacent to older properties (those approved prior to 1999 that were not planned for connectivity and have adequate public safety and traffic access) would not be required to connect to the existing development. Pedestrian and utility connections however would still be required.

Newer developments however (those planned for connectivity to include those with street stubs) would still be required to connect. Another bonus is that this decision can now be considered at the time of rezoning and not have to wait until site plan giving residents more security that what is proposed will actually happen.

The council also approved the concept plan and phase two for Mills Park as well as the next phase of the Panther Creek Greenway. The greenway connections will create a continuous trail from Cameron Pond to Cary Park developments, Mills Park and Mills Park Middle School.

The second phase of Mills Park with include a playground for children, new restroom facilities, a 30 car parking lot and picnic shelter.

That's all for now. As always, thanks for reading and I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!!!

Thank You Cary Voters!

Thank you Cary District B voters for your faith and trust in me to continue to serve as your representative for another term! I am forever grateful and humbled by the level of support we received throughout our campaign and on Election Day.

Winning an election is truly a team effort and we could not have succeeded without the hard work and support of a number of folks.

First and foremost I want to thank my lovely wife Lisa and my family for their love, encouragement and especially their patience not only throughout this campaign, but also during my service on the council over the last eight years. Serving and campaigning can really take its toll on one’s family. Without family support, most will fail at the ballot box, at home or both. My family has always been behind me 110% because we believe in something bigger than ourselves – we believe in our community.

I want to thank my campaign team for all their efforts and the personal sacrifices they made which took time away from their families and jobs to help us win reelection. This was a group effort and I am thankful to have the best team in Wake County! Your support and friendship means the world to me!

I also want to thank all of my council colleagues past and present for their public support of our campaign – especially those who stood strong and supported my candidacy over that of their political party. While serving on the council is non-partisan, oftentimes getting elected isn’t. To publicly oppose the wishes of one’s political party takes guts and speaks volumes about one’s character and integrity. Cary is truly blessed to have such wonderful people on the council and in Raleigh who believe in community over politics.

I am also very proud that despite all the “noise” during the campaign we remained positive and professional. Cary citizens deserve nothing less.

I am excited about what the future holds in Cary. Over the next four years we will see the completion of the Town Square Park, Academy Street and the new Downtown Regional Library. Additional commercial, office, residential development and parking is on the way. Cary’s older neighborhoods will continue to experience increased private investment further promoting home ownership and increased property values. Great things are happening in and around downtown and I am thrilled that I get to continue to be a part of that.

I promise that we will continue to practice fiscal restraint and to budget conservatively while furthering our efforts to make Cary a more business friendly community. Quality of life begins with a good paying job.

I also pledge to continue to support growth management practices that protect the character and charm of existing neighborhoods and communities; and contrary to what you may have heard, environmental protection remains a priority of mine and this council.

And last but certainly not least, I remain committed to open communication and more importantly, I promise to continue to listen to the citizens I serve - I do work for you after all.

Congratulations also to my colleagues and good friends Mayor Harold Weinbrecht and Council Member Lori Bush for their election victories as well. I was a little worried that the Mickey Mouse might pull an upset, but they persevered. ;-)

Thank you all again for your support. It has been a pleasure to get to know so many of you during my time on the council and I look forward to continuing to work with you to make Cary an even better place to live, work and raise a family.

In your service,

Don Frantz

Cary Town Council District B

919-612-6870

Setting the Record Straight

Other than my campaign announcement for re-election, I have avoided using my blog for political purposes. That isn’t what I created it for. I started blogging over seven years ago to not only communicate with Cary citizens about what it is I am working on as a member of the council, but to also inform you of how I voted on a particular topic and why I voted that way.

Unfortunately however, my opposition has been spreading lies and misinformation and I must set the record straight.

Communication and Transparency

Not only has he accused the entire Cary Town Council of failing to communicate with Cary citizens, but he has gone so far as to state that we are somehow “engaging in backroom deals”.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

This council has been the most transparent in Cary history. All of our meetings are open to the public and advertised well in advance. Council meeting agendas are posted on the town’s website the week prior to our meeting and we also have an email notification system that alerts subscribers to upcoming meetings with links to our meeting agendas. We then follow that up by sending out another email after our meeting to inform citizens of council actions. If you aren’t already subscribed to the town’s email notification system, you can do so by clicking here.

To further promote citizen input, we moved the “public speaks out” portion of our council meeting to the beginning of our agenda so that citizens are given the opportunity to speak on any topic before any council action is taken.

