{"id":10266,"date":"2012-02-17T11:14:26","date_gmt":"2012-02-17T16:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raleighpublicrecord.org\/?p=10266"},"modified":"2012-02-23T13:40:10","modified_gmt":"2012-02-23T18:40:10","slug":"raleigh-neighborhood-protests-racquet-club-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/news\/2012\/02\/17\/raleigh-neighborhood-protests-racquet-club-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Raleigh Neighborhood Protests Racquet Club Development"},"content":{"rendered":"

One north Raleigh neighborhood could get busy in the coming months as developers plan to add a 64-home subdivision behind the already established Millbrook Estates off Falls of Neuse Road.<\/p>\n

The Raleigh Racquet Club<\/a> owns the undeveloped property behind Millbrook Estates, which is zoned R-4 for residential development. As the club owners make plans to develop the parcel with Ashton Woods Homes, they are requesting the city of Raleigh rezone the property to R-6.<\/p>\n

Typically, R-6 would allow for more houses on the property. In this case, however, the rezoning request is a wash \u2013 with the same number of homes permitted either way. What the rezoning will do, said Raleigh Racquet Club president Bill Edwards, \u201cis it allows clustered homes with a common space area.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Because of the topography of the property as well as a nearby creek and on-site Progress Energy power lines, the proposed rezoning will create \u201czoning conditions that limit the density on the property \u2026 and that provide a buffer adjacent to existing homes,\u201d Edwards said.<\/p>\n

But residents of Millbrook Estates aren\u2019t convinced that a city-mandated natural buffer will be enough to lessen the impact of this potential development on their neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Neighbors have expressed concerns about Ashton Woods Homes\u2019 plan to make Cypress Lane the exclusive entrance road into this new subdivision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is very concerning on several levels,\u201d said Cypress Lane resident Mariah Matheson.<\/p>\n

With 17 homes on Cypress Lane, adding four times the number of residents using what the city of Raleigh classifies as a minor residential road, \u201chas a lot of us on edge,\u201d Matheson said. \u201cThere are concerns of bottlenecking, being able to get out of the driveway and walkability within the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

A transportation comparison summary conducted by Kimley-Horn and Associates<\/a> as part of the rezoning application sees the impact of the rezoning as minimal.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur traffic engineer prepared a traffic comparison letter that compared the traffic that could be generated by the proposed rezoning with the traffic that could be generated by the existing rezoning,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cNo increase in traffic as a result of the rezoning was found.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Kimley-Horn\u2019s report, the proposed zoning would generate exactly as much traffic as it does now \u2013 345 vehicles traveling in and out of Cypress Lane each day.<\/p>\n

The report does not address any potential impacts of a 64-home neighborhood, but focuses on the impact of the rezoning request.<\/p>\n

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Though the transportation comparison summary doesn\u2019t focus on the potential of 64 new drivers, Millbrook Estates resident Joe Corey said that is his chief concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the impact from traffic will be on us,\u201d Corey said. \u201cThis is only going to add to an already busy neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

With 40 homes in Millbrook Estates, the subdivision\u2019s three roads see its share of traffic from Friendship Christian School, which has an entrance at the end of Ivy Lane.<\/p>\n

Many of those parents use Cypress Lane to access the school property from northbound Falls of Neuse Road, Corey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 7, 7:30 in the morning, people are speeding down this road to get to the school,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The school\u2019s current impact on the neighborhood is a factor some neighbors believe isn\u2019t accounted for in the traffic engineer\u2019s summary.<\/p>\n

The summary reports a total 55 cars going in and out of Cypress Lane during the a.m. peak hour; 70 cars go in and out during the p.m. peak hour.<\/p>\n

Friendship Christian School<\/a> officials estimate that of the school\u2019s 326 students, about 200 parents pick-up and drop-off students to the school each day. Drop-off time for students is 7:30 a.m., with pick-up time at 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

The comparison summary engineer for Kimley- Horn, Mike Horn, did not respond to requests for comments on the summary report.<\/p>\n

However, city transportation planner Fleming El-Amin said standard Raleigh peak traffic hours are 7:30-8:30 a.m. and 4:45-5:45 p.m.<\/p>\n

With school traffic in mind, Millbrook Estates residents suggested in a recent meeting with Ashton Woods Homes and the Raleigh Racquet Club that a new road be added for the proposed subdivision.<\/p>\n

That idea wasn\u2019t supported by the city or the traffic engineer, Edwards said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaleigh transportation staff and our traffic engineer advise us that new \u2018cuts\u2019 into the thoroughfare are discouraged and, neither believes it is warranted in this instance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Millbrook Estates residents disagree and are looking for ways to lessen the impact of Cypress Lane.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve requested a sidewalk or other road improvements and we have been told it\u2019s not necessary,\u201d Matheson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to begrudge the racquet club the right to develop its property,\u201d she added. \u201cIf we felt our needs were being heard, we wouldn\u2019t be against it.<\/p>\n

To ensure Millbrook Estates\u2019 best interests are kept in mind, some neighbors considered hiring their own traffic engineer to conduct an independent study of Cypress Lane.<\/p>\n