The rezoning request for 23.3 acres along West Cone Boulevard by the Koury Corporation on the agenda for the Monday, Sept. 21 meeting of the Zoning Commission is almost certain to be continued to October.
Mike Fox of Tuggle Duggins, representing Koury, said that they had agreed to the one-month delay requested by the opponents of the rezoning. Fox said that attorney Don Vaughan is representing some of the opponents and had contacted him about a continuance.
The Zoning Commission will have to approve a continuance, but with both sides requesting the one-month continuance, it is almost a given that it will be granted.
The Greensboro Planning Department staff has recommended in favor of the rezoning request.
The request from Koury is to rezone the 23.3 acres between Lafayette Avenue and Cleburne Street from the current Residential Single-Family-3 (R-3) and Residential Single-Family-5 (R-5) to Conditional District-Residential Multi-Family-26 (CD-RM-26). The current R-3 zoning would allow three homes per acre and R-5 would allow five homes per acre, while CD-RM-26 would allow 26 dwelling units per acre or about 600 apartments to be built on the site.
Fox said that he and representatives of Koury had been meeting by phone with individual property owners who will be most affected by the proposed development and were listening to their concerns. He said that conditions would be added to deal with some of those issues.
Fox said that one misconception they had heard in talking to neighbors was about traffic, and most were relieved to hear that all the vehicular entrances and exits would be directly on to Cone Boulevard.
Fox and representatives of Koury held a Zoom meeting with people in the neighborhood on Tuesday, Sept. 15 and, needless to say, that did not quell the opposition.
On social media sites there are numerous announcements of a “peaceful protest” against the rezoning request to be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19 at the corner of Cleburne Street and Cone Boulevard. Judging from the number of comments, a good number of neighbors plan to attend, and signs opposing the rezoning are popping up in yards all over the area.
There is also an online petition at SayNoGSO.com that had over 1,600 signatures on Friday, Sept. 18.
Its nice to see Koury listening and at least continuing the zoning meeting. Hopefully, we can get together and tone down the request of R26. That is the main issue here. R5 or R8 is more acceptable and more in line with the character of the neighborhood. But once again, I must disagree with the traffic statement as it is nothing more than propaganda. What they are not stating, it that Cone Blvd will be closed to left turns off of Cleburne, forcing u-turns at Marston. This will push the already congested thru traffic on Cleburne onto Kimberly and Rockford. Even though this is a city change, it is still a direct result of the rezone to R26. Not to mention, that curve in front of the property is one of the most dangerous on all of Cone Blvd. Increased traffic of any kind on Cone will exacerbate already dangerous conditions.
Thank you Koury for the continuance. Now lets get together for more reasonable zoning for this area.