Apex Answers and UDO Questions

👋 Good Morning, Apex! Today is Thursday, August 27, 2026 and this is the 86th weekly issue of The Peak Weekly.

As I write this, it’s just past 11:00pm on Wednesday evening. The NC Courage had a late weekday game so I am jumping into The Peak Weekly quite a bit later than usual.

On the plus side, Courage won 2-0. Ashley Sanchez scored both goals. She leads the league in goals scored and broke the Courage single-season scoring record tonight with 9 games still left to go. 🔥 

Also, did you hear that AFHS Boys Soccer is ranked #1 in the nation?

If you have never been to a game (AFHS or Courage), you should! Mrs Weekly went from no care in the world to a dedicated Courage fan with season tickets in about 20 minutes. It’s fun - give it a try!

Anyway, let’s get into it. I’ll be quick and please excuse any typos. It’s already past my bedtime. 😴

This past week I have been knee deep in all things Apex. Lots of research on land use. I’ve also converted all Town Meeting Minutes since 1990 to searchable text to make information easy to find.

This is on top of some other tools I’ve made recently. I created a project tracker for the Hughest Street project. I made a tool that tracks changes to the Apex website or when new pages are added to stay on top of things. I’ve got the FY23, FYT24, FY25 P-Card dashboard (and working on FY-26). I can’t remember what else.

Oh… I have one that measures the tree canopy loss in Apex. Basically it uses the National Agriculture Imagery Program photography (federal aerial imagery flown over North Carolina every two years with an infrared band that makes vegetation measurable.) It can detect living vegetation and compares it to the same time period of previous years and then maps it to current development projects with links to the project. It doesn’t have all the way up until 2026 just because I can’t match exact time of year with when those flyovers were (don’t want to compare winter vs. summer) but it does give more recent information than the last official report that stops at 2010.

It’s pretty conclusive that from 2016-2020 about 1,766 acres of vegetation disappeared inside the Town of Apex and its ETJ areas.

That is 2.8 square miles. It works out to about 441 acres a year - more than an acre every day, for four straight years.

Anyway, I have a bunch of new interesting tools that help bring some additional transparency to the questions that you may have about our Town. I’m putting all of these tools I’ve made together on one website and then I am opening it up to everyone so that when you have questions, you too can quickly find answers… documented answers.

Been working on it for quite a while and I’m excited to say it’s coming soon to www.ApexAnswers.org

Miscellaneous Info:

🚒 AFD Achieves Prestigious International Accreditation
Congratulations to the Apex Fire Department, who announced that they officially achieved Accredited Agency status through the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI). This historic milestone marks the first time in the department's history that it has earned international accreditation. With this designation, Apex Fire joins an elite group of fewer than 130 fire departments globally that hold both CFAI accreditation and an Insurance Services Office (ISO) Class 1 rating.

🏀 September Open Gym
Parks & Rec has released their Semptember Open Gym schedule which you can see here.

🏞️ Pleasant Park Access Study Open House
The Town of Apex is exploring ways to improve vehicle access to Pleasant Park. The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO), in partnership with the Town of Apex, is studying the feasibility of up to 5 options for potential vehicular access points to Pleasant Park. A public open house will be held at Apex Town Hall on September 3rd from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. 

⛈️ Be Prepared
September 2026 has been officially proclaimed as Emergency Preparedness Month.

🧠 Be Kind
The week of September 6-12, 2026, was proclaimed National Suicide Prevention Week, emphasizing the 988 lifeline and support for mental well-being.

🏗️ Development Watch:
While the council handled routine annexations this week, major moves are happening behind the scenes for the new NC Children's Hospital, with the town uploading new infrastructure plans and the project officially kicking off its fundraising and construction preparation.

🏢 Center Street Apartments
Another one to keep an eye on are a proposed 4-unit, 4-story apartment complex estimating 132 units and 170 parking spaces on Center Street near downtown. Neighborhood meeting has been completed, traffic study is underway and the next stop will be the Planning Board; date TBD.

