TITLE
Title
PUBLIC HEARING TO REZONE PROPERTY OF 413 NC HWY 150 W (SPENCER DIXON AND HWY 150): CASE #23-11-PLBD-00069
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SPONSOR
Sponsor
J. Leslie Bell
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BACKGROUND
Background
Per Guilford County Unified Development Ordinance Article 2 - Administration Section 2.4.C.1., Article 3 - Section 3.5.C.2.b.3. Procedures for Specific Applications, and S.L. 1985-485 HB651 (attached), the Board of Commissioners has the authority to hold a public hearing to consider a decision by the Guilford County Planning Board to rezone property.
On December 28, 2023, an appeal was properly filed with the Clerk to Board to appeal the Planning Board’s decision made on December 13, 2023 (minutes attached) to deny the land use classification from Agricultural Rural Residential (AGRR) to Moderate Commercial and associated rezoning of said property (approx. 4.063 acres), located at 413 NC Highway 150 W (a portion of Guilford County Tax Parcel #139158 in Center Grove Township) from Conditional Zoning-General Business, CZ-GB, (Ref. Case #22-05-GCPL-03277) to CZ-GB Amended, with the following conditions (additional use and development conditions proposed as part of this rezoning request are shown in bold):
Use Condition: (1) Only the following uses shall be permitted: a) Medical or Professional Office; b) Personal Service; c) Bank or Finance with Drive-Through; d) Insurance Agency; e) Laundromat or Dry Cleaner; f) Pest or Termite Control Services; g) Studio/Artist/Recording; h) Retail (General); i) Auto Supply Sales; j) Auto Rental or Leasing; k) Car Wash; l) Convenience Store (with Gasoline Pumps); m) Garden Center or Retail Nursery; n) Used Merchandise Store; o) Bakery; p) Restaurant with Drive-Through; q) Restaurant without Drive-Through; r) Wireless Communications Tower-Stealth Camouflage Design or Non-Stealth Design; s) Small Cell Wireless Tower.
Development Conditions: (1) Required street yard plantings for the single, northeastern most out parcel located at the corner of Spencer Dixon Road and NC Highway 150 W shall be doubled; (2) Any drive-through component located on this future single, northeastern most out parcel located at the corner of Spencer Dixon Rd. and NC Hwy 150 W shall be oriented away from Spencer Dixon Road; (3) All building façade materials shall consist of masonry, EIFS or similar construction, with no exposed metal; (4) The single, northeastern most out parcel at the corner of Spencer Dixon Road and NC Hwy 150 W shall have one, singular ground sign to be located on the NC Hwy 150 W frontage; (5) The applicant shall include an easement for sidewalk along its frontage of Spencer Dixon Road and shall pursue the possibility of a sidewalk with NCDOT on NC Hwy 150 W.
Conditions established as part of rezoning case #22-05-GCPL-03277 (approx. 30.31 acres) approved by the Board of Commissioners on August 4, 2022 remain in tact with the aforementioned conditions being requested to be added by the applicant to be applied as part of this application.
The Guilford County Planning Board at its December 13, 2023 Regular Meeting failed to pass the motion to rezone approx. 4.063 acres at 413 NC Highway 150 W (Case #23-11-PLBD-00069) from Conditional Zoning-General Business (CZ-GB) to CZ-GB Amended and a Northern Lakes Area Plan land use amendment from AG Rural Residential to Moderate Commercial for the subject property. The motion to Approve the rezoning request from Conditional Zoning-General Business (CZ-GB) to CZ-GB Amended and to amend the Northern Lakes Area Plan land use classification from Agricultural Rural Residential to Moderate Commercial for the subject property failed (Planning Board Recommendation Decision #3 attached) by a 4-4 vote (Ayes: Donnelly, Gullick, Stalder, Craft. Nays: Alston, Drumwright, Little and Bui. Absent: Buchanan).
Per Section 3.5.M.4.f(3) of the Guilford County Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), an application receiving less than a majority favorable vote or unfavorable vote from the Planning Board, shall constitute denial of the application unless appealed (attached).
District Descriptions
The GB, General Business, District is intended to accommodate moderate to large-scale retail, business, and service uses along thoroughfares and at key intersections. The district is characterized minimal front setbacks, off-street parking. Quality design, shared access, and shared parking are encouraged.
The CZ, Conditional Zoning, District is established as a companion district for every district established in Section 4.2. All regulations which apply to a general use zoning district also apply to the companion conditional zoning. All other regulations which may be offered by the property owner and approved by the Jurisdiction as part of the rezoning process apply.
Attached are minutes of the regular December 13, 2023 Guilford County Planning Board Meeting, UDO Street Planting Yard requirements, zoning case staff report, and maps.
When adopting or rejecting any zoning map amendment, the governing body is required to approve a brief statement describing whether its action is consistent or inconsistent with an adopted comprehensive plan (minutes can reflect that the governing board is aware of and considered the Planning Board's recommendations and any relevant portion of an adopted comprehensive plan [e.g., Area Plan]). Additionally, when adopting or rejecting any petition for a zoning map amendment, a statement analyzing the reasonableness of the proposed rezoning shall be approved by the governing board. See both statements below as approved by the Planning Board which if affirmed, the Board of Commissioners are requested to approve the request as presented herein (see statements below). If the Planning Board's decision is not affirmed, the Board of Commissioners is requested to include in its decision a Plan Consistency Statement and Statement of Reasonableness as part of its decision to reject the Planning Board's decision.
