Planning Board Meeting

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

The board recommended denial, but only after its first motion failed and the argument came back to the room.

The rezoning would let the church move the Bailey House and build a parking deck on Jones Street. Both the Bailey House and a second concrete structure on the parcel were recognised as contributing to the National Register district when Apex expanded its historic district in 2008; the proposal keeps the Bailey House on the site and would demolish the other. Thirteen residents spoke, nearly all against, arguing that the church's parking need is genuine but that the town has added two major new downtown parking sources since the deck was first planned, and that the historic district and small-town character overlay ought to protect a residential street from a deck. One neighbour said the proposal's vague language looked like a route toward demolishing the Bailey House.

The board tried to fix it with conditions. The chair moved approval with added conditions that the Bailey House be moved properly and the work reviewed by a preservation body, leaving the concrete structure out. That failed 2-6. A member said it felt like the matter was being litigated. Another said the language needed cleaning up so it did not read as being on a trajectory toward demolition, and asked whether an assessment could come before a decision; the applicant's agent said demolition would follow only if a consultant found relocation infeasible. One member said the church should meet the same standards as residents. Staff confirmed a parking deck could be built on the church's existing lot under the current zoning.

The motion to recommend denial then carried 6-2, with the chair and one member dissenting. The board's findings recorded the proposal as consistent with the 2045 land use map, which designates the property medium density residential and office employment - so the denial rests on the historic and neighbourhood grounds rather than on the land use plan. Staff asked the members who voted in opposition to submit their reasoning for the written record.

How the votes went

Approval with added preservation conditions failed 2-6. Denial then carried 6-2, with the chair and one member dissenting. The January minutes and adjournment were unanimous at 8-0, with the vice-chair absent.

From the published minutes.

Who spoke

13 members of the public spoke.

Thirteen residents spoke, nearly all of them neighbours on Jones Street, West Chatham Street, Holleman Street and nearby, and nearly all against. Their arguments were that the church's parking need is real but can be met without touching the Bailey House or putting a deck on a residential street, because the town has added two major new parking sources downtown; that the town's own downtown master plan and parking study says planning for current and future need is government's job; and that the historic district was expanded in 2008 for reasons that should be honoured now. One resident whose front porch faces the Bailey House said the vague language in the church's proposal made her suspect it was a route around the development ordinance to demolish the house more easily.

Read from the records the government published after the meeting. Members of the public are private residents and are not named or indexed.