6 - Morrfsville and Preston Progress, Thursday, March 27,1997
‘Basket’
puts flowers
to work
By Mary Bath Phillips
About 10 years ago, Ed and Patti
Kiley own^ a ’’Flower Basket"
shop in PleasantvUle, New York.
When they opened a shop in
Preston Comers in August of 1995,
one of the new customers seemed
familiar.
"I think you did my wedding,”
the customer said. She is among
several of the Kileys’ current
customers who had known them
before in New York.
Patti Kiley is the experience be
hind The Flower Basket. She has
been in the floral business for more
than 20 years.
’Tve always liked flowers,” Ms.
Kiley said recently, though her
career started almost by accident
when she went to Vocational Tech
nical School to observe the nursing
program, and "there was blood all
over the place."
Deciding nursing was not for her,
she opted instead for a class in
ornamental horticulture.
She attended an ornamental
horticulture program at S.U.N.Y.
Cobleskill in upstate New York.
She also attended design classes at
the Metropolitan Retail Florist As
sociation in New York City. At the
same time, she continued to work
at the Flower Basket in Pleasant-
ville. Her evenings were filled with
business classes at a local com
munity college.
In March, 1983, the Kileys pur
chased tlie Flower Basket in New
York where she worked until 1987
when they sold the business so she
could stay home with her two
young sons. Now that the boys are
in school lull time, she has come
back to her second love...flowers!
Now she keeps up with her trade
by attending design shows and
reading magazines.
These days, many arrangements
are created with more style and dif
ferent flowers, she said. The Flow
er Basket ciuries both traditional
and unusual flowers.
Ed Kiley holds down a full-time
job at Reichhold Chemicals, but
supports the Tamily business when
he can.
Town board pleased with residential surge;
hope rooftops will draw ‘human’ services
ON THE JOB-Patli Kiley was been in the floral business the last
20 years. She opened Flower Basket at Preston Corners in 1995.
The Flower Basket carries fresh,
silk, and dried flowers, green and
blooming plants, balloons,
preserved flowers and plants,
stuffed animals, and gifts. A table
with a lace tablecloth features
catalogs for planning weddings.
A wedding gown flows down the
wall above it. Wreaths fill the
spaces on the walls, and shelves are
neatly arrayed with stuffed animals,
picture frames, baby items and
more.
On Friday afternoons, she sets up
the store like a flower market and
sells fresh flowers for 50 percent
off.
She offers classes in silk flower
arranging, wreath and swag making
and fresh flower classes once a
month. On April 15, she wUl teach
a swag class with dried flowers.
Cost is $5 per person plus supphes.
Space is limited. Classes begin at 7
p.m. and last approximately two
hours.
In May, she is doing a class for
the Senior Citizens Program
through N.C. State University. A
more steady selection of classes at
her shop will begin again in Sep
tember.
The shop is open Monday
through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6
p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4
p.m, Evening appointments are
available for wedding consulta
tions.
The Hower Basket belongs to
three wire services and can wire
flowers anywhere in the world.
Over the past 10 years there have
been many changes in the floral in
dustry. The Internet is just one of
them, Customers can now place or
ders from their home computers.
Look for the Flower Basket at
hhtp://www.he.net/flowers.
By Mary Bath Phillips
Morrisville has always been pre
dominantly commerci^ and indus
trial, but the number of residents
has more than doubled in the past
year, leading town commissioners
to hqje for an ultimate ratio of 70
percent business to 30 percent
residential as the town is built out.
Commissioners met Monday
night in a work session to discuss
the future of the town, and all
agreed that the upswing in residen
tial growth was a positive develop
ment.
Mayor Pro Tern Billy Sauls said,
”At one time I thought 80-20 [ratio
of commercial to residential
development] was uncontrollable.
At this point, I can see it reaching
70-30, but I don’t see it getting
much below that.”
Planning Director Leisa Powell
told the board that there are about
900 single-family homes existing in
Morrisville, and 1,100 have been
aR>roved but not yet built.
"We are moving toward residen
tial in a big way," she said.
Ms. Powell was asking for input
on the town’s growth plan, which
has not been updated in about six
years. The planning board is begin
ning the intensive process of updat
ing the land use plan. It will meet
every third Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Ms. Powell will make regular
reports to the town board on the
progress. ‘
Commissioner C.T. Moore cau
tioned that the town needs to be
Board okays zoning, office buiidings
The Morrisville Town Board of
Commissioners approved one
rezoning, two new office buildings,
a residential subdivision and some
more parking spaces at its meetings
in March.
They are as follows.
• A flex (office and warehouse)
building containing 55,000 square
feet to be located on 16.575 acres
in the Commonwealth subdivision
to house Ferguson Printing Co.
• An 80,000-square-foot office
building on 5.08 acres in the
Perimeter Park subdivision;
• An additional 60 parking spaces
at AP Parts Warehouse on Aviation
Parkway, located on 32.229 acres.
The developer will pay the town in
lieu of building the sidewalk be
cause the area is along the sewer
line that will be under construction
this spring when it will hook into
Cary’s sewer system.
After the hook-up is completed,
the town will complete the
sidewalk.
♦ Carpenter Park Subdivision, a
single-family residential subdivi
sion containing 96 lots on 22.8
acres, located off Morrisville-
Carpenter Road.
• Summitt Properties Paitnership,
L.P., to rezone 30.49 acres from in
dustrial management and general
business district to residential man
agement district, which wilt allow
apartments to be built at the comer
of Weston Parkway and N.C. 54.
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aware of the quality of plans ap
proved in the future. "We need to
go first class, because we don’t
have that much land to develop.
Twenty years from now, we can’t
go in and say, ‘we want to build
something nicer.’"
Commissioner Leavy Barbee said
residential growth needs to be en
couraged at all pice levels. "In
years to come, funds will come
from state government based on the
number of people in town request
ing it."
"We want affordable housing,"
said Sauls. "But we have to keep it
in proportion.”
Mayor Margaret Broadwell is en
couraged because commercial de
velopers have told the town in the
past there were "not enough
rooftops" for a shopping center.
"Maybe we can even get a doctor’s
office,” she said.
Ms. PoweU said the location near
the Research Triangle Park, 1-40
and the Raleigh-Durham Interna
tional Airport dictates interest in
non-resideniial.
"We have to turn them away,"
Barbee said.
The existing town growth plan is
premised on the idea that airport
noise makes at least half of Morris
ville unsuitable for residential de
velopment. But after the American
Airlines hub moved out, and the
paths of some flights have changed,
the noise is not as prevalent as it
was, Hodgkins said.
"After you live here a while, you
don’t pay attention to planes," said
Commissioner Phyllis Newnam,
who hves on the north side of N.C.
54, where no residential growth is
outlined in the plan adopted six
years ago.
Officials also expressed concern
that Cary is building its industrial
areas at the borders of Morrisville.
"They can dictate what we get,"
Moore said.
"We cannot make our decisions
based on what Cary does," Baibee
said. "This is the only area we’ve
got so we’re going to have to have
a mix."
Ms. Broadwell asked that the area
near Clements and Stella drives be
re-examined. Industrial manage
ment zoning abuts residential
zoning there and noise and lights
have caused problems.
This area is also on the north side
of N.C. 54. Moore and Sauls, who
serve on the airport noise abate
ment committee, said airport offi
cials are discouraging any residen
tial development in that area.
"They don’t want houses built in
Morrisville, period," Sauls said.
Powell said buffers can be in
creased in the future, but only to a
certain extent.
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