Things to Do This Weekend in Apex:

Today

🌳 Triangle Environmental Symposium
6:30pm | The Halle
Rooted in Justice - Growing Healthy Communities Panel Discussion featuring The Reverend Jemonde Taylor, Alexandra Valladares, Ryan Emanuel, and Sarah Brim

🏫 Back-to-School Community & Conversation
6pm - 8pm | Wake Tech Cary Campus
(rescheduled to October 29)

Friday, August 28

🎟️ Neon Nights - Silent Disco
6pm - 8pm | The Halle

🍹 End of Summer Party
starts 5pm | JDs Tavern

Saturday, August 29

🧑‍🌾 Apex Farmers Market
8am - 12pm | The Depot

🏃‍♀️ Run Club Apex
Meet at 9am | Foxtail Coffee

🎶 Meadow Melody Makers
9:30am - 10:30am | Kelly Road Park

🪕 Rhythm & Reels: Ol’ Joey Scrums
7pm | Nature Park Amphitheatre

🎸 Live Music: 2Dight4
7pm - 10pm | Oaklyn Springs Brewery

Monday, 9/1
Game Night! | Bottle Theory

Tuesday, 9/1
Music Bingo! | Bottle Theory

Live Irish Music | Doherty’s Irish Pub

Wednesday, 9/2
Sip, Stroll and Socialize | Sweetwater Town Center

Wednesday Night Movie | The Halle

Gilmore Girls Trivia | Southern Peak Brewery

Civic News:

📷️ Public Safety / Flock
Mark your calendars - A public safety committee meeting will take place on September 24 to review the use of Flock Safety license plate readers.

💳️ P-Card Update
On Tuesday, the Town Manager said that a dashboard will be made available to the public with all staff P-Card usage by October 1. He didn’t say specifically, but I’m guessing it will only be the data after the oversight issues were fixed. Doesn’t fix the look back but good for transparency moving forward. I spoke about this a couple of weeks ago and shared some data. I plan to do a deeper dive here soon. Working through some data and waiting on some record requests right now. Plus I got a little distracted solving the parking dispute again…

🅿️ School Parking Update
As you know, Miss Annie has been sued by the Town of Apex for her parking lot. I am continuing to investigate this. Thank you to those of you who have reached out asking how to help. I haven’t responded to everyone yet, but I will. For now, though, just keep asking questions! I’ll share some prompts you can use below.

I’ve been in touch with WRAL since this past week’s reporting and have reached out to the Town’s Planning Director who has been very kind to engage with me.

By the way, for the record, I support both Miss Annie and the Church offering parking to students. But I do also support equal treatment and honest answers from elected officials. And I also think that this is bigger than just parking.

I’ll share with you some open-ended questions about Miss Annie’s lot that I am tracking down:

1. My understanding is that NCGS 1-51 sets a 5-year statute of limitations on filing a lawsuit against a resident for zoning violations. She was notified of the UDO Amendment that the Town alleges she is in violation of in July 2020. She was sued August 2026. That’s 6 years and 1 month. Day late and at least 15k dollars short. Did the Town know about this time limit prior to engaging with and paying an outside law firm? Here’s a great article on it.
   

2. Article 10 of the Apex Unified Development Ordinance is called Nonconformities. It says, in part, “Within the provisions established by this Ordinance, there exist uses of land, structures, lots and signs that were lawfully established before this Ordinance was adopted or amended, that now do not conform to the terms and requirements of this Ordinance.” “It is the intent of this Ordinance to permit these nonconformities to continue.” The UDO Amendment cited in the civil suit was implemented July 2020. Therefore she was legally operating prior to that date (can’t be illegally violating a statute that didn’t exist). If I am understanding this correctly, statute of limitations stops the lawsuit and she is grandfathered in and not able to be held liable against this statute thus any fines are void. Did Town Lawyers or the Planning Department discuss any of this?

And some questions that remain about the Church:

1. The case against miss Annie is about parking on a residential lot. Her zoning is RR (Rural Residential). So is the Church’s. And while Councilmember Mahaffey has stated many times that the zoning is different and then later that the Church is considered “Commercial Use”, Apex’s Planning Director, Dianne Khin, confirmed with me, “The use ‘Church or place of worship’ is a ‘Public and Civic Use.’” When I asked if Mahaffey conferred with the Planning Department prior to sharing incorrect information (as he said he did to WRAL), Khin replied, “I do not know who Mr. Mahaffey spoke with.” The question remains, since they are zoned the same, why is the Church’s parking considered legal but Miss Annie is being sued?

2. I was given 3 examples by the Planning Director of other churches who offer overflow parking: Apex Baptist allowing public parking visiting downtown, Apex First Baptist allowing TapStation customers to park, and Christian Home Christian Church allowing Apex Mosque visitors to park during Islamic holidays. But the reason that those are all allowed to offer parking is A) the first two are zoned business and B) the third example is providing parking for the accessory use of the church, which is worship. None of those three examples are the same scenario. The question remains, since they are zoned the same and student parking is not an accessory to the use of either property, then why is the Church’s parking considered legal but Miss Annie is being sued?