We also initiated a new process that requires developers to meet with nearby property owners to explain their proposals and receive citizen input BEFORE the first council meeting and public hearing is ever held. Citizens now often learn about a potential project before we do.

We created the Cary Matters television program where we discuss topics of interest, and the town now even has a Facebook and Twitter page to further disseminate information. We are also currently working to update the town’s website to make it even more user friendly and easier for folks to find the information they are looking for.

This council works very hard to communicate with and listen to our citizens.

The Mayton Inn

My opponent has also been critical of the Mayton Inn – the hotel currently under construction on Academy Street in Downtown Cary. He accuses the council of spending “millions in taxpayer dollars” on the project. That is false.

The town sold the property to the hotel and assisted with a $1.4 million HUD loan from the federal government.

The town is self-financing the sale of the property. That will be repaid to the town over a 10 year period with interest.

The $1.4 million HUD loan is a loan between the federal government and the hotel and is to be repaid by the hotel – not the town. The town does however guarantee the loan repayment to HUD via Cary’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds that we receive from the federal government. Should the hotel be unable to repay the loan, the town essentially loses that amount in CDBG funds we would otherwise receive from HUD. The town currently receives about $500,000 annually in CDBG funds.

I know what you are thinking, “how can you use HUD funds on a hotel?” I asked the very same question. Well HUD’s section 108 loan program allows the use of HUD monies on economic development projects that create a certain amount of jobs for low income folks.

I kind of like the program honestly. It helps to give low income folks a hand up – not a hand out.

In a nutshell we basically had two choices with the HUD monies. We could use those funds to provide for more subsidized low income housing options in Cary, or we could instead leverage those funds on an economic development project that creates jobs for low income folks, provides an amenity in our downtown and adds to our property tax base. Which would you have selected?

My opponent has also stated that “should the project fail, I fear the bank will turn it into luxury condos”. While I respect his opinion, it is speculation that it will fail and what the bank would do with it if it did. Heck, it hasn’t even opened for business yet and he is already trying to board the place up. But for the sake of argument let’s say that happens. My question then becomes would luxury condos in downtown Cary really be a bad thing? Really? Heck, I’d buy one.

The council does recognize the risk should the hotel be unable to honor their commitment with HUD, but we believe that risk to be low and a risk we were willing to take.

While I agree with little my opponent has stated during this campaign, there is however one comment he has made that I do agree with, “the residential real estate market inside the Maynard Loop is stronger than ever.”

Why do you think that is? Our revitalization efforts inside the Maynard Loop and in downtown maybe?

Fracking

My opponent also claims that I want to Frack in Cary and that I “support adding fracking waste water to Cary’s drinking water.”

This is absolutely crazy and a perfect example of how far political opportunists will go in an attempt to scare folks into voting for them. Given who is advising his campaign I am not surprised.

For the record, I do not support fracking in Cary or anywhere near our water supply.

I do however support a safe and responsible way in which to extract natural gas from the ground. Let’s face it, we need natural gas to heat our homes, produce electricity, cook our food and even run air conditioning systems.

The quote from me that my opponent takes out of context and uses on a doom and gloom campaign mailing reads, “I think it [fracking] can be done in a safe and responsible manner.”

The key word there is “think”. I think it can. But is it currently? I honestly don’t know. Does anybody know for sure? The Obama administration seems ok with it.

But what I do know is that oil companies and government agencies should continue to work to improve upon the methods used to extract natural gas from the ground to ensure that it is being done in a safe and responsible manner. We can either take advantage of our own natural resources, or we can continue to send billions of dollars overseas to foreign countries who hate our guts.

I also supported a council resolution to the North Carolina General Assembly that stated that “IF” the state were to allow fracking in North Carolina, that we retain local authority over any potential shale gas development. That resolution passed unanimously.

And is this even a Cary issue or a state and federal issue anyways? Fracking in Cary? Really? Not happening.

If you want a self-proclaimed environmental activist as your next councilman, then by all means vote for my opponent. If you prefer someone who instead focuses on local issues that directly impact our daily lives and community and who has a proven record of delivering results, then I am your candidate.

In Closing

I do not expect anyone to agree with every decision I make or position I take. Heck, I can’t think of any elected official I agree with 100% of the time – including my council colleagues. But when I find one I agree with more often than not and who does what they believe is in the best interest of our community and is honest with me about it, I am going to continue to support them.

I am running for reelection to continue to work to make Cary a better place to live, work and raise a family and I hope that through my efforts I have earned your trust and support for reelection. I ask for your vote again on October 6^th.

