Rezoning request for townhomes advances

Greensboro’s Planning and Zoning Commission recommends approval of rezoning for townhouse development

by CHRIS BURRITT

NW GREENSBORO – Opponents of a proposal to build as many as 95 townhouses on Pleasant Ridge Road lost the first round of their rezoning battle against the project’s developer.

The Greensboro Planning and Zoning Commission voted 7-2 this PLEASANT RIDGE ROAD

NPLEASANT RIDGE ROAD HIGHLAND GROVE DRIVE LONG VALLEY ROAD

2608 PLEASANT RIDGE ROAD

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Thanks to Debra Wilson (center of photo), a Realtor with Allen Tate Realtors in Oak Ridge, for hosting our Aug. 2 meeting.

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past Monday, Aug. 15, to recommend approval of the rezoning application by Windsor Homes. The final decision now rests with the City Council, which will consider approving the request during its Sept. 20 meeting. “We are trying to preserve this rural space,” said Summerfield resident Kim McCaskill, one of several property owners who urged the commission to oppose the rezoning request for property near her home. “Please let us keep something rural out here.” David Michaels, Windsor’s manager of land acquisition and development, countered, telling the commission that his company’s proposal to build about 5.2 units per acre “is not an unprecedented use for this area.” Michaels cited two nearby developments on Fleming Road with comparable densities. He said they’re examples of housing sought by people who don’t want to maintain the large lots that homes are typically built on in northwestern Greensboro and Summerfield. In this area, Summerfield’s town limits are located on the northern side of Pleasant Ridge Road, just across from the property Windsor hopes to rezone. Even though some homeowners who live near the townhouse site actuThe Northwest Observer • Totally local since 1996 ally live within the city limits of Greensboro, they have Summerfield mailing

Map created by Yvonne Truhon/NWO If the rezoning of 16.5 acres on Pleasant Ridge Road in northwest Greensboro is approved by the Greensboro City Council, Windsor Homes plans to provide access to the development from Pleasant Ridge and Long Valley roads, and not through the adjacent Highland Grove subdivision.

addresses. The property that is the subject of the rezoning request also has a Summerfield mailing address, according to Guilford County property records.

Th e situation “is the most confusing thing trying to explain,” Summerfi eld Mayor Tim Sessoms said during the Town Council’s meeting last week.

He said several people had called him to ask how Summerfield is handling the rezoning request. His response to the callers was, “that is not Summerfield, it’s the city of Greensboro.”

Windsor is seeking to rezone 16.5 acres at 2608 Pleasant Ridge Road from agricultural (AG) to conditional zoning – residential multifamily district (CD-RM-8). If the request is approved, the two-story townhouses will be rising from the grassy, wooded tract a year from now, according to Michaels.

The land is owned by William Spangler, who plans to continue living in his home on the property after its purchase by Windsor Homes, Michaels told the commission.

The purchase hinges on the rezoning of the property, according to Michaels. If the City Council approves the rezoning next month, Windsor anticipates completing the transaction by the end of the year and starting construction next spring, he said in an interview during a recess in the commission meeting. ...continued on p. 22