Greensboro City Council preview

Greensboro City Council meets tonight at 5:30 p.m.. We’ll have live coverage through Twitter. Previously, I’ve reported through my personal account. Tonight, I’ll be using the YES! Weekly account.

In the meantime, here’s a preview of some significant items on the agenda:

1.

Council will consider a rezoning request by developer Robert Yates at 1419 Alamance Church Road in southeast Greensboro. The rezoning from conditional district-residential multifamily to planned unit development would allow the developer the option of building single-family homes, along with town homes or twin homes. Marc Isaacson, the lawyer handling the case says that Yates has a contract to sell the property to Wade Jurney Homes contingent on the rezoning request going through. Wade Jurney Homes primarily builds single-family houses.

Staff supports the request, but Theodore Stevens, a former partner in the project, has appealed an affirmative decision by the zoning commission. Stevens, who lives in the area, told the zoning commission that he believes single-family homes do not fit with the existing neighborhood.

2.

Project Zebra is requesting an economic development incentive grant of up to $52,000 to expand its Regional Road facility. The company is considering expanding either in Greensboro or in Memphis, Tenn., according to staff documents. If it were to choose Greensboro, the company would reportedly retain 16 jobs and add 52 more. The expansion would entail $2.5 million in investment. The jobs would pay an average of $40,077, not counting benefits.

3.

Council will consider a new policy that would require city council approval before staff made budget adjustments of $50,000 or more. District 5 Councilwoman Trudy Wade requested the policy change. The resolution is expected to pass, but at-large Councilman Robbie Perkins and District 1 Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small will almost certainly dissent.

4.

Council will considering awarding a $1 million contract to Brooks Lumber Co. for Phase 1A of the Downtown Greenway. Phase 1A runs from West Lee Street and Freeman Mill Road north to Spring Garden Street. The section will include retaining walls, a railroad crossing, a restored railroad underpass and new storm drainage. Public art, lighting and landscaping are expected to be funded trough private donations under separate contracts, according to staff documents.

5.

Downtown Greensboro Inc. is requesting a transfer of $265,000 from a municipal service district fund controlled by the city of Greensboro. The downtown municipal services district, which was created in the middle of the last decade, levies additional taxes on property owners within its boundaries and provides enhanced services including litter pickup by Downtown Greensboro Inc.’s Clean and Green team Inc. and police bike patrol.

Staff documents indicate that Downtown Greensboro Inc. has already been allotted $510,000 for this budget year from taxes collected through the municipal services district. Downtown Greensboro Inc. President Ed Wolverton explains in a letter to staff that a windfall has resulted from the account collecting “more than anticipated.”

“As of June 30, 2010, the downtown MSD had accumulated an unencumbered balance of $506,000. The balance is attributed to two primary reasons: Assessments were collected for about nine months prior to incurring expenses for new programs; and collections and values growing at a higher rate than anticipated.”

Downtown Greensboro Inc. wants to spend $250,000 on its storefront stimulus program by renovating 10 storefronts at $25,000 a pop to create and retain 10 retail businesses, estimated to create 30 new jobs. The outfit wants to spend $15,000 to help direct homeless people to the Interactive Resource Center, a day center with a buffet of services that are geared towards helping people secure employment.

Wolverton expressed concern that people will see money in the municipal service district account as a source of revenue to help reduce the overall cost of local government.

“As you know, the MSD account is comprised exclusively of money paid by downtown businesses and property owners,” Wolverton wrote. “Unfortunately, some in the community may be confused about the origin of the money and seek to use the funds for other programs and initiatives. To avoid confusion, we will need to educate citizens about the differences between MSD money versus the general fund. As state law mandates that these monies can only fund enhanced services rather than replace existing money or services, we will need to be even more aggressive about explaining the appropriate use of the funds.”

6.

Council is requested to appoint a liaison to direct staff in the development of redistricting plans, following the new populations count from Census 2010. Greensboro is covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, requiring that any redistricting plan be pre-cleared by the US Justice Department.

District lines were last redrawn in 2008 based on a plan submitted by District 3 Councilman Zack Matheny. The recent plan modified the previous pie-slice division of the five districts, creating an elongated suburban territory for District 5, and enclosing District 4 in a central-west footprint.

Any plan would need to be approved by July 25, when filing opens for city council candidates.

7.

Council is being asked to adopt resolutions of intent to annex six area located on the eastern and northwestern fringes of the city. All six are city-initiated, or involuntary annexations. Although council voted to adopt resolutions of intent for the six areas on Jan. 24, the council will have to vote again because the city did not stick to a mandated timeframe.

The city has dropped a plan to annex a seventh area running west from Knox Road along the north side of Interstate 85/40 to Rock Creek Dairy Road. Of the seven areas originally proposed for annexation, this was the most populous, Senior Planner Steve Galanti says, adding that staff concluded that providing city services would have been inordinately expensive. The remaining areas have relatively minimal population counts.

If council votes to approve the remaining six areas, a report on the city’s ability to provide services would be scheduled for March 1, notices would be mailed to affected property owners by March 10, a public informational meeting would be held at Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church on April 7, a public hearing would be held on May 3, council would vote on annexation on May 17, and the areas would be officially incorporated on July 31.

8.

The Greensboro Coliseum is requesting $200,000 for parking lot programs. Staff estimates that the coliseum could recover expenses in about four years.

UPDATE: Silly me, Project Zebra was a code name for the project, considering that the company wanted to remain secret until the deal was closed. The company is German-based Ziehl-Abegg.