Downtown Library Update

The council held a worksession this past Tuesday to discuss the building footprint and parking considerations for the new downtown Cary library.

Wake County staff and their consultants need to begin conceptual programming in October so that they can meet their design deadline of January, 2016. Things will be moving pretty fast from here on out so that Wake County can meet their bond funding requirements and that the library can be completed by the summer of 2018.

The library will be approximately 25,000 sq ft – more than double the size of the existing library on Academy Street and will be constructed at the corner of Walnut Street and Kildaire Farm Road across from the Cary Arts Center and Cary Elementary school. We are also looking to partner with the private sector to locate office, residential and restaurants on the site. You can read more about why we selected this site for the downtown Cary Library here.

The two primary questions for the council pertained to how we would like to see the building(s) situated and parking options.

I am pleased that the council ultimately selected a building layout very similar to that which we approved in 2010, and that we prefer structured parking over surface parking as a surface parking lot with the required number of parking spaces would consume most of the available land left for development and jeopardize future opportunities.

Potential Library with Surface Parking

We also need additional parking to better serve The Cary Arts Center and surrounding area. Building structured parking in conjunction with the library helps to meet those needs.

It makes little fiscal sense to spend over a million dollars on a surface parking lot that would ripped out a year or two later to construct a deck. I’d prefer to put that money towards structured parking and do it right the first time. Private development also provides the opportunity for additional funding partners to help pay for it.

Artist's Rendering of Library and Structured Parking Wrapped with Private Development

The folks from Wake County will spend the next few weeks working to further refine the concept based on council feedback and will report back sometime next month. Town staff in the meantime will be working to identify funding options for council to consider.

Exciting things are happening downtown! Oh, I almost forgot, more good news is that once the new library is completed, the town can then sell the existing library site and land behind it for redevelopment which will provide additional funds to help offset the cost of structured parking or other town initiatives.

That's about it for now. I'll provide another update once we meet again with Wake County and town staff. Thanks for reading!

FY16 Budget

The council has a number of key responsibilities – none more important than the town’s budget. Nor does any one responsibility require more focus, time and effort than the annual budget process. #gladitsover

We completed that process Thursday evening when the council unanimously approved Cary’s FY16 budget. The budget totals $295 million - $218 million for operations and $77 million for capital.

Operations is exactly what it says – the day to day operations of the town’s functions and departments to include police, fire, administration, public works etc…

Capital is the brick and mortar part – the police and fire stations themselves, community centers, water treatment plants, infrastructure etc…

The operations budget is roughly a 4% increase over last year’s budget – mainly due to the addition of 25 new town employees to include an animal control officer, police officer, three new firefighters, customer service representatives and a position to administer Cary’s new open-data program. #lorisbaby This will increase the number of Cary town employees to 1255 – or 8.1 employees per 1000 residents; one of the lowest employee to citizen ratios in the state and lower than last year’s ratio of 8.2. The town of Cary continues to do more with less. #carystaffisawesome

The capital budget is roughly $25 million higher than FY15 yet $25 million lower than FY14 – sounds odd I know, but given the size and scope of capital projects, such variation really isn’t out of the ordinary. A seven mile long water pipeline (to increase water treatment capacity and reliability) in this year’s budget is $19 million alone. We didn’t have to build/fund that last year. #thatsoneexpensivepipe

This was our second year using the new priority-based budgeting process. I talked about that change in process in my blog post about last year’s budget so I won’t repeat it again, but if you aren’t familiar with it and would like to learn more, please click here.

I will say however, that I prefer this method over the previous as it better removes politics from the process. Priorities are ranked by staff based on factual data and need – not politics. #politiciansruinstuff

The first draft of the budget presented to council recommended a three cent tax increase – two cents to cover the voter approved bond projects and an additional cent to cover a projected loss of $1.5 million in revenue as a result of the North Carolina General Assembly’s elimination of the business privilege license tax. #thanksformakinguswholeguys

However, after updated revenue and spending projections – not to mention a lot of calculating and recalculating by the fine folks in Cary’s budget office - it was determined that the third cent increase was no longer necessary.

