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Quasi-Judicial Meeting

Town of Cary · Zoning Board of Adjustment
Monday, May 4, 2026 at 6:30 pm · Council Chambers, 316 N. Academy Street, Cary Town Hall, Cary, NC 27513

Quasi-judicial hearing Housing and affordabilityLand conversion and large developmentRoads and transportation

Agenda document Full packet Minutes Meeting page Watch Meeting recap

What's on this agenda

Cary's zoning board of adjustment heard one case on May 4: AvalonBay's downtown mixed-use development, 281 apartments and 4,270 square feet of ground-floor retail on the block bounded by Walnut, Walker and Byrum streets. Because the plan proposes more than 100 residential units, this board rather than staff decides it.

Only three of the board's five members were there. That is a quorum, but approval still needs three votes, so all three had to agree.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

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

The board approved the plan unanimously with two conditions: the applicant satisfies all remaining development review committee comments before the plan is signed, and builds an off-site push-button pedestrian crossing on Kildaire Farm Road south of Byrum Street. That crossing arrived with the most recent submission and was not in the staff report the board had in front of it.

The applicant's attorney put five expert witnesses on: a civil engineer, a landscape architect, an architect, a transportation engineer and a licensed appraiser, each addressing specific approval factors in the ordinance. The plan includes 382 structured parking spaces wrapped by active uses, an outdoor pool and courtyards, a small public courtyard off Walnut Street, bike racks on three streets, a bus stop with shelter and bench on Walnut, and a preserved champion tree on the Byrum Street side. Members worked through the six approval factors aloud, noting they were deferring to expert testimony where the law requires it. The site sits in the South Academy sub-area, zoned Town Center Mixed Use, next to several other residential projects at various stages. The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

How the votes went

The development plan was approved 3-0 with two conditions, by the three members present.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Sign up for Public Speaks Out by calling the town before noon on the day of the meeting; each speaker gets three minutes. Comments that arrive after noon are passed to the council as correspondence instead.

Town of Cary's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (1)

Public hearing · 1
  1. 1. 25-DP-6236 Avalon Bay Downtown Mixed-Use Development
    Public hearing Housing and affordabilityLand conversion and large developmentRoads and transportation
    A development plan for AvalonBay's downtown Cary project: 281 apartments in studio through three-bedroom sizes, 4,270 square feet of ground-floor retail at Walker and Walnut, 382 spaces in a structured deck wrapped with active uses, a pool and courtyard amenities, a public courtyard off Walnut Street, bike racks, a bus stop with shelter on Walnut, and a preserved champion tree on Byrum Street. The site is zoned Town Center Mixed Use in the South Academy sub-area. The development team worked with staff for over a year across four submittals.

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