“No more large developments,” “fix Route 54 first,”, and “don’t route heavy traffic through residential neighborhoods” have been typical citizen objections. The “LUTP” will guide Morrisville’s growth for the next 25 years. A large number of residents are opposing the Plan. Major concerns are more high density commercial & residential developments, additional regional activity centers around the planned Park West Village, and the proposed Crabtree Creek Parkway extension. 
Remaining Meeting Scheduled
Tues, Mar 24 – 6:30 pm: Possible Decision
Let your voice be heard! Send Email to: TownCouncil@ci.morrisville.nc.us
Since the Land Use Plan is designed for the long term, current market conditions should not overrule what citizens want. Market conditions change! Five years ago, Cary rezoned large commercial parcels in Weston to low density residential. The Plan should reflect what citizen’s want for the future, not what developers prefer today. The Public and Advisory Committee’s citizen members favored the enhancement of Morrisville as a low-density residential community, NOT higher density apartments, commercial and over 900 acres of “mixed use” development.
For recent developments click on Cary News
More details on citizens’ objections to the LUTP are outlined below in the following article.
1 comment:
Anonymous said...
If they make the Target shopping center bigger and that's not popular, could somebody get elected and shrink it back down?
What time is the meeting?
January 16, 2009 6:15 PM
Anonymous said...
The Town Council meeting on January 27 starts at 6:30 pm at Morrisville Town Hall. I believe the LUTP and land zoning can be changed by a subsequent Council. However, once a specific development is approved it generally cannot be undone.
January 17, 2009 9:25 AM
Richard V. Elliott said...
Whither Morrisville?
An area banker cautioned me after I contracted to build a home in Morrisville that "That place does not want to be a town. If it did, it would have been one long before now. A good number of land owners there want one thing -- to sell their land for commercial dollars and leave." The next best yield comes from selling high-density residential land. Town Hall has obliged both by readily approving land use and zoning changes since both serve the prevailing commercial agenda that requires dense housing to provide shoppers for the malls permitted everywhere one looks. That agenda serves developers, malls, and a few land sellers who quickly gain wealth -- a minority of special interests -- not the majority of residents or the town's tax base. Morrisville's longstanding "politics" are a microcosm of the culture of greed that has brought the nation's economy to its present state.
The Land Use/Transportation Plans proposed (www. MorrisvilleLUTP.org) represent a final land grab by the town's aggressive commercial sector, their land-selling partners, and the collaborating Town Council's majority. Not content with existing over commercialization and 90% high-density housing, the proposal would add even more shopping centers and mixed-use malls with residents living in more apartments atop stores. Such will bring even more traffic congestion, lost revenues, lower quality of life, and further loss of town character. In healthy towns, commercial serves residential needs. In Morrisville, residents exist to serve commercial interests.
I concur with most of the comments made by those opposed to the Land Use/Transportation Plans at the December 17 public hearing and reported in the December 24 Cary News. However, readers should know that I recommended major revisions, including expanding the residential sector to at least 50% (as I've done for the past 12 years), allowing only 1/4 and 1/3 acre building lots for detached single-family houses to improve housing balance, and prohibit any more mixed-use and regional activity centers. I also urged provision of land for a middle school and a high school, neighborhood parks, and an end to having neighborhood roads become high-traffic thoroughfares. The currently considered plans will hurt residents, small businesses, traffic, and make it almost impossible to achieve the better Morrisville I've advocated since 1998.
If our present commercial oriented mayor and council majority brazenly approve these plans over public opposition, the council will be sending a message that they want Morrisville to be a commercial exploitation center, not a town. Should that happen (remember their arrogant ignoring of public opposition to the Walmart and Park West projects and plans to increase the tax rate 19% in the midst of a major recession until public outcry threatened re-election prospects), it will be up to residents who want a real town to replace "pay to play" politicos with a slate of reformers who will listen to the public, redesign the town, and consider all options for solving problems their predecessors have created.
As I said to town officials 10 years ago, "Either give us a town or we'll find one." Given the current level of alienation in Morrisville, it is hoped that a new council will consider supporting a noncommittal joint feasibility study with Cary to assess the advantages and disadvantages that may be derived from a possible merger. Taking these steps, of course, depends on what the current council approves and whether the adopted plans benefit residents who pay the lion's share of town revenues -- the real "golden egg" -- or the commercial sector that has shown little regard for what residents want. Those opposed to these plans have a last opportunity to voice their concerns during public comments at the Town Council meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, January 27.
January 22, 2009 11:04 AM
Anonymous said...
Thank you for keeping us informed. There used to be a reporter at the Raleigh paper, but now that he is gone it is very hard to know what is going on in Morrisville.
January 28, 2009 7:06 AM
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