The Guilford County Board of Commissioners isn’t the Guilford County Planning Board, but, when a Planning Board decision is appealed, it lands in the laps of the commissioners.
That’s the situation for the board on Thursday, Feb. 5, when the county commissioners will have to decide a contentious matter of whether land at the intersection of NC 150 and Spencer Dixon Road in northern Guilford County should be rezoned.
In this area, just as in nearby Summerfield, some residents fight hard against any development because they moved to a rural spot to get away from noise, traffic and commercial activity. So they don’t want any businesses popping up nearby.
On Thursday night, the commissioners will hold a public hearing to consider whether the Planning Board was correct to deny a property rezoning request for the land.
An appeal was filed challenging a decision made by the Guilford County Planning Board two months ago to deny a rezoning of 4 acres from Agricultural Rural Residential to Moderate Commercial with some conditions attached.
The rezoning would permit some uses such as a medical office or business office, a bank branch or a restaurant, just to name a few of the possibilities.
According to documents regarding the hearing, Moderate Commercial Zone Node is “intended to accommodate moderate-intensity office and commercial uses that provide retail and distributive services for an area beyond the immediate surroundings,” and is generally located “along current and proposed primary transportation routes and intersections, as envisioned uses rely on fluid access and high visibility.”
Some restrictions are attached to the request. For instance, the building façade materials would have to consist of “masonry, EIFS or similar construction, with no exposed metal,” and the project would need to allow an easement for a sidewalk along Spencer Dixon Road.
The Planning Board vote in December was a 4-to-4 tie, which meant the rezoning request failed. A majority is needed for a motion to pass.
They passed it the issue is they will install a gas station on this corner the other issue is they had the original request approved in august under the conditions it wouldn’t be a gas station but then maps of watersheds showed the property is butted up against the water shed vs on the property. So instead of being on the watershed they are within feet of it and gonna bury underground tanks.