Burlington’s planning and zoning commission has given its blessing to two rezoning requests that were on this week’s agenda.
Among them was a proposal for rezoning of 13.8 acres on the southeast corner of the intersection of NC 61 on I-85/40.
The lots – at 1201 and 1211 NC Highway 61 – have been owned since 1990 by Tom Lindley’s family. He and his attorney, Ryan Moffitt, presented the request to the planning board this week.
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Lindley told the board that he is trying to rezone the property “to position it for resale” and that there is not a current, or pending, project he or any potential owner has on the drawing board.
Moffitt stressed, “Highway 61 has been identified as a growth corridor,” and highlighted the fact that just last week the Ahold Delhaize Company, the parent company of Food Lion grocery stores, announced a huge, 1 million-square-foot distribution center further south on NC 61.
The Lindley property is directly across the interstate from the TA Truck stop. While the area is often generally referred to as Whitsett, the truck stop and other parcels along NC 61 south of the interstate are actually within the municipal limits and/or extraterritorial jurisdiction of Burlington.
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Lindley’s property is not currently in the city limits, but he will seek annexation, Moffitt told the board. The first step in that process, he said, was to seek the rezoning to a general business designation.
The planning board ultimately voted unanimously, 6-0, in favor of the rezoning request. Voting in favor were chairman James Kirkpatrick, vice chairman Charles Beasley, and commission members Mike Mills, Lee Roane, Jonathan Sanders, and Ryan Spadaccini.
The planning board also unanimously approved a rezoning for high density residential use on 1.5 acres along South Church Street past University Drive on the western outskirts of the city. Property owner Jerry Parker told the board he hopes to use this land to build a two-story building with perhaps 18 apartments, although he wasn’t yet sure of how many.
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The city’s planning director, Jamie Lawson, said the proposed rezoning would allow for “greater infill possibilities.”