To give an idea of just how hard Cary staff worked to squeeze every penny possible, after reevaluating interest rates and current rates of return, they found an extra $340.00 in Cary’s fleet fund investment earnings. Seriously, in a $295 million budget, they worked to find 340 bucks. #Karlthebudgetslayer

Staff also identified an additional $57,000 in beer and wine tax revenue. #staythirstymyfriends

Other notable items in this year’s budget include:

·         A new fire pumper truck

·         $800,000 in sidewalk and pedestrian facility improvements

·         Kilmayne water storage tank (water tower)

·         ADA and access improvements to Sertoma Amphitheater

·         Resurfacing of 23 miles of town streets

·         Remove the stupid medians and install a traffic signal at Morrisville Parkway + Carpenter Upchurch intersection

·         Support for the town-wide Google and AT&T gigabit fiber installations

·         Increases transportation development fees paid by developers by 10%

Not surprisingly there just isn’t enough money to do everything the town would like to do. To add anything into the budget means something has to come out. Its really no different than how you prioritize and balance your own budgets. Do you get the new roof or paint the house instead? Do you buy a new car or keep the old one going another year? #Iknowagoodmechanic

That 800 grand in sidewalk improvements above was originally projected at $1.6 million. But to help eliminate that extra cent tax increase and make the desired improvements at Morrisville Parkway and Carpenter Upchurch, something had to give. That’s but one example of the tradeoffs we made.

I can’t thank the folks in Cary’s budget office, our department directors and Town Manager, Ben Shivar enough for all their efforts. This was, in my opinion, one of our more difficult years given the continuing challenges with the economy and changes in state law – not to mention we had already cut quite a bit in previous years to cope with the recession.

Special thanks also to the many citizens who provided input during the budget process – it was very helpful as we worked to better identify what was most important to the community. #ilovecary

Council Worksession on TDFs and Building Design Standards Downtown

The council held a worksession this past Tuesday to discuss a number of items to include a proposed increase to Cary’s Transportation Development Fees (TDFs), Land Development Ordinance Text Amendments and updates to the town’s Building Design Standards.

Council members Robinson and Smith were both absent from the meeting.

Transportation Development Fees:

Town staff and consultants recently completed a comprehensive study of Cary’s transportation development fees on the basis of full cost recovery of thoroughfare improvements and presented their findings and recommendation for a fee increase to council.

The two primary recommendations and discussion items were;

1)      Increase Cary’s TDFs to 60% of full cost recovery. This represents an approximate 10% increase over Cary’s existing TDFs.

2)      Continue to increase TDFs annually at a rate of 5% during the budget process.

Cary’s TDFs were last increased in 2013 and 2008 respectively.

Town staff and consultant’s justification for the proposed increase include inflation and rising construction costs.

Current TDFs for a single family detached home in Cary are $1359.00. The proposal would increase that amount to $1573.00. Raleigh currently charges $1661.00 and Durham charges $1405.00 so while Cary’s fees would become higher than Durham, we would still be lower than Raleigh.

The cost differentials remain about the same for multi-family construction as well – Cary would still be lower than Raleigh but higher than Durham.

Office and commercial construction is a different story.

TDFs for retail development in Cary are currently $1466.00 per 1000sq ft. The proposed increase would take that number to $1637.00. Raleigh currently charges $2695.00 and Durham’s fees are $4423.00. Both Raleigh and Durham’s fees would remain significantly higher than Cary.

TDFs for office development are currently $2004.00 per 1000 sq ft. The proposal would increase Cary’s fees to $2113.00. Raleigh’s fees are currently $2055.00 and Durham’s are $3366.00. This would make Cary’s fees higher than Raleigh, but lower than Durham….whose fees on commercial and office are ridiculously high when compared to their neighbors.

Note – Cary’s numbers above apply to development outside the central district (inside the Maynard Loop) Cary’s fees inside the Maynard Loop are set lower to incent new development/redevelopment.

My concern(s) with the proposed fee increase pertains to the commercial/office side more so than the residential. I struggle with increasing costs on the job creators. You know, the folks like MetLife, Bass Pro Shops, CBC Americas, Deutsche Bank, HCL, SAS and hundreds of small businesses; many of which have fled high tax/fee states looking for a more business friendly climate and highly educated and talented employees like we have here in Cary. Heck, Cary was even one of two finalist cities for USA Tennis out of New York. Unfortunately we lost out to Orlando on that one (tough to compete with Disney World, beaches and year-round warm weather) but it’s just another example of what we have to offer here in Cary and what employers and organizations are looking for.

Unfortunately (for me anyways) Cary does not have legislative authority to only increase fees on say residential but not office or commercial. If we choose to increase our TDFs, we must increase them across the board.

So again, while I might could be ok with a TDF increase on residential, I really struggle with increasing costs on businesses here in Cary.

Cary’s unemployment rate is around 3.5% which blows away most everywhere else in the country. I want to keep it that way. So if lower costs are an important factor in why many businesses are relocating to Cary, why would we want to increase their costs? And when you consider that a number of companies were provided city, county and state financial incentives, well, I just don’t see how increased costs compliment our job recruitment efforts.

