Burlington’s planning staff is sometimes seen as a rather inflexible guardian in assessing various rezoning requests in compliance with the city’s long-term land use plan and recommending against those projects that don’t conform to the future zoning designations envisioned by the long-term plan.
But on one item on Monday’s night’s agenda, the staff voiced no qualms about overruling the city’s land use plan in regard to another proposal that came before the planning commission that night.
In this case, Brian Hall of the Samet Corporation requested office and institutional use for some 22.1 residentially-zoned acres at the southeast corner of Huffman Mill Road and Grand Oaks Boulevard. Although the city’s land use plan calls for rural residential or agricultural use in this location, the planning staff had concurred with the applicant’s request to retag it for office-style development.
The property in question is already adjacent to a “sliver” of land owned by Alamance Regional Medical Center that’s zoned for office and institutional use.
Joey Lea, the city’s zoning and subdivision administrator, told the commission that property directly across the road from this site was previously zoned for office and institutional use in anticipation of the hospital’s future growth.
The commission went on to vote 7-to-0 to endorse the request.
See other planning commission recommendations from Feb. 22 meeting:
Planning commission recommends 205 (more) apartments along St. Mark’s Church Road: https://alamancenews.com/burlingtons-planning-commission-gives-go-ahead-recommendation-for-205-apts-along-st-marks-church-road/
Planning commission closely divided, 4-3, in recommending residential rezoning for home near Burlington Alamance Regional Airport: https://alamancenews.com/planning-commission-endorses-residential-rezoning-near-airport-4-3-over-staff-objection/
