Proposal rejected
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on March 17, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Don Barnes expresses his opinion that a lot proposed for a new apartment complex on the south side of Graves Drive should remain a purely commercial area. After the public hearing, members of the Goldsboro City Council denied the request to build apartments on the land.
A proposal to build an 80-unit apartment complex on Graves Drive between Berkeley Boulevard and Malloy Street was killed on the cutting room floor at Monday's meeting of the Goldsboro City Council.
After a petition of protest was signed by more than 60 business and property owners surrounding the area, Bryan Jones, a professional engineer with Pendergraph Companies and Jones Consulting Engineers, who proposed the project, wrote a letter to the council requesting the project be "denied by the City Council without prejudice," the letter read.
In Jones' letter, he went on to explain the reasoning for requesting the cancellation of the proposed apartment complex.
"This will allow the applicant to work more closely with the community, neighboring property owners and citizens to adequately address concerns expressed regarding this request," the letter read, referencing the petition of protest.
But Pendergraph Companies might not be able to sway the public's opinion, even with the proposal denied and time granted to discuss concerns with surrounding business and property owners.
Three residents -- Jerry Ray, Don Barnes and Tonya Lee -- stepped forward during the public hearing held at Monday night's council meeting to express their belief that a residential development should not only be denied now, but never considered again in the future in the area the complex was proposed to be built in.
"If the city council were to approve this rezoning request so an apartment complex could be built in that area, it would be spot zoning," Barnes said. "Due to the area being zoned for business, it is my belief that a residential complex should not be built in the area now or at any time in the future."
Ray, the owner of Mickey's Pastry Shop on Graves Drive, said he made an investment in his family's future by placing his business in the area, and that a residential complex held the potential to harm businesses in the surrounding area.
"My father bought property (in the area) for commercial use and made it part of his daughters' inheritance to invest in their future," Ms. Lee said. "He is deceased now, and I'm asking the area be left as it is and no residential development be allowed."
After the public hearing, council members took a vote on the proposal, and unanimously denied it.
City Manager Scott Stevens confirmed after the meeting that this means the project is now dead, and no action will be taken on the matter at the next city council meeting, as was initially proposed.
Preliminary plans for the complex submitted to the city showed 80 units on 6.21 acres, with a frontage of 300 feet on Graves Drive and a depth of 780 feet.
This marks the second time a proposal for an apartment complex has been protested by citizens and subsequently had its wings clipped before takeoff.
DHIC Inc. submitted plans to the city in January to construct a 64-unit apartment complex downtown on South Center Street, and numerous business owners and community members spoke against the plan.
Citing insufficient notice and education on what type of complex exactly would have been built, the Goldsboro City Council struck the item from its agenda at January's last council meeting.