Over 23 acres along West Cone Boulevard is coming up for rezoning at the Monday, Sept. 21 meeting of the Greensboro Zoning Commission.
The land owned by the Koury Corporation is on the south side of Cone Boulevard generally between Cleburne Street and Lafayette Avenue adjacent to the Kirkwood neighborhood and is currently vacant. Or vacant except for some mountain bike trails that have been used for years.
The land, officially 1414, 1509, 1511 and 1515 W. Cone Blvd and 2111, 2113, 2115 and 2117 Cleburne St., is currently zoned Residential Single Family- 3 (R-3) and Residential Single Family-5 (R-5) and the rezoning request is for Conditional District-Residential Multi-Family-26 (CD-RM-26).
RM-26 allows 26 dwelling units per acre and would allow nearly 600 units to be built on the site, but there is a creek that runs across the property and the southern portion next to Kirkwood is a steep slope that would make anything close to 600 units impossible.
Mike Fox of Tuggle Duggins, who is representing Koury, said that conditions were usually added after meeting with the neighbors and hearing their concerns.
He said that the entrances and exits would be on Cone Boulevard. He also said that the development would have “substantial buffering” from the adjacent single-family neighborhoods and the plan called for the buildings to be pushed out toward Cone and away from the neighbors.
Fox said that in this case the steep slope at the back of the property worked to their advantage, creating a natural buffer with many of the existing homes considerably higher than the land being developed.
Fox said that they had already had a “small neighborhood group meeting” and that the letters had gone out for a full neighborhood meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 15 via Zoom. Fox said that they would do their best to accommodate neighbors who were not in the 600-foot notification area and that people could contact him at MFox@tuggleduggins.com if interested in participating.
Fox said that the plan was to make this “one of the highest end communities in Greensboro.”
There goes the neighborhood…
Traffic during peak hours at that location, on that part of Cone, should make it the most dangerous area in the city. Property values will go down, construction of it will be a historical mess in that area. I do hope someone on the zoning Commission has some intelligence.
The words Greensboro authority and intelligence don’t belong in the same sentence. In other words, don’t hold your breath.
The construction on the Koury property would be a disaster not just for the immediate neighborhood but for busy Cone Boulevard. When schools return to normal, there are six Public Schools within a mile of this property, one being Page High School with many student drivers. All schools have buses as well as parents bringing and taking their children to school every day. Cleburne going East is two turns both with traffic lights from heavily traveled North Elm Street. Cone is a divided Boulevard with many U turns daily adding to the danger.
The proposed project is is not a thoughtful project from Koury Corporation. Greensboro has been good to them, perhaps a Koury Park with reasonable development adjoining.
This is scary. To jump from R3 and R5 to RM26 is quite massive. Ive been told the only other RM26 zone is Tall Oaks off of Lawndale Ave. The thought of that type of complex on the edge of Kirkwood, Browntown, and New Irving Park is ludicrous and reeks of greed alone. Four hundred plus units claimed to be “one of the highest end communities in Greensboro.” is also a slap in the face. Unfortunately, Koury will get thier way since they own this town. The best these neighborhoods can hope for is a respectful rezone such as R5 (like directly across Cone Blvd from this property) or R9 at worst. Its the Zoning Commission job to ensure monstrosities like this one do not destroy the character of the surrounding neighborhoods. Also not noted, is the fact that three new zoning commissioners are taking seats at this meeting and they have not had time to get up to speed, Im sure. Koury is taking advantage of Covid to get this disaster approved because they can hide behind computers and not face the neighborhoods in public meetings. for shame.
You folks that are already complaining, you need to understand this rightful landowner has certain basic property rights that allow them to develop and build new housing structures on a piece of property they have owned for decades. Koury Corp has paid their fair share of property taxes over the years and they have a right to develop their property within the guidelines established. To think this valuable and well-located piece of property will never be developed is crazy. Personally, I wish the 23 acres would be designated as a park and never be developed. But that is highly unlikely, maybe unreasonable, and I don’t think the property owner has sat on and paid property taxes for decades to have this 23 acres designated as a park. I don’t necessarily condone the kind of high density they are applying for, but something along the lines of a well-planned condo regime is doable and fits. And, I do hope this is a planned condo regime versus an apartment project. But I can tell you this, Koury Corp has a long history of developing / building high-quality housing projects, and I would much rather see Koury take on and complete this new housing project more than anybody else in this town. They will do it right! Let’s just hope the housing product type planned is for condo’s versus apartments. Instead of fighting this every step of the way, maybe you folks need to understand what Koury is trying to develop / build first and make sure it is compatible with the area neighborhood. Let’s try something different for a change …. like talking with each other first – respectfully, compromising, and getting a better project that fits versus just digging in and fighting the other side.
I think everyone involved understands that Koury has the right to develop property it owns. I think everyone involved also knows, Koury will get its way every time under the current City of Greensboro regime. We are going to fight this every step of the way to ensure the project that does get built is incorporated into the neighborhoods already established character. Please direct me to a 400 plus apartment complex in the Kirkwood, Browntown, or New Irving Park neighborhoods. You have to travel at least a mile to find one even close to the size of this request. The issue is the behemoth project that is entirely out of place. Development is good. Unchecked, aggressive, out of character development is not. That is the entire purpose of zoning laws.
Also, “high quality housing projects” and 400 plus unit apartment complex is a complete oxymoron. I cannot fathom them being complementary.
https://www.greensboro-nc.gov/home/showdocument?id=46801
Read this to inform you their will be 560 apartment units in this area.
Dangerous traffic during school & rush hour is a concern. With an additional 750-000+ cars in the area.
I agree with everyone. However, many years ago, we had a negative and very ugly experience with Kirkman & Koury. Without going into details that I could not prove, our experience had to do with their arrogance. I would never do business with their company. I would oppose anything that would make them any money.
But I’m not gonna obsess about it.
Dump the Coop while on the stoop.
I agree with everyone, as well. Rezoning will ruin the neighborhood. We already put up with a racetrack mentality on W Cornwallis, which is a problem in itself. Multi-family units do not fit the neighborhood. The traffic would become unbearable. I am more than willing to help put a stop this absurd notion.
David
Do you know who the lawyer is representing those opposed to this rezoning so that I may get in touch? How else can I help?
I was going to buy in this area, but now will look in another area, Randolph County.