CARY – The village now has a document that is meant to guide Cary's decision-making for the next 20 years.
Village Board members on Tuesday adopted a comprehensive plan after a yearlong process.
The village hired Houseal Lavigne Associates in 2013 for $99,000 to put together the comprehensive plan and conduct public workshops and online surveys.
Among the items listed in the document is a call for a mixed-use development at the vacant Maplewood school property, with the ground floor featuring commercial spaces, with multifamily on higher floors.
The Maplewood site also should include a range of residential uses including condominiums or apartments and townhomes or rowhomes. The plan calls for extending a road to connect Seebert Road to the east and Industrial Drive to the west. Other local roads should be integrated within the 15-acre site to enhance internal connectivity and connections to downtown Cary.
Cary District 26 has been in discussion with Landover Development about buying the vacant school property in order to build apartments on the site.
Any development that is proposed on the site would need approval from the Village Board, said Village President Mark Kownick.
"This is a fluid document; it's not written in stone," Kownick said.
Trustee Karen Lukasik said she doesn't want something built on the site community members may not ultimately want.
"[There's] a fear is something will sneak through there that really isn't what the community is asking for," Lukasik said.
The comprehensive plan also lists other objectives, such as the village preserving its small-town character while thriving economically.
Village Hall and the police department should be relocated to a new, centrally located facility, according to one of the plan's listed objectives. The village has started setting aside money for the potential new village hall and police station.
In hopes of seeing economic development, the village should encourage the location of retailers, service providers and eateries along Three Oaks Road, west of Route 14, the plan says. The village also should facilitate development of the Jack’s Channel area as a destination featuring a mix of commercial development, a hotel, convention center, entertainment and marina.
There also is potential for retail development on Route 14 close to Jandus Cutoff Road, according to the comprehensive plan.
In other action
The Village Board appointed Brian Simmons as the new director of community development. Simmons replaces Chris Stilling, who left to become the community development director of Buffalo Grove.
Simmons, who lives just outside of Cary, is set to earn $107,250.
He currently works for Mount Prospect as deputy director of planning. Simmons also has worked in Schaumburg. The Cary-Grove High School graduate is scheduled to start the job Feb. 11.
Lukasik voted against the appointment.
"I voted no on the position, not the individual, because I did not want to replace that position yet," Lukasik said. "I wanted to have more time to analyze the validity, and make sure we're being cost-effective in hiring that position."
Kownick said the position is needed and having someone with development knowledge is helpful with the potential development coming to the village.
"It gives us a level of credibility and professionalism, which is a goal of ours," Kownick said. "It's critical to the success of our community."