Nearly 30 people visited Burlington’s city hall on Monday for the public debut of a plan that seeks to revitalize the city’s once-bustling North Church Street corridor.
At 6:00 p.m. that evening, city staff members joined consultants from the firm of Freese & Nichols for an hour-long “open house” to introduce residents to this corridor plan. Then at 7:00 p.m., Alexis Garcia, a consultant with the Charlotte-based firm, formally presented the plan during a regularly-scheduled meeting of Burlington’s planning and zoning commission.
During her presentation to this appointed advisory board, Garcia explained the overall goal of this project has been to identify “redevelopment and reinvestment opportunities” along portions of North Church Street and Graham-Hopedale Road. She added that she and her colleagues have made community input the cornerstone of their efforts since they began to work on the plan in the summer of 2025.
“A lot of what we heard from the community was very consistent,” Garcia went on to inform the city’s planning commission, “looking at transportation and walkability, looking at having more uses in the area – like pharmacies and doctor’s offices – having parks, trails, and greenspaces…and preserving the character of the community.”
Garcia said that she and her colleagues have used this feedback to propose a vision and goals for the corridor. They’ve also crafted a conceptual master plan for the area and made recommendations for the implementation of the proposed changes.
Garcia added, however, that her firm hasn’t tried to transform the North Church Street corridor beyond recognition through its proposals.
“This plan isn’t starting from scratch,” the consultant said. “You already have an investment, and a partnership with the community, in the developments that are already underway…and so, we wanted to identify where along North Church Street and Graham-Hopedale are these existing developments.”
In order to make the most of these ongoing ventures, and guide the course of future developments, Garcia and her colleagues have recommended a variety of “design elements” that they deem well suited for the corridor. These features include things like public art, wayfinding signs, streetscaping, landscaping, infill development, pedestrian and bicycle access, and embarkation points for mass transit.
Freese & Nichols have also proposed some potential projects for underused locations within the corridor. These sites include an old parking lot at the corner of North Church Street and Graham-Hopedale Road that had once served the now-decommissioned Western Electric plant in the same part of the corridor. Although a carwash and coffee shop are currently in the works at the southwestern corner of this lot, there are no plans in the offing for the rest of this gargantuan tract. As a potential suggestion for the north side of this lot, the consultants have envisioned a mixed-use project anchored by a neighborhood grocery store that would overlook a row of existing county facilities along Martin Street.
Garcia noted that her plan doesn’t make any specific recommendations for the Western Electric facility itself, which is presently being decontaminated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She added, however, that her firm’s proposed design elements can be applied to any project that materializes at this location.
Garcia also alluded to the plan’s emphasis on small businesses that have continued to eke out an existence in this part of town.
This aspect of her proposal proved especially relevant to Gary Bailey who co-owns a dental and mental health practice with his wife at 291 Graham-Hopedale Road. During Monday’s open house, Bailey told The Alamance News that he saw a few things in the plan that could bode well for mom ‘n pop businesses such as his own.
“There are economic incentives for various levels of development on Graham-Hopedale Road,” he explained, “and they want to get input from the public on where there’s the most interest to develop these spots.”
Garcia’s presentation nevertheless left members of the city’s planning commission with questions about features like lighting, landscaping, and the corridor’s roadways. Mike Mills, a retired state highway engineer who now serves on the commission, was especially eager to know if the plan would reduce the number of lanes along this particular stretch of North Church Street.
“It’s seven lanes,” Mills went on to exclaim. “There has been conversation that there’s too many lanes, and a ‘road diet’ has been discussed in the past. It’s a long way for pedestrians to get across the road.”
Garcia conceded that her firm’s proposals don’t touch on the option of a “road diet.” She added, however, that she’s well aware of proposals within the NCDOT to slow vehicular traffic and improve pedestrian access along this portion of North Church Street.
All in all, the proposals that Garcia shared with the commission seemed full of promise to the residents who attended Monday’s proceedings.
“It’s exciting that there’s attention on this area,” Burlington resident Julie Budd noted during the preceding open house. “Obviously, it’s going to be up to the private sector to develop these places. But the more focus that the city puts on these areas, the more ideas will come into being.”
“Everything I have seen is very positive,” agreed fellow Burlingtonian Miranda Graves. “I just hope that they’re able to stay on task with these plans.”
The planning commission, for its part, voted 5-to-0 to recommend the proposed corridor plan to Burlington’s city council.