Building Design Standards

Much of the discussion centered around the proposed changes for building materials in downtown and Cary’s Historic Districts.

Cary’s design standards throughout town call for a minimum of 35% masonry material on new construction of commercial or attached residential. In 2012 the council raised the masonry requirement for downtown to 75%. The thinking was that the increased standard would result in higher quality development downtown.

The result? No development.

Quality projects such as Samuel’s Keep, The Townes of Madison, Highland Village and my personal favorite – Frantz Automotive Center ;-) were developed under Cary’s 35% masonry standard and have added value to our downtown. We have not seen a new project like those since the masonry requirement was raised to 75%. It simply increases costs to the point where projects are no longer financially viable. Look at the two images below. Neither of them meet the current design standards of 75%. Why would we want to discourage any more development like this in downtown?

Samuel's Keep

Townes of Madison

Just so we are clear, a 35% requirement doesn’t mean that is all you get. Samuel’s Keep for example is roughly 42% masonry. It is simply the minimum that would be allowed.

I am pleased that at our worksession the council supported reducing the requirement back to 35%. Town staff and Cary’s Downtown Development manager, Ted Boyd also supported a reduction in the masonry requirement. There will be a public hearing prior to official action by the council.

In regards to Cary’s historic districts – Downtown, Carpenter and Green Level – the thinking was a little different. In downtown for example, many buildings have some amount of brick, while in Carpenter, most buildings are completely wood. To require a brick building in an area such as Carpenter would be very much out of character. In downtown however, a partially brick building would be in character with its surroundings. So, we decided to continue to require the 35% masonry in the downtown historic district while allowing for all wood construction in Carpenter and Green Level.

I am hopeful the proposed changes will spur more of the private investment in our downtown we are looking for. Time will tell.

That’s all for this post. As always, thanks for reading!

Downtown Cary Library

At a council retreat in 2010, the council unanimously selected a site adjacent to the new downtown park near the intersection of Walnut Street and Kildaire Farm Road and across the street from the Cary Arts Center and Cary Elementary as the location for the new downtown Cary Library.

There have been a couple of articles in the Cary News lately that have implied that the council may be reconsidering that decision.

That is incorrect.

While one council member wants to reconsider that decision – the council does not.

While I can respect and appreciate this councilmember’s position, this decision was made years ago and there has been plenty of time for folks to express any concerns they may have had.

There are a number of reasons the council selected the site we did for the new downtown Cary Library.

·         Create a synergy with Cary Elementary School and The Cary Arts Center
·         The library’s location in a park setting will encourage folks to stay in downtown a while and maybe relax with their new book in the park, or visit one of downtown’s many restaurants and shops
·         The town already owns the property
·         Proximity to the existing Library’s location – pretty much across the street and near the corner of Walnut and Kildaire Farm/Dry Ave – a few hundred feet from Academy Street
·         Close to neighborhoods so that area residents can walk to the library
·         Potential plans include structured parking, which the Cary Arts Center desperately needs and could take advantage of – and not to mention our downtown festivals that mainly occur along that stretch of Academy Street
·         Our vision for downtown Cary is bigger than the intersection at Chatham and Academy Street
·         Allows for redevelopment of the existing library site – which Wake County wants to keep open until the new library is constructed

I do not subscribe to the notion that the new library “seems too far way to benefit our downtown businesses”, and that “people won’t want to walk half a mile to Chatham Street”.

If that is the case, then why are we spending millions to improve Academy Street to include wider sidewalks, lighting, bike racks and artistic elements to promote walkability if no one is going to walk up and down the street? Why did we invest $13 million in the Cary Arts Center at the end of Academy Street? Why did we partner with Belle at the Jones House restaurant at the corner of Academy and Dry or the Mayton Inn located halfway down Academy Street?

I also fail to comprehend how the same folks who don’t support the new library site out of concerns that it will not benefit businesses along Chatham Street are the same ones who supported a small 2-4 acre park in downtown so that the majority of land could be developed into high density residential, retail and businesses…. that would directly compete with those same Chatham Street businesses they are so concerned about.

While the council’s plan does allow for redevelopment of some of the “opportunity site” as some like to call it, the majority (7 acres) of the property remains what was promised to our citizens– a large downtown park.

