A divided Burlington planning and zoning commission has recommended denial of a developer’s request to rezone property for a new extended stay hotel, WoodSpring Suites, near Highland Elementary School.
The 5.5-acre parcel is at the corner of Bonnar Bridge Parkway and Danbrook Road near one of the entrances to the Mackintosh on the Lake subdivision.
The irony is that the commission’s recommendation, which must still be considered by Burlington’s city council next month, would leave in place an existing zoning designation for a different hotel approved by the city council almost 16 years ago.
In April 2007, the city council agreed to rezone the same 5.5-acre parcel for a new, 5-story Holiday Inn with 116 rooms, a restaurant, and bar plus an adjacent 4-story office building.
When the rezoning was approved, Highland Elementary School was under construction, but had not yet opened.
This week’s presentation sought to substitute a 4-story hotel with 122 rooms and an extended, or long, stay format, but no restaurant or bar.
The developer, Kartik Patel, sought a limited use designation that would allow, most likely a walk-in restaurant, that would be available nearby to its hotel customers.
Patel explained that the standard footprint for the extended stay hotel built by the parent company, Choice Hotels, requires only two acres, leaving 3.5 acres (of the 5.5-acre site) for other purposes. “The sole purpose” of the rezoning request is “to put something else beside” the extended stay hotel, Patel said.
The “limited use” zoning requested for the remainder of the site could include such businesses as a coffee shop, medical office, pharmacy, hair and nail salon, or retail use. The restaurants allowed would be “walk-up” or a “specialty eating establishment,” but not a drive-through.
Patel elaborated that the company’s prototype requires four stories, as was shown in a graphic presented to the planning board.
However, Jamie Lawson, the city’s planning director, said that building heights are restricted to three stories next to residential areas, although the planning department would need to review a detailed drawing to confirm that, she told board members.
No explanation was offered as to how the height limit would apply to the existing zoning which allows a 5-story hotel and a 4-story office building, although Lawson said at another point in the meeting that development standards adopted in November 2019 changed some of the requirements affecting new projects, while older ones would have to comply with previous standards.
Neighborhood opposition in absentia
The commission heard via email from four neighboring residentsin the Mackintosh on the Lake development who oppose the new rezoning. Two recognized the existing zoning allowing for a hotel, while two oppose a hotel altogether.
Tim Deegan, 3258 Castlerock Drive, told the commission that the proposed use “is no longer consistent with the surrounding area.”
He added, “Given the evolution of this area since its original zoning in 2007, the board should take a fresh and intelligent review of this original zoning by requiring traffic studies, pedestrian and vehicular safety reviews, as well as other quality of life factors impacting the surrounding residents and our county’s water supply.”
As to the developer’s desire for other commercial enterprises adjacent to its hotel, Deegan wrote, “Allowing commercial ‘sprawl’ into existing, mature and peaceful residential neighborhoods serves only to dilute the existing quality of which has already been diluted due to increased traffic, highway noise, quarry activity and crime due to the maturity and continued residential development of the area.”
Another Mackintosh neighbor, Katherine Matkins, took aim at the extended stay nature of the proposed hotel. “If you look at other extended stays and ‘cheap’ hotels in Burlington,” she said, “you’ll clearly see that they are a hotbed for drugs and crime.”
Kimberly Reich, 2025 Sinclair Trace, drew a distinction between the original zoning for a full-service hotel vs. an extended stay variety.
“Communities have documented a disproportionate number of local police, fire, and EMS calls to extended-stay hotels related to theft, violence, domestic disputes, and noise. The high volume of public safety calls to some WoodSpring properties has led local governments to designate them as nuisances.”
Penney and Richard Greene, 119 Tyree Trail, also singled out the proximity of the proposed hotel across the street from an elementary school. “This area should be protected for those that reside in the neighborhood and as a parent and a grandparent, building a hotel that close to the elementary school is unsafe in every aspect. We live in a world where child trafficking is critically high, molestation is in every news update and child abuse is happening more and more. . . Please don’t devalue our beautiful community for the sake of a dollar.”
Commission’s split decisions
The planning board took several runs at resolving the rezoning request.
Lee Roane made a motion to approve the rezoning request as presented, but his effort failed for lack of a second.
Then Jonathan Sanders made a motion to remove the hotel/motel from the proposed rezoning. His motion failed 2-4. In addition to his own vote, the motion received the vote of Ethan Raynor. Voting against were Roane, chairman James Kirkpatrick, Mike Mills, and Ryan Spadaccini.
Finally, Raynor made a motion to deny the rezoning altogether, which passed 4-2. Voting in favor were Raynor, Sanders, Spadaccini, and Mills. Voting against were Kirkpatrick and Roane.
