Builders want approval for new apartment complex
By Ty Johnson
Published in News on March 3, 2013 1:50 AM
The Goldsboro City Council could clear the way for a new apartment complex off Wayne Memorial Drive if it accepts the Planning Commission's recommendation during Monday night's meeting.
The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in Historic City Hall but will be preceded by a work session at 5 p.m. in the City Hall Annex.
A rezoning request from PIRHL Southeast was tabled during the City Council's Jan. 22 meeting to allow the developer to alter the proposal in response to concerns about traffic from residents in a nearby neighborhood.
Because the applicant requested that the zoning be changed from Office and Institutional to R-6 Residential Conditional District, the application must include site plans.
The applicant hosted a neighborhood meeting Feb. 12, where residents voiced their concerns, leading PIRHL to reposition the northernmost building and to install a 6-foot tall vinyl fence along the development's northern and western boundaries to discourage foot traffic into the adjacent neighborhood. The 975 feet of fencing will cost more than $25,000.
The Planning Commission took those alterations one step further during its Feb. 25 meeting, recommending the approval of the complex on the condition that the developer add another access point to the complex to lessen the impact on traffic. The additional ingress/egress point would connect with Norwood Avenue.
Residents registered a formal protest to the rezoning request which will mean six out of seven members of the council, or a supermajority, must vote in the affirmative to approve the measure.
During the council's work session the council will discuss the concept of advertising the city's crime reduction initiative on GATEWAY buses and an appointment to the Transportation Advisory Board.
Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. Director Julie Metz is expected to then share information on the Center Street Residential Infill Project.
The meeting also will feature presentations from Bill Graham on the Wayne County Veterans and Patriots Coalition and Wayne Community College Foundation and a presentation of an eagle photograph by Parks and Recreation Director Scott Barnard.
And finally, the council is expected to approve a robust consent agenda, including the following:
*The awarding of a contract for the George Street Water Main Improvement project
*Approval of audit services for the current fiscal year
*A utility services agreement for fiber installation
*A request for fuel from the Goldsboro Housing Authority
*A conditional use permit to allow the opening of a beach bingo parlor at the former location of Teasers Nightclub
*Acquisition of right-of-way for the Berkeley Boulevard widening project
*The site and landscaping plan for a modular unit at Wayne Middle/High Academy
*A sign modification request for Marcellus Harrison Auto Sales
*Approval of a rezoning request for a solar farm on Fedelon Trail
*An ordinance establishing a "No Parking" zone for a section of North Claiborne Street
*A conditional use permit to allow the opening of a beach bingo parlor at the New Hope Plaza Shopping Center
*The appointment of City Manager Scott Stevens, District 2 Councilman Bill Broadaway, District 5 Councilman Chuck Allen and former County Commissioner Jack Best to the U.S. Highway 70 Corridor Commission
*Appointments to the Mayor's Committee for Persons with Disabilities.
Both sessions are open to the public, and individuals are permitted to address the council on any subject for up to three minutes during the 7 p.m. session.