Anyone who’s lived in Greensboro for a while knows the only thing standing in the way of connecting the Downtown Greenway with the Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway is Chandler Concrete. Mind you Chandler is more than happy to move and thus open up the last section of A&Y rail line, but —you guessed it — the city turned down its rezoning request:
Chandler Concrete has demonstrated that it is willing to move by going out and finding a suitable site and trying to get it rezoned. Why aren’t the economic development gurus that are well paid by the City of Greensboro out finding another location so that the rail line can be closed and the trail built into the downtown? The city was willing to spend half a million dollars to build a tunnel under Cone Boulevard for a trail that currently goes nowhere, but it isn’t making any apparent effort to open that trail into the downtown.
The City Council has had six years to get something done, but it’s done nothing while it has been running around chasing rainbows. This new City Council could change that and concentrate some effort on an achievable goal.
More than a few industrial operations in that part of town –for example Starr Electric is right around the corner —who would be more than happy to make way for Gboro’s hipster vision, but good luck getting property rezoned. And don’t even bother going near the airport –that’s exclusively for the aerotropolis.
Fair enough the rezoning was turned down due to neighborhood opposition. I just hate to think there’s other suitable property for Chandler Concrete that doesn’t adversely affect citizens, but city rules and regulations make such a move unfeasible.
