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Resident urges council to stop Wind Road connection over pedestrian-safety concerns
Summary
A Garner resident told the town council he has repeatedly asked staff to point to a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) requirement that Wind Road be connected to a new subdivision and raised persistent safety concerns for pedestrians and nearby schoolchildren.
Joseph Cook, a Garner resident, told the town council he has repeatedly asked staff to identify where the town’s Unified Development Ordinance requires Wind Road to be connected to a new subdivision and said that the proposed connection would increase traffic on a narrow road adjacent to a school.
Cook said he first raised concerns with the developer and town staff during the early review of the Cambria (formerly Walters Buffalo) subdivision and at several town-hall meetings. He said the subdivision plan has been changed multiple times and that communications from staff have not answered his question about the UDO citation: “I’ve asked many times since I received that letter, but nobody can tell me where in the UDO it states that the road has to be connected.”
Cook told council Wind Road is narrow, has curves and steep ditches, and that both ends of the road have potential pedestrian traffic because the new subdivision includes a greenway connection to Meadowbrook Park. “Adding 10 times the traffic on a road that’s adjacent to a school and is narrow and has curves … is foolish,” he said.
Cook said town staff told him the council had voted for the connection and that North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) staff told him making the end of Wind Road private would require unanimous agreement from all property owners on the street. He told the council he waited months for staff responses and that tree clearing has already begun on the adjacent property.
Mayor and staff acknowledged Cook’s persistence and said staff and the town are continuing to communicate with him and other neighbors.
Cook’s comments came during the meeting’s petitions and comments segment; by policy, council does not deliberate or take action on matters introduced in that segment during the same meeting.
The town did not adopt any action on the Wind Road request during the meeting; Cook asked the council for a clear UDO citation and for staff to follow up with him in a timelier way.
Cook closed by asking the council to “address this sooner than later.”
