Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Third‑generation farmer asks Cary council to pursue eminent domain for sewer easement
Summary
Jeff Pierce asked the council to encourage quick eminent domain action if sewer easement negotiations are not resolved by Feb. 1, saying his family’s developer cannot afford the $2.1 million pumping solution and that the sewer easement is blocking a proposed 55‑lot, 55+ development on Cary‑side farmland.
Jeff Pierce, speaking during the Public Speaks Out portion of the Dec. 11 Cary Town Council meeting, said his family owns a third‑generation farm on Pierce Olive Road and is trying to develop 25 acres on the Cary side for a 55-and‑over residential community.
"We are trying to develop a portion of the farm for a 55 and over, residential community," Pierce said, describing a developer who backed out in 2021 because they could not secure a sewer easement. Pierce said the sewer easement sits about 300 feet from the property's back line and downhill, and that a pumping‑station workaround would have cost about $2,100,000 — unaffordable for a 55‑lot project.
He asked the council to "encourage the town to enact quick eminent domain so we can move forward with this if we don't have an answer by February 1 on the sewer easement," and said the current owners have been difficult to reach, causing years of delays.
Mayor asked staff to collect contact information so town staff could follow up. Council members did not take immediate formal action on the sewer easement request during the meeting.
