The Greensboro City Council is facing another agenda full of zoning and rezoning requests at the Tuesday, March 16 virtual meeting.

Some parts of the economy are struggling with all the COVID-19 related shutdowns and restrictions, but judging from the recent City Council agendas, development is not one of them.

The City Council has two requests for annexation and original zoning and three rezoning requests.  A number of them had opposition at the Zoning Commission meeting.  Zoning matters begin with a staff presentation and then both sides get a total of 20 minutes to make their presentations and councilmembers can ask questions. A zoning issue with opposition is rarely completed in less than an hour and can take two or three hours.

In April 2020, the City Council in a highly contentious case rezoned property at the intersection of Lawndale Drive and Lake Jeanette Road, which became known as “Devil’s Triangle,” from Residential Single Family-3 (R-3) to Conditional District-Commercial-Light (CD-C-L).

At the March 16 meeting is a rezoning request just north and on the west side of Lawndale to rezone the lots at 4123 and 4125 Lawndale Dr. from R-3 to CD-C-L for a doctor’s office and other compatible uses.

At the Zoning Commission meeting, Aaron Terranova, president of the Lawndale Lake Jeanette Neighborhood Association, spoke in opposition to the rezoning request.  Terranova said that although a notice was sent to the property owners within 600 feet that no notice was sent to the neighborhood association. 

It was noted at that meeting that a sign had been posted notifying anyone who passed by of the date the rezoning request would be heard.

The neighbors who were notified reportedly support the rezoning request.

A rezoning request for 9.8 acres on Covered Wagon Road and adjacent to I-85/I-40 from R-3 to Residential Single Family-5 (R-5) also faced opposition at the Zoning Commission meeting. 

One comment that was made at the Zoning Commission meeting was that it was difficult to understand how an R-5 zoning district would be incompatible with the adjacent R-5 zoning district.

About