From Greensboro resident and Rhino Times reader Crystal Earley
On June 16, Greensboro City Council voted 9-0 to approve the rezoning of 1701 New Garden Road and 2702 Will Doskey Drive.
I spent a month researching the proposal, reviewing city plans, attending meetings, submitting comments, and speaking before both the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council. My neighbors and I believed the rezoning conflicted with the New Garden Road Strategic Plan, raised concerns about traffic, stormwater, groundwater, and the future character of our neighborhood.
We lost.
But this is not really a story about one rezoning.
It is a story about what I learned while trying to stop it.
Like many residents, I assumed public hearings existed because elected officials and appointed boards were weighing competing arguments and making independent decisions. I assumed that sometimes applicants won and sometimes neighborhoods won.
The records tell a different story.
During my research, I reviewed years of Planning and Zoning Commission cases. What I found was a remarkably consistent pattern: rezoning requests were overwhelmingly recommended for approval. Denials were rare exceptions rather than routine outcomes.
Then I reviewed City Council minutes.
The pattern became even more striking.
In the City Council minutes I reviewed from 2025 through the first half of 2026, I found more than fifty rezoning and original zoning requests that reached Council for a final vote.
I found approvals.
I found postponements.
I found public hearings where residents raised concerns about traffic, flooding, runoff, neighborhood character, density, infrastructure, and compatibility.
What I did not find was a denial.
Not one.
More than fifty zoning matters reached City Council. None were denied.
Think about that for a moment.
If the Planning and Zoning Commission almost always recommends approval, and City Council almost never denies a request that reaches it, what meaningful opportunity exists for residents to change the outcome?
The public hearing process creates the appearance of a contest. Residents spend weeks gathering facts. They prepare presentations. They take time off work. They stand at the microphone hoping to persuade decision-makers.
Yet the historical record suggests the odds are overwhelmingly stacked in favor of approval before the hearing ever begins.
That realization was the most discouraging part of this experience.
The issue is not that developers should never win. Greensboro needs growth. We need housing. We need investment. We need jobs.
The issue is whether residents are being given a genuine opportunity to influence decisions that affect their neighborhoods.
Developers often spend months or years preparing applications before they are filed. They hire attorneys, engineers, planners, consultants, and traffic experts. They meet with staff long before the public becomes aware of a proposal.
Residents, by contrast, receive a sign in a yard and a few minutes at a microphone.
By the time most neighborhoods realize what is happening, the process is already well underway, deals are sealed.
That imbalance does not necessarily mean anyone is acting improperly. But it does raise an important question:
If almost every application is ultimately approved, what exactly is the purpose of the public hearing process?
Is it a forum for decision-making?
Or is it simply a forum for public comment after the decision has effectively been made?
I believe Greensboro can do better.
The city can provide earlier notice when adopted plans are proposed for amendment.
The city can make staff reports easier for residents to find and understand.
The city can create clearer standards explaining when an adopted plan should be changed and when it should be protected.
And most importantly, the city can acknowledge that public trust depends not merely on allowing residents to speak, but on convincing residents that their participation can actually matter.
I lost my rezoning fight – even when I gave leaders every viable reason to vote No.
That happens. It is the ‘norm’. It’s completely deflating.
But if the lesson from this experience is that approvals are virtually automatic regardless of neighborhood concerns, then the bigger loss belongs to every resident who believes public participation should have a meaningful role in shaping Greensboro’s future.
Because when citizens begin to believe the outcome is predetermined, they stop participating.
And when that happens, everyone loses.
Crystal Earley
“…the lesson from this experience is that approvals are virtually automatic regardless of neighborhood concerns, …” Sorry that you are just now realizing this, Crystal. I’ve known it far too long. I’m tired.
“Because when citizens begin to believe the outcome is predetermined, they stop participating.” I’m on the edge of falling over the fence on this point. Too many years of seeing what you have just witnessed. What’s the point of voicing an opinion, writing a letter, voting? It’s even worse now than it was because you’re called names, lose friends, and are shunned for dissenting. I’m tired.
“And when that happens, everyone loses.” Not really. The politicians win. The contractors and developers win. The suppliers win. The builders win. The real estate business wins. Insurance companies win. Everyone wins – except the citizen homeowner taxpayer who thought they had the perfect home to live their quiet life in.
“Naysayer”. That was the first label I remember in this publication years ago. The name-calling has become much worse over the last 25-30 years. Another “N” word is used now for people who don’t want change, or a “R” word, or any word to make one feel guilty, ashamed, unworthy. People who don’t want rural land and homes destroyed for business growth, don’t want tax money used to bribe businesses to our area, and don’t want tax increases that pay for infrastructure and services going to others who don’t contribute financially to the system. We’re tired.
Great share. While I no longer live in GC, I can say that I had the pleasure of not once, but twice coordinating with neighbors to request a denial of change in zoning for the same piece of land across from my current land and home. In both cases, Orange County listened and denied the changes as the change clearly didn’t fit the plan for the region.
I only share this to say that what Mr Earley experienced is not the norm for all counties and cities in NC.
Will add this to the list of reasons I am happy I moved out of GC.
Cheers
This is only an issue because it us occurring west of downtown.
If this happening on Willow Road, we wouldn’t hear a peep from you all.
Who is “you all” in this case? Is it wrong to advocate for the entire community, including affordable single family homes for EVERYONE, not just a certain portion of the population. If you come see the neighborhood we’re talking about, it’s a solid middle class diverse (see: not white) demographic.