This petition is about protecting our residential neighborhoods from commercial development encroachment.  Forsyth County Rezoning Case F-1592 (developer Adams Property Group, Charleston, SC) proposes to rezone 33.91 acres from RS9 (Residential Subdivision) to GB-S (General Business - Special Use) at the southwestern corner of the intersection of Robinhood Road and Meadowlark Road in Forsyth County.   The site plan places high intensity commercial/industrial land uses directly against Brookberry Farm and the Arbors at Meadowlark neighborhoods.   The site plan connects the commercial/industrial uses directly to a single family residential street.  Special Use zoning allows conditions to mitigate impacts to neighboring properties.  In this case, there are no conditions that could be added to the proposal that would overcome the direct street connection between high intensity commercial uses and single family neighborhoods.  

Approval of this rezoning petition would set a dangerous precedent in Forsyth County and Winston-Salem, in addition to damaging  adjacent neighborhoods.  Please sign this petition in OPPOSITION to Forsyth County Rezoning Case F-1592 and support the protection of all our neighborhoods from commercial development encroachment. This petition will be presented at the March 12, 2020 City-County Planning Board meeting to demonstrate community and neighborhood OPPOSITION to Rezoning Case F-1592.   The zoning case can be viewed at https://www.cityofws.org/2649/March-2020-Planning-Board-Items

                   Facts for DENIAL of Rezoning Case F-1592

1. Does not support Robinhood Village Area Plan statement “Neighborhoods should be protected from inappropriate residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional encroachment”.  
2. Does not meet the intent of the Robinhood Village Area Plan: “All new and redeveloped commercial and office uses should be designed and developed to be compatible with nearby residential uses”.
3. Does not follow The Robinhood Village Area Plan recommended land use of Multifamily; Intense Commercial and Industrial Land Uses are added.
4. Does not consider factors that support Area Plan Recommendation for residential only use: a.) adjacent single family residential neighborhoods and b.) available commercial property nearby  in  Robinhood Village and Country Club/Meadowlark Activity Centers.
5. Conflicts with the Winston-Salem/ForsythCounty Unified Development Ordinance (UDO)  purpose “each residential district is designed and intended to secure for the persons who reside there a comfortable, healthy, safe, and pleasant environment in which to live, protected from incompatible and disruptive activities which more properly belong in nonresidential districts”.
6. Does not show a design intended to be compatible with the adjacent single family residential neighborhood.
7. Forces a major thoroughfare function onto a single family residential street by connecting the high intensity use commercial shopping center main driveway to the adjacent neighborhood just 200 feet from the neighborhood’s main entrance on Meadowlark Dr.
8. Creates a short cut route for non-neighborhood travelers and shoppers via the shopping center   connection to the residential neighborhood entrance to Meadowlark Dr.
9. Traffic turning left into the Meadowlark Drive shopping center entrance may block the left hand turn out of the Arbors at Meadowlark neighborhood onto Meadowlark Dr., forcing traffic to other neighborhood exits.
10. A traffic study submitted by the proposed developer does not evaluate the traffic impact on the neighborhood street connected directly to the shopping center.
11. Conflicts with UDO direction that commercial and residential land uses are “incompatible land uses on adjoining properties that should not be connected by a cross-access drive (e.g. commercial or industrial uses adjoining area intended for future residential uses).”
12. Proposes “Services B” land uses that by the nature of their operation could impact adjoining property due to noise, odor, vibration, and/or air or water pollution (repair or servicing of large or heavy machinery, such as engines and appliances, and welding, blacksmith or gunsmith shops, and septic tank or sewer cleaning services). 30 of 46 proposed uses are commercial and/or industrial uses.
13. Does not show modification of GB allowed sign height and size at the Meadowlark Dr. shopping center entrance to be compatible with adjacent residential lots.
14. Non-residential use of the proposed rezoning parcels is clearly inconsistent with past approvals and future recommendations in this Suburban Neighborhoods (GMA 3) Growth Management Area and West Suburban Area Plan Update.
15. Serious negative impacts directly related to proposed commercial uses in this single family residential location are already being experienced by local home builders, realtors and developers, as evidenced by cancelled lot closings and drop in attendance at open houses in the adjacent neighborhood.