The Greensboro City Council has two controversial rezonings on the agenda tonight, one of which is a request to put a 24-hour drugstore in the area at New Garden Drive and Garden Lake Drive. The equally controversial West Friendly Drive rezoning will also be before council members, but it appears as though Roy Carroll’s rezoning request at Business 85 and I-40 will be delayed.
Meanwhile, Davidson County commissioners turn down a proposal to rezone 12 acres for a 72-unit development for the 55-and-over crowd.
Bonus observation: Money quote from Brooks McLendon lawyer Derek Allen, who’s representing the developer in the Garden Lake case. Allen said developers
….have tried to address all the neighbors’ concerns except ‘”don’t do it at all” and “don’t do the drugstore,”‘ he said.
“I think every project going forward now that’s any kind of infill project will have opposition to it,” Allen said. “People aren’t comfortable with change.”
I’ll concede the point that a 24-hour drugstore isn’t necessarily the best fit for that area. But that doesn’t change the quandry Greensboro is facing. We don’t want “urban sprawl,” yet, in my opinion, Allen’s correct when he says that most infill projects will face opposition.
What’s ironic to me is the trend where big boxes like Home Depot and Target are targeting sites even closer to city centers in order to appease the smart growth crowd with more mixed-use retail.