B4 Lunch Event: The Planning Department takes place on September 3 at The Halle. Might be a good opportunity to get some additional questions answered and to learn more about the great things that this department does for Apex!

And a few questions on Council Comments:

Over the past couple of weeks, Councilmember Mahaffey has been on almost every social platform and multiple TV interviews floating several verifiably inaccurate versions of this whole situation.

For one, he’s made the statement, “The Town Council has not been involved at all in this situation.” He even doubled-down: “The Town Council has taken no votes on this property and has not directed or otherwise been involved in the enforcement action, despite some aggressive misinformation to the contrary".

Literally, the exact opposite is true and easily verifiable. You can actually watch him vote on the property and direct enforcement on YouTube.

Anyone with an internet connection can go to the November 13, 2025 Meeting Minutes or rewatch it on YouTube and see that Council brought the item to the agenda, then Council voted, 5-0 (including Mahaffey) to direct staff to begin enforcement proceedings.

Then he said that the church and Miss Annie were zoned differently (they’re not), then he said the use type for the church is Commercial (it’s not). More of his quotes here.

And then he called the first WRAL report (where they didn’t interview him) misinformation and called my reporting, “nonsense”.

When people asked what exactly is the misinformation and what exactly is nonsense, he suddenly gets shy.

Let me show you something just for the record:

That little blue square… That’s Miss Annie’s home. The one that used to be surrounded by nothing but trees and vegetation.

The red surrounding her home? That’s the Bella Casa neighborhood.

Want to know who lives in Bella Casa and has served on the Bella Casa HOA Board of Directors for over 7 years?

You get one guess.

Upcoming Meetings:

Thursday, August 27
Multimodal Transportation Advisory
4:30 - 6pm | Town Hall

Monday, August 31
Joint Collaboration Meeting
5:30pm | Apex Senior Center

Tuesday, September 1
Peak Plan 2055 Task Force
4:30pm | Town Hall

Wednesday, September 2
Environmental Advisory Board: Data Centers
5pm | Town Hall

A Look Ahead:

September 3
B4 Lunch Event: The Planning Department | The Halle

September 3
Triangle Environmental Symposium | The Halle
From Wasteland to Wonder with Basil Camu

September 10
Paws & Rec Kick-Off Event | Apex Community Park

September 10
Triangle Environmental Symposium | The Halle
Forests from Around the World with Meg Lowman, Chumpi Washikiat, and Godi Gadar Moteke Molanga

September 11
Patriot Day Ceremony | Fire Station 1

September 12
Think Apex Day | Multiple Locations

September 12
Apex Underground Market | Sweetwater Town Center

September 12
55+ Health & Wellness Fair | Apex Senior Center

September 12
AHS Band Mattress Sale Fundraiser | Apex High School

September 13
Classical Concert Series: Thron-Larkin Duo | The Halle

September 17
Triangle Environmental Symposium | The Halle
Gardening for the Planet Documentary Screening with Joanne Hershfield

September 19
Festa Italiana | Hunter Street & Town Hall Campus

September 24
Explore S’more | Apex Nature Park

September 24
Family Fire Safety Workshop | Apex Fire Station 3

September 26
Latino Arts Festival | Town Hall Campus

In Case You Missed it:

🚧 Closures and Renovations
The Apex Senior Center is now closed until September 7th for floor renovations. GoApex Route 1 will continue to provide service to the Apex Senior Center bus stop (#16093) during its temporary closure. The first floor of Town Hall is also currently undergoing renovations to relocate the HR department.

💡 Think Apex Day Volunteers
Think Apex Day is a day dedicated to giving back to the Apex community by volunteering in ways that positively impact the town and the people who live here. See how to get involved here.

📩 Connecting with Elected Officials
The Town has created new ways to connecting with your Apex elected officials. Use new tools like Council Connector, Meeting Request Form, and Event Attendance Form. Just be careful; these are the same types of forms that have exposed the data on the public web recently.

🏘️ Neighborhood Leaders Program
The Neighborhood Leaders Program launched last week and seeks community champions eager to build stronger neighborhoods. Program participants will receive the resources needed to serve as ambassadors to their community, keeping their neighbors updated on happenings around Apex, and representing their neighborhoods on key issues. 

A Final Note:

Thank you for taking time out of your day today to read this week’s edition of The Peak Weekly. If you love it, please forward it to a friend. If you don’t love it, please unsubscribe.

And, as always, if you have any ideas of how to make this newsletter better, want to nominate a local business or organization to be featured, or anything else, please respond to this email or email me directly at [email protected]

See you next Thursday... 😘