More Apex News: Housing, Grocery Stores, and More

Continuing the summary of events in a long, contentious, and consequential Apex Town Council meeting

In my last post, I summarized some of the most important things that happened at the meeting: the budget, Grace Christian discussions, utility updates. But the meeting was over 5 hours long, and a lot more happened. Let’s continue.

Altera Heights Approved

Key Takeaway: A 300 unit affordable high density complex was approved on Wimberly Road

Altera Heights is an affordable/attainable housing development on Wimberly Road. The developer committed to 12% of the units being income restricted, stated that all units would be priced to be affordable to people at that income level, but for financing reasons they couldn’t agree to have them all formally be income restricted. Affordable Housing advocates spoke out in favor of the project.

Opponents of the project point out that it is inconsistent with the land use map which has the parcel designated as commercial/office space, while proponents here respond that the map is out of date, about to be revised, commercial is problematic here which is why it hasn’t happened (no good road frontage, etc) - and there is next to no demand for new office space as existing office space has been vacant since COVID.

I sided with the housing advocates, and the project was approved 3-2 (Gantt, Zegerman dissenting). My comments addressing all of these points are below; but in summary: I agree that the land use map, now 6 or 7 years old, didn’t contemplate many of the relevant factors—like the nearby future park or the housing crisis. Since then, we’ve adopted a housing plan, and this parcel is exactly the kind likely to be reexamined during the upcoming update. If we are serious about addressing affordable housing we need to be willing to approve attainable projects like this for a range of housing choices and not just large lot single family homes (for the record, we later approved a project that is large lot single family homes).

New Hill Gets a Grocery Store (Hopefully. Probably.)

Key Takeaway: As part of the New Hill Commons PUD, a long requested grocery store was approved at New Hill Olive Chapel and Old US1

I say hopefully because, you know how these things go. A rezoning approval is a necessary step but by no means a guarantee the project will be seen to completion. But, given who the developer is and their track record, I am optimistic this will occur.

New Hill Commons is a mixed use PUD on the corner of New Hill Olive Chapel and Old US1. On the road frontage, we’re going to see commercial including a grocery store anchor (though they didn’t say which one) and low density single family homes behind it, consistent with and connecting to existing neighborhoods.

Passed 4-1 (Killingsworth dissenting).

The Perfect Development?

Next up was “Courtyards on Wimberly”. I say it was “perfect” because it was pretty clear the applicants had been watching Town Council meetings, and came to the meeting offering conditions to address all of the issues the Council typically picks at on a project. It’s 61 single family homes, including;

• Designating it a 55+ Community to address school capacity concerns

• A few units must have solar, all must be prewired for solar

• A donation to the Town’s affordable housing fund

• Numerous environmental conditions, including tree replacements

• Offsite sidewalk improvements (filling a gap)

• Offsite greenway construction (to complete a connection to ATT). This was important as a connection to the ATT wasn’t allowed on this property (too close to an existing connection)

Passed 5-0

Greenway Waste Solutions Landfill Expansion Approved

Key Takeaway: The yard waste landfill the town uses had an expansion approved, taking some pressure off of our yard waste program

This is the landfill you see from 540. They actually don’t accept household waste (that’s the county landfill next door) - just yard waste and similar. They’re running out of space, which is a concern since this is where our yard waste goes.

They worked out a land deal with Veridea, and required a rezoning for their expansion. This was approved 5-0.

309 N Salem St Rezoning Approved

This was a rather straightforward rezoning for a single building adding a single use. Approved 5-0

West Village PUD Amendment Approved

West Village is a complex PUD with multiple areas. The amendment here was to allow one portion to develop while only delivering their proportional share of the associated transportation improvements (around 8%), as opposed to originally written, where all transportation improvements had to be delivered before anything developed. CM Gantt objected, believing this would make the entire project less marketable and less likely to happen. Passed 4-1 (Gantt dissenting).

That’s all for now. If you appreciate these summaries, consider also following me on Facebook. Hopefully I’ll see you at the Town Hall on Monday!

-terry