Council denies rezoning request
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on March 11, 2016 1:46 PM
The Goldsboro City Council voted unanimously to deny a rezoning request that would have allowed Patrick Gallagher to begin operating an events center on his private property on the east side of Leslie Street between Mulberry Street and Walnut Street.
This action was in accordance with the recommendation of the city's Planning Commission, which passed a motion at its meeting on Feb. 29 that recommended denying the rezoning request.
The motion to deny the request was made because the proposed rezoning did not align with the recommended use for the property, as recommended by the city's Comprehensive Land Use Plan, which recommends the property be developed for high-density residential areas.
Gallagher was requesting the property be rezoned from a residential zoning to a general business conditional district, which would have allowed the events center to operate.
Following a presentation by Planning Director Jimmy Rowe during the council's work session Monday night on the logistics of the proposal, the council voted to move the item off of its consent agenda and designate the issue as an item requiring individual action.
This is because council members Mark Stevens and Antonio Williams voiced concerns about not approving the rezoning request that would have allowed Gallagher to operate the events center.
Stevens, the council member for District 3, which is the district in which the property in question Monday night falls, said his phone had been ringing off the hook leading into Monday night's council meeting with citizens voicing their concerns.
"I've had numerous phone calls, from 4 o'clock this morning until late this evening. I'm going to leave it up to everyone in here to say what they want to do," Stevens said. "I am for it, I think it has beneficial assets for the community, but if it will bring a problem to the community -- as it seems to be, as my phone continues to ring off the hook -- then it will serve as a disservice for the community, so I'm going to have to speak against it."
Williams, the council member for District 1, said he felt like the neighborhood where the property is located could use the events center.
"I feel like the neighborhood needs it. I feel like if this place is operational, that it would draw middle-class people," Williams said. "Also, we would have law enforcement (in that neighborhood) a little bit more, patrolling the area. Right now, there's a lot of shootings going on here. There's a lot of things that are not creating jobs. That's just my personal opinion."
A public hearing was held on the matter at the last City Council meeting on Feb. 15, during which two people spoke in support of the rezoning request and three people spoke in opposition to the request.
There are six structures that exist on the property that was in question Monday night:
1) A 5,647-square-foot building that serves as Gallagher's primary dwelling.
2) A 2,251-square-foot building that was proposed to serve as the main events center.
3) A 1,200-square-foot guest house that is maintained as a guest house.
4) A pool house.
5) A greenhouse.
6) A 3,000-square-foot metal building used for storage.
Despite moving the rezoning request from the council consent agenda to a designation of items requiring individual action, no council member spoke either for or against the measure during the 7 p.m. council meeting when the unanimous vote to deny the rezoning request was cast by the council.