The council recently visited downtown – excuse me, Uptown Charlotte for our council retreat. One thing we learned from them was not to solely focus on one area of downtown. Charlotte supports and encourages development and redevelopment anywhere and everywhere around downtown regardless of proximity to “the core”. They discovered that development doesn’t have to start in the center and work its way out – it can also occur on the fringes and work its way inward. The same can and will happen here in downtown Cary.

I am pretty sure that when the Metropolitan in downtown Charlotte was proposed that a number of folks probably asked, “Why are you building that way over there? How is that going to help us?” Heck, it even needed a new road constructed to even get to it. But just look at it now.

No one project will make or break downtown Cary. Each and every one is but a small piece in a rather large puzzle. The more projects we see completed in downtown, the more that will come – success breeds success.

One of the reasons I ran for council was that I was sick and tired of all the talk and no action downtown. The town talked a good game, but nothing was happening. Absent from the council majority was the political will to invest in downtown. That changed in 2007 when a new council was elected. Since then we have been making steady progress, but acknowledge that we have a long way to go.

I will always remember a comment I heard while on a visit to downtown Greenville, SC. a few years ago. “Downtown revitalizations are a twenty year overnight success”. It is so true. Nothing happens overnight, but if things keep happening, success will come.

I plan on keeping things happening.

Breaking up is hard to do.

I am no longer a registered Republican. I am now a member of the fastest growing political party in the nation – unaffiliated.

As an elected official who has been fairly active in party politics over the years this was no easy decision I promise you. I have donated time and money to both the party and party candidates. I was a delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention and have served as a state and county delegate on numerous occasions. I have walked miles of neighborhoods, made thousands of phone calls, and stood in the rain at polling places for Republican Party candidates.

The local and state Republican Party has been good to me over the years. They and their affiliate organizations and party volunteers have supported and worked for me in previous elections. I am forever grateful for their support and proud to call many of them my friends.

But I can’t support the Republican Party any more.

I agonized over this decision for months. But the more I tried to talk myself into staying with the Republican Party, the more I talked myself out of it.

Now before all you Democrats start thinking this is some miraculous epiphany on my part – don’t. Neither party has a monopoly on suck right now; and for all the Republican Party’s faults, I would never, ever consider joining today’s Democratic Party.

My decision has more to do with the hyper-partisanship of both political parties than it does solely with today’s Republican Party.

Do I have issues with the GOP? Sure I do. Did those issues contribute to my decision? Absolutely. But there’s a lot more to it than that.

I am disgusted with both political parties and partisan politics; and given Congress’ dismal approval rating over the years – regardless of which party has been in control – it appears I aint the only one. Influenza, used car salesmen and root canals have a higher approval rating than both parties in Congress and for good reason - they stink.

I am only 44 years old, but even I can remember a time when folks on both sides of the aisle could respectfully disagree and occasionally worked through their differences for the betterment of our nation. That clearly isn’t the case anymore. Politics has become personal. Winning has become more important than doing the right thing. Political gamesmanship trumps solving problems. Power and control is what today’s parties fight for. Compromise is a foreign concept.

The media, rabid special interest groups and corporate interests further fuels this division. If you can’t attack the message, attack the messenger!

Anything a Democrat proposes, Republicans will oppose and vice-versa. I am sure that if one party submitted a bill proclaiming the sky blue, the other side would oppose it….and then go on TV to rail about how blue skies are a budget buster, racist or cause global warming or something.

I take great pride in the fact that is NOT how we operate on the Cary Council. We are a fairly diverse group of members – Republicans, Democrats and an unaffiliated (two now). Yet our politics does not define who we are or how we govern. We respect each other’s positions and always look to work together on policies or initiatives that everyone can be satisfied with and that ultimately move our community forward. Sure we disagree at times, but it never becomes personal. We are better than that. I genuinely like and respect all of my council colleagues – they are good people. And In the seven years I have been on the council, I really cannot recall one single “party line” vote. Not one.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “I didn’t leave my party, my party left me.” Well, I wish it were that simple. It isn’t.

So what are some of my issues with the GOP? That’s a difficult question as what they stand for often depends on the letter at the end of the name of the person residing in the White House.

Take the NSA for example – It is a matter of national security that my government listen to my phone calls or read my emails when Bush is President, but it becomes an assault on freedom when Obama does it. Stimulus programs or government bailouts are ok when a Republican is in the White House, but it is socialism when a Democrat does it.

It is easy to tell what today’s Republican Party stands against – Democrats. It is difficult to determine what they actually stand for. But if you are looking for a political party who votes to repeal Obamacare every other week without offering a better idea or alternative, the GOP is for you!

