Cary Wants to Expand Park Fees for Developers

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Credit townofcary.org

Annie L. Jones Park

A public meeting in Cary will focus on expanding developer fees for parks. Parks land fees apply to single-family and townhomes but not to apartments and condominiums. Doug McRainey is the Parks Planning Manager for the town of Cary.

Doug McRainey: "More apartments are being built and expect to continue to grow. And I think the town just feels it's an equity issue. People that live in apartments also use parks, recreation, cultural resources facilities. The feeling is that if developers are providing a fee for single-family homes, then they should probably do so for apartment-dwellers and people living in condominiums."

And so the town wants to expand the 35-year-old ordinance to include those types of dwellings. They'll be presenting information, answering questions, and gathering public comment at the meeting.

McRainey: "The town has a fairly aggressive master plan for not just parks, but greenways and community centers. And so yeah, I think the feeling is that for a long time the town is going to need as much funding as possible to help pay for these."

The Town Council will discuss that information during a worksession September 13th and will hold a public hearing during their October 13th Council meeting.