Consistency with Adopted Plans: The proposed conditional rezoning is not consistent with the Northern Lakes Area Plan recommendation of AG Rural Residential, but it is consistent with the Moderate Commercial Node. If the rezoning is approved, an amendment to the Northern Lakes Area Plan from AG Rural Residential (AGRR) to Moderate Commercial will be required.
The AG Rural Residential (AGRR) designation is intended to accommodate agricultural (AG) uses, large-lot residential development, and low-density residential subdivisions not connected to public water and sewer with densities not to exceed two (2) units per acre. Large major residential subdivisions in the AG Rural Residential area should incorporate into their design a minimum of two (2) policies recommended by this plan. Anticipated land uses are those permitted in the Agricultural (AG), RS-40 Residential Single-Family, RS-30 Residential Single-Family, Planned Unit Development-Residential (PD-R), and Rural Preservation (RPD) zoning districts, including but not limited to institutional and recreational uses, as determined by the Guilford County Development Ordinance. Higher densities may be appropriate as determined by the Guilford County Residential Rezoning Matrix.
The Moderate Commercial Node is intended to accommodate moderate-intensity office and commercial uses that provide retail and distributive services for an area beyond the immediate surroundings. Moderate Commercial Nodes are identified along current and proposed primary transportation routes and intersections, as envisioned uses rely on fluid access and high visibility. Particular attention should be given to architectural and transportation standards, as recommended by this plan, when Moderate Commercial Nodes develop. Moderate Commercial Nodes, although not designed to develop as regional shopping centers (Heavy Commercial Nodes) at this time due to current infrastructure limitations and surrounding development context, warrant special consideration in future plan updates to assess infrastructure progression. Moderate Commercial Nodes have an approximate radius of one-quarter (.25) of a mile. Examples of expected uses within Moderate Commercial Nodes can be found within the Limited Business (LB), General Office-Medium (GO-M), and a range of moderate intensity uses in the Highway Business (HB) and General Business (GB) Zone of the Guilford County Development Ordinance.
Reasonableness: The requested CZ-GB, Conditional Zoning-General Business, zoning is reasonable and in the public interest because the property is within the quarter-mile radius of the Spencer Dixon Road and NC Highway 150 Moderate Commercial Node, and therefore the request would satisfy policies 1.1.1 and 1.4.3 of the Future Land Use Element Comprehensive Plan (see staff report).
Policy 1.1.1 states that Planning staff will continue to utilize the future land uses depicted on citizen-based Area Plans, in conjunction with the rezoning guidance matrix, as the basis for land use and policy recommendations. The property is already zoned GB, and the addition of Convenience Store (with Gasoline Pumps) as a permitted use would fulfill the intentions of the Moderate Commercial Node by providing retail and distributive service which serves an area beyond the immediate surroundings.
Policy 1.4.3 states that Planning staff will reference adopted Land Use Plans and recommended uses and densities/intensities, when applicable, in conjunction with rezoning staff reports presented to the Planning Board. While this request is not consistent with the future land use classification of AGRR, it is consistent with the Moderate Commercial Node which identifies uses that would be typical under General Business (GB) zoning district.
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REQUESTED ACTION
Requested Action
Conduct required legislative hearing to approve/deny the rezoning of approximately 4.063 acres, located at 413 NC Highway 150 W (a portion of Guilford County Tax Parcel #139158 in Center Grove Township) from Conditional Zoning-General Business, CZ-GB, (Ref. Case #22-05-GCPL-03277) to CZ-GB Amended as presented herein with the following use and development conditions:
Use Condition: (1) Only the following uses shall be permitted: a) Medical or Professional Office; b) Personal Service; c) Bank or Finance with Drive-Through; d) Insurance Agency; e) Laundromat or Dry Cleaner; f) Pest or Termite Control Services; g) Studio/Artist/Recording; h) Retail (General); i) Auto Supply Sales; j) Auto Rental or Leasing; k) Car Wash; l) Convenience Store (with Gasoline Pumps); m) Garden Center or Retail Nursery; n) Used Merchandise Store; o) Bakery; p) Restaurant with Drive-Through; q) Restaurant without Drive-Through; r) Wireless Communications Tower-Stealth Camouflage Design or Non-Stealth Design; s) Small Cell Wireless Tower.
Development Conditions: (1) Required street yard plantings for the single, northeastern most out parcel located at the corner of Spencer Dixon Road and NC Highway 150 W shall be doubled; (2) Any drive-through component located on this future single, northeastern most out parcel located at the corner of Spencer Dixon Rd. and NC Hwy 150 W shall be oriented away from Spencer Dixon Road; (3) All building façade materials shall consist of masonry, EIFS or similar construction, with no exposed metal; (4) The single, northeastern most out parcel at the corner of Spencer Dixon Road and NC Hwy 150 W shall have one, singular ground sign to be located on the NC Hwy 150 W frontage; (5) The applicant shall include an easement for sidewalk along its frontage of Spencer Dixon Road and shall pursue the possibility of a sidewalk with NCDOT on NC Hwy 150 W.
If the decision to deny the rezoning request is overturned, the rezoning will be deemed approved, and a Northern Lakes Area Plan amendment from AG Rural Residential (AGRR) to Moderate Commercial will be required.
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