The current default position on meetings is that they are cancelled, so it was somewhat surprising that the Greensboro Zoning Commission met on Monday, March 16, as scheduled.
Greensboro Planning Director Sue Schwartz explained that, because of the legally required advertising for rezoning requests, rescheduling the meeting before the end of the month was not possible. She said that several of the requests were time sensitive and would have run into difficulties with financing if their requests were postponed until April.
The meeting didn’t have anywhere near the 50-person maximum as set by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Including the eight zoning commissioners and city staff, there were fewer than 25 people in the room.
Since people generally leave after their item is heard, when attorney Tom Terrell came to the podium to present the final rezoning request, there was no one left in the audience.
There were two requests for original city zoning for apartment developments. Both of these require annexation, and the Zoning Commission only makes a recommendation to the City Council on the original zoning. The City Council has to make the decision on annexation.
The Zoning Commission approved both.
One was for a maximum of 416 dwelling units at 1702-1709 Verdum Drive (also known as 5412-5414 Freedom Lane and 5420-5424 Freedom Lane), 5710 and 5711 Ruffin Road, which is north and south of Ruffin Road.
The request was to rezone 24 acres from City Conditional District-Residential Multifamily-18 (CD-RM-18) and County Residential Single Family-40 (RS-40) to Conditional District-Residential Multifamily-26 (CD-RM-26).
The property, currently vacant land, is adjacent to I-73 to the north.
Judy Stadler, representing the developer, Keystone Group, described the proposed development as a “resort-style community.” She said that a traffic impact study had been done and the developer would connect Ruffin Road through the development. A portion of Ruffin Road is currently unimproved, which means the road exists on paper but has not been built.
There was no opposition.
The Zoning Commission, by a 7-1 vote, approved a request to rezone about 12 acres at 506 Kallamdale Road and 511 Kalamdale Road from county Residential Single-Family (RS-30) to Conditional District-Residential Multi-family-12 (CD-RM-12).
Terrell, representing the developer, Trinity Housing Development, noted that the property was adjacent to the Walmart on Elmsley Street and was designated as an activity center.
Terrell said he held a neighborhood meeting but nobody came.
The conditions limit the development to 84 dwelling units.
