Economic development and the perceived needs of Ward 1’s minority population overruled traffic safety concerns and the recommendation of the Henderson Planning Board on Monday night.
The City Council voted 6-2 to rezone a triangular 0.84-acre lot at the intersection of Andrews Avenue from R-6 (high-density residential) to B-2 (highway commercial), with Harriette Butler and Elissa Yount in the opposition. It is the corner that is diagonally across the intersection from the BP station and sits behind the Henderson Heights apartments.
Developer Jerry Chesson of Southeastern Shelter Corp. in Durham said he wants the “highest and best use” for the property. Right now he said the leading candidate is a Church’s Chicken fast-food restaurant, which would aim to draw traffic from Interstate 85 a half a mile away.
But it was the location more than the use that dominated the debate Monday night.
Chesson’s rezoning efforts twice failed to clear the Planning Board, once in 1999, when he then withdraw the request, and again this year on Jan. 26, when the board unanimously opposed the rezoning.
Planning Board members gave two reasons for their decision: They thought the commercial use of the lot would pose a traffic hazard at an intersection where accidents already are common, and they worried about the effects on the quality of life for the Henderson Heights residents.
“This is their recommendation for what they think is best for that intersection,” Planning Director Grace Smith said.
Smith said the Planning Board acknowledged that R-6 wasn’t the best zoning for the site, which would be awkward for housing, but board members thought a less intense use would be better. “Maybe something in the middle might work.”
B-2 allows a range of commercial and retail uses, and the City Council couldn’t force Chesson to commit to a particular use in granting the new zoning. The other three corners at the intersection already are in the B-2 zone, but only the BP station takes advantage of that designation.
That was the essence of council member Mary Emma Evans’ argument in championing the rezoning request Monday night.
She argued that there are many underprivileged children in Henderson Heights, and they don’t have cars to go out to eat. If they want a snack, she said, they have to make an “extremely dangerous” Andrews Avenue crossing to Gate City Foods or cross Andrews and Beckford to get to the convenience store at the BP station.
“There’s a steady stream of pedestrians all the time trying to cross to just get a pack of nabs,” said Evans, whose home sits just behind the intersection across Andrews Avenue from the lot in question. “I mean there’s nothing in my ward, and I do represent Ward 1, for a person to get a sandwich other than Gate City Foods.”
Evans led complaints in the past about the traffic light at Beckford and Andrews and the many accidents at the intersection, which the state Department of Transportation said sees 16,000 vehicles a day on Andrews and 6,300 per day on Beckford. The DOT said it will not do anything to change the intersection or the light regardless of what is done on Chesson’s lot, but Evans put aside her traffic concerns in favor of ensuring children have “a place to get a sandwich or a piece of chicken.”
Chesson has worked on plans for the site since 1999. He was prepared to stipulate that the property will be used only for a fast-food restaurant, but City Attorney John Zollicoffer said such a stipulation isn’t legal