Cary District 26 on verge of scrapping Maplewood School plans amid long rift with village: ‘I’m frustrated’

Cary School District 26 might sell its Maplewood property to the village for $5.5 million and develop a new transportation site at another location after a years-long dispute over the land.

The intergovernmental agreement proposes that the village would buy the property – home of the long-shuttered Maplewood School – for $5.5 million up front and the district would use the revenue to buy a new property for its long-planned transportation center. The village and district estimates the agreement would save District 26 about $4.2 million from the original cost of remaining at Maplewood, according to district documents.

This comes after the village rejected District 26′s attempts to rezone Maplewood to allow for a new transportation center. The village offered to buy the property last year for $2.75 million, which the district declined.

District 26 Superintendent Brandon White said he had hoped to keep the Maplewood property, but ultimately recommended the transfer agreement to the board during a meeting on Monday.

“I don’t sit here today with a big smile,” White said.

He said he wants to avoid costly litigation against the village over its denial of rezoning for the land. The district and the village entered into an agreement in June to conduct negotiations and avoid going to the courts. That deal would remain in effect if the transfer agreement passes until either the district or village terminates it, and then a lawsuit could still happen, District 26 attorney Jason Manning said.

“I have to even place my own personal feelings aside and return back to those three goals: What’s best for our kids? Does it make financial sense to the district? And ensuring sustainability in our transportation center and the services that we provide and safe working conditions for our staff,” White said.

District 26 originally planned to demolish the former Maplewood School building and construct a new, $6 million transportation center on the property. The transportation center would be allowed to stay at Maplewood until the new center at another location is completed, White said.

The village, however, has hopes of spurring development on the property and getting the area back on the tax rolls. Previous developers have proposed to create multi-family townhomes or apartments, but all ultimately stepped away.

The village would pay for the property by issuing bonds that the village would pay back through the downtown tax-increment financing, or TIF, district that was created last year.

Multiple residents spoke during the Monday board meeting opposing the intergovernmental agreement. Resident Stephanie Schwall said she is wary of the proposal based on how the village has treated the district in the past.

“The village does not play nice from what I see historically,” she said. “The deal seems too good to be true and that’s a big warning sign for me.”

The district aims for an “ambitious” completion date of its new transportation center by August 2025, District 26 Finance and Operations Director David Shepherd said.

District 26 and the village are expected to vote on the agreement next week.

“I’m frustrated,” District 26 Board President Dee Darling said. “We were very transparent in the process following through with putting in a zoning application, doing all this stuff, and I feel like right now, we’re acting under duress at not being able to use our property.”