Issue link: http://townofcary.uberflip.com/i/791958
HISTORIC CARPENTER SPECIAL PLANNING AREA Historic Carpenter Special Planning Area Context The Carpenter Special Planning Area lies immediately southwest of the Cary-Morrisville border, a scant one mile south of Research Triangle Park at its closest point. The planning area begins immediately east of NC Highway 55, and extends eastward to just past Louis Stephens Drive. The area's northern limits are defined by the future extension of McCrimmon Parkway, and its southern limits by Morrisville Parkway. Carpenter Village, a mixed use Planned Development that is nearing buildout, also helps define the eastern edge of the district. The special planning area incorporates within its boundaries a large por on of the Carpenter Na onal Register Historic District, and includes a largely intact collec on of contribu ng historic buildings, including two of which are designated as Cary Local Landmarks, namely the Carpenter Farm Supply Store and the Farmers' Coopera ve and Mee ng Hall. Carpenter began as an agricultural community in the 19th Century, and by the early 20th Century was a well-defined community of small farms surrounding a commercial core that included general stores, a post office, an agricultural supply and farmer's co-op, and churches, and linked to the agricultural markets in Apex and Durham via the Durham and Southern Railroad line. As late as 1990, Carpenter's rural se ng and character remained rela vely unchanged from the early decades of the 20th Century, exis ng as a sort of rural "island" between Cary and RTP. This was largely due to the manner in which Cary grew over me. Up un l the 1950's, Cary itself was a small town located more than 5 miles southeast of Carpenter, and Morrisville, while closer, was a very small hamlet. Most of Cary's growth in the 1960's and 70's was directed southward, and it wasn't un l the 1980's that Cary began growing rapidly north and westward towards Carpenter. Morrisville's growth toward Carpenter began later s ll, with its westward growth towards Carpenter not beginning un l the early 2000's. Contemporary Planning History In the late 1980's, Cary's planning jurisdic on was extended westward to include Carpenter. With adop on of a new town- wide Land Use Plan in 1996, Cary for the first me iden fied Carpenter as a "Special Opportunity Site" where Carpenter's unique rural and historic character should be used to form the framework of a special des na on for Cary. Then, in 2000 the Carpenter Historic District was entered into the Na onal Register of Historic Places by the Na onal Park Service. Two years later, Cary developed a special area plan for the en re northwestern part of its planning jurisdic on – the 2002 Northwest Area Plan – the boundaries of which included Carpenter. That 2002 Plan elaborated on the planning vision for Carpenter, recommending context-sensi ve infill, adap ve re-use of contribu ng buildings at the historic crossroads, and preserva on of the rural character "Carpenter is unique among small Wake County communities in that it retains its rural crossroads character and never grew much beyond it." Carpenter of Carpenter. Based on a recommenda on from the 2002 Northwest Plan, Cary prepared and adopted in 2005 a special area plan for Carpenter itself – the Carpenter Community Plan. The Carpenter Plan further developed the planning framework, maintaining a focus on historic preserva on, context-sensi ve infill, preserva on of rural character, and open space preserva on by using clustered development prac ces. Core Issues Historic Resources The Carpenter Community contains many architectural and historic resources, both within and outside the Carpenter Na onal Register District boundary. Many such structures remain in the heart of the community around the intersec on of Carpenter Upchurch Road and old Morrisville-Carpenter Road – known as the Carpenter Crossroads. And, notable achievements towards preserva on have occurred during the last decade: The Town acquired the A. M. Howard Farm property, including its historic farmhouse and outbuildings, as well as the historic C. F. Ferrell store and two associated warehouses. Then, in 2010 The Carpenter Farm Supply Store and the Farmers' Co-op and Mee ng Hall were designated as Cary Landmarks. However, 179