The “last straw” for me (besides their obsession with social issues) was immigration reform – or lack thereof. The Republican Party and their candidates promised last year that if elected, they would fight for real immigration reform and stand up to Obama’s executive amnesty. They lied....again. Looking back I don’t know why I even held out hope that they would keep their word. The reality is that both parties have been lying to Americans regarding immigration for decades. Neither party really wants to fix it as the GOP sees them cheap labor and the Dems see voters. The overwhelming majority of Americans want our borders secured, but neither party does anything about it.

I believe myself to be a limited government fiscal conservative. I believe in liberty, individual responsibility, American exceptionalism, the free market and a strong national defense. I believe government’s role is to provide every citizen the opportunity to achieve their own personal success or goals – not guarantee it. Government can’t do everything for everyone, nor should it.

I would not however describe myself as a social conservative. I really don’t care if you are gay, and nor do I care why you are gay. That’s your deal, not mine. Who someone loves is none of my business as long as it doesn’t negatively impact me or my family or cost me money. Liberty, remember?

It baffles me how the self-proclaimed party of “limited government” is the first to insert themselves into someone’s bedroom or up a woman’s skirt, but I digress….

Those values are apparently in conflict with today’s Republican Party.

I never expect to agree 100% with any political party or official. But I do expect their platforms and actions to remain fairly consistent. I want my elected leaders to think for themselves – not do what their party tells them to do. I want my leaders to lead.

Hyper-partisanship is destroying our political system and our nation. I don’t want to be a part of it any longer.

I will continue to support those candidates for elected office that I believe best represent my values and are people of character and integrity. I will continue to oppose those who do not. And if that means I end up voting for “none of the above” in some races then so be it. I have never voted straight party ticket to begin with.

I hope this helps you understand my decision and I apologize if this rambled.

Thanks for your support.

RETREAT! 2015

The 2015 Cary Town Council and Staff Retreat was held in Charlotte this past weekend and I have to say, this was probably one of the best – if not the best - retreats I have ever participated in.

The focus of this year’s retreat was redevelopment and in-fill development – a topic we find ourselves struggling with more and more each year; especially in regards to our downtown. But unlike past retreats where the majority of our information and discussion sessions took place in a hotel conference room, this year we spent most of our time touring the city and seeing things for ourselves.

The council chose to visit Charlotte for our retreat because they have experienced significant redevelopment in and around their downtown.  We wanted to see first-hand and hear from stakeholders involved in and impacted by Charlotte’s redevelopment efforts.

Yes, we know Charlotte is a very different city than Cary - and I think we all like it that way. We don’t want to be Charlotte and we aren’t trying to be Charlotte. But we can learn from their successes and failures in regards to development and redevelopment, and maybe apply some of that knowledge here in Cary.

All retreat participants traveled to Charlotte by train - and I have to say that if you are going to Charlotte, Amtrak is the way to go. The trip took approximately three hours – about the same as if you were to travel by car. The train was clean, comfortable and on time.

Cary Council on the train heading to Charlotte - Copyright Bush Photography ;-)

The Cary Train Depot is a beautiful facility. Unfortunately that is not the case in Charlotte. I was surprised that with all their efforts regarding transit – especially light rail – that they would have invested in the Charlotte Amtrak station and somehow tied that into their transit network. Getting to the train station is a breeze – getting from there to where you actually want to go? Not so much.

A bus picked us up at the station and took us to the Metropolitan – a fairly new mixed-use development just outside the city center. We toured the development and spoke with the developer. The project was a public-private partnership between the developer, the city and the county. The city and county assisted with infrastructure and zoning/permitting. One interesting thing about this project was a big box store on top of another big box store – a Target store is on top of what used to be a Home Depot (a BJ’s will be moving into the Home Depot Space soon).

Afterwards the council went to dinner at The King’s Kitchen – a non-profit restaurant who donates all of their profits to feed the poor in the Charlotte area. They also work to train and employ the poor and disabled. The food and service was outstanding and I highly recommend the sweet potato fritters. Seriously – get the fritters. Yum…

Friday morning we met with the Charlotte City Center Partners and city planners to discuss and learn more about their approach to land planning, partnerships and funding.

While partially funded via a special tax district, the Charlotte City Center Partners is a private organization that facilitates and promotes the economic, cultural and residential development in Charlotte’s urban core. They work very closely with the city and community to leverage public and private investment that supports walkable and pedestrian friendly development and ensures a diverse mix of business and residential opportunities.

One funding mechanism that Charlotte uses for qualifying projects is Tax Increment Financing (TIF). Charlotte’s TIF program focuses on infrastructure improvements such as water/sewer, roads, parking and greenways. The developer is required to construct and pay for the needed improvements, and is then reimbursed a percentage of the cost of the improvements after the project is completed and property taxes are paid at the post-development assessment.

TIF financing is and has been a controversial funding mechanism with some risk. Charlotte’s program however does not cover any up-front costs, and should the developer go bankrupt or the project fail, the city still gets the infrastructure the private entity constructed. Charlotte’s financial participation allows reservation of right to influence the type and form of a specific project, and the project(s) must provide for a public benefit.

We also learned about Charlotte’s land use plan – Centers, Corridors and Wedges Framework. Basically there are no limits in the city center (downtown Charlotte), high density along the road and transit corridors and lower density single family wedged in between.

Charlotte Land Use Plan

We spent quite a bit of time in South End – an area outside the city center that has experienced a tremendous amount of growth over the last seven years since the construction of the light rail – mostly apartments (thousands of units) along with some commercial and office.

Some of the apartment complexes were impressive while some were, well, not so much. You could easily tell which developers took pride in their projects and wanted to bring something of value to the community and which ones didn’t. Charlotte doesn’t have design guidelines like we have here in Cary so they are limited in what they can require in regards to building materials and architecture. They did state that this was something they were looking at, but like us are worried about State House Bill 150 that would limit what local governments can mandate in regards to development standards. They don’t want to rock the boat too much.

What was most impressive in South End to me was the re-use of old warehouse and factory buildings into restaurant, retail and residential uses. Any developer can build a new apartment complex – but I don’t care how much money you spend, you cannot recreate the look and feel of old buildings. I wish we had that here in Cary. We heard from the Developer of the Ice House, a bar and grill that used to be a mill (if I remember correctly). It is next to the old Charlotte trolley car station that is now a farmer’s market.

We also visited Seaboard Street and the NC Music Factory. If you want to see an impressive example of the redevelopment of historic property you really need to go here. Much of the property used to be a cotton mill and then an asbestos textiles factory. It cost over $5 million to remove all of the asbestos from the buildings before its redevelopment. It is now an entertainment venue with outdoor and indoor concerts, comedy club, bars and food services. The place was awesome.

NC Music Factory

The redevelopment of many of these properties could not have been possible without historic preservation tax credits – which our state legislature eliminated, but is now reconsidering. While I can appreciate the concerns of abuse and cost with the program, those concerns can be resolved. It is imperative for historic preservation and re-use that we put this program back in place. If you agree, please contact your state legislators and tell them to restore the historic preservation tax credit program.

Everywhere we went we either took the light rail or a bus. From there we walked… a lot. The light rail was impressive and I can see how such a transit system works in an urban city with the population and density of Charlotte. Wake County is probably 20-30 years behind. While I do not believe we should be building a light rail system any time soon, I do believe we should be working towards right-of-way acquisition and planning so that when the time comes we are better prepared.

Lots of walking - Copyright Robinson Photography ;-)

Charlotte will be constructing a new nine mile second leg of the Blue Line soon at a projected cost of $1 Billion. That’s billion with a B. I got five bucks that by the time its all said and done, it ends up being closer to $1.5 - $2 billion. It will run from the city to UNC Charlotte.

Charlotte's Light Rail

The construction of the light rail has triggered a tremendous amount of new development – mostly high density housing apartments.

We rode the light rail over a dozen times. Not once did anyone check or ask to see our tickets. You could just get on, go where you needed to go and get off. This was shocking to me. It also made me wonder how they can accurately keep track of ridership data; and not to mention aren’t ticket/pass sales supposed to help pay for it? There were not turnstiles to go through or anything to stop someone without a ticket from getting on. Sometimes there was hardly anyone on the train – and sometimes it was standing room only.

On the train ride back to Cary we spent much of the time debriefing and discussing what we learned – another advantage of taking the train. But man was it good to get back home.

Like I said at the beginning, this was one of the best retreats ever – less presentation and more seeing it for ourselves. I believe we learned a lot that we can apply here in Cary.

Special thanks to Lana Hygh, Ted Boyd and others for all their efforts to put this together. It was no easy task I am sure. I hope future retreats follow a similar format.

I also want to give a shout out to Lori Bush. She was sick the entire time but toughed it out and somehow managed to participate. She’s a trooper.

That’s about it I think. There was so much we saw and did that I’m sure I probably forgot something. Maybe Harold or Lori’s blog will offer even more insight to our retreat. No pressure guys! ;-)

Take care and as always, thanks for reading!