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Rezoning advances for charter high school

by CHRIS BURRITT

SUMMERFIELD – A request to rezone 37.2 acres on U.S. 220 North at Winfree Road for an 800-student charter high school has won the backing of the Summerfield Planning Board.

The board’s 2-1 vote last week advances the rezoning request by the applicant, National Heritage Academies, to the Town Council for consideration and possible approval during its May 10 meeting.

The board had postponed consideration of the case during its February meeting to give National Heritage Academies more time to complete its traffic impact analysis. Last week, board Chair Dick Feulner and board member Clark Doggett voted in favor of the rezoning request while alternate board member Clint Babcock, citing safety concerns for high school drivers, voted against it.

The board’s recommendation set two conditions: the school must comply with any safety measures required by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Second, the school would provide an officer to manage traffic if recommended by the state agency.

Babcock voted in place of board member Kathy Rooney because he had taken her seat during her absence from the February meeting when the board initially considered and held a public hearing for the rezoning request. Vice Chair Jeff Davis and board member Trudy Whitacre were absent from last week’s meeting.

National Heritage Academies, a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based charter school management company, helped start Summerfield Charter Academy and Greensboro Academy.

The tract for the proposed high school is across Highway 220 from Summerfield Charter Academy. Winfree Road and an unnamed road with a stoplight at Highway 220 would provide access to the school.

Babcock said he was concerned about the safety of student drivers exiting on Winfree Road and then crossing two lanes of highway traffic to reach a lefthand turn lane at the stoplight. The turn lane allows drivers traveling north to do a U-turn to travel south on the highway.

Preview: May 5 Oak Ridge Town Council meeting

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OAK RIDGE – Oak Ridge Town Council plans to get its first look at the town’s proposed budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. The Finance Committee recommended no change to the current property tax rate of 8 cents per $100 of property valuation, according to Town Manager Bill Bruce. The budget draft is undergoing a final review, with minor adjustments possible before the council’s The Northwest Observer • Totally local since 1996 meeting at 7 p.m. this Thursday, May 5. Guilford County’s reappraisal of property values earlier this year will lead to an increase in tax receipts for Oak Ridge and other municipalities countywide. Even so, Bruce said the committee recommended leaving the tax rate unchanged.

Oak Ridge “has a number of large capital projects on the horizon, and is facing rising costs for most projects and services,” he said. “Maintaining a healthy fund balance to address future uncertainties is also a factor in this recommendation.”