A planned 20-unit condominium project in Mount Airy has moved a step closer to fruition, along with a separate effort to allow medical supplies to be made at an existing trucking and distribution center.
This includes action by the city commissioners last Thursday night paving the way for public hearings later this month on requests for rezoning required before each development may proceed.
Citizens can weigh in on either issue, or both, during the commissioners’ next meeting scheduled for June 18 at 6 p.m., when the hearings will be held.
One involves two parcels located at 141 and 151 W. Poplar St. which formerly contained low-income rental units with “a long history of housing and nuisance violations,” according to Mount Airy Planning Department documents.
Three single-family dwellings that were on the properties have been demolished in the past year, which city planners say “ultimately remedied” those problems along West Poplar, which connects North Main and West Lebanon streets.
Now landowner Dean Bray III, of Bray Properties, is seeking to have the two parcels — which total just under one acre — rezoned from R-8 (single-family residential) to R-6 (General Residential).
The R-6 classification already is in place for adjoining property owned by Bray, which would be combined with the two parcels targeted for the rezoning to accommodate the condominium development.
Movement on that and other projects has been hampered by the emergence of the coronavirus in recent months, city Planning Director Andy Goodall has said. Restrictions on gatherings prevented preliminary action on the rezoning by the Mount Airy Planning Board, required before the request could be considered by the commissioners.
Meetings by it and other public bodies in town were suspended until last month, when capabilities for virtual sessions were put into place at City Hall.
This led to the planning group reviewing Bray’s request on May 27, which was accompanied by a presentation from the applicant on the project.
Also, written comments from several adjacent property owners were aired.
The Mount Airy Planning Board subsequently voted 7-0 to recommend approval of the rezoning, finding that it would be consistent with applicable land-use and growth-management strategies contained in a city comprehensive plan adopted in 2015.
N. Andy Griffith Parkway issue
During that same meeting on May 27, the planning group voted 7-0 to endorse the other rezoning request affecting two parcels at 1772 N. Andy Griffith Parkway (U.S. 52-North), the location of the Fish Hippie distribution center.
BLW Properties is listed as the landowner/applicant in that matter. Local businessmen Tom and Ben Webb are associated with BLW Properties.
The Webbs are seeking to have the sites rezoned from B-4 (Highway Business) to B-2 (General Business), to permit Fish Hippie to make medical supplies including masks, based on previous reports. The zoning change is sought for an area totaling 7.26 acres.
During the Mount Airy Planning Board meeting in May, the petitioning party spoke about the need for the zoning change, with no opposition voiced and no written comments received.
The planning group ruled that the rezoning sought by BLW Properties is consistent with the present and past use of the parcels and future land-use recommendations in the comprehensive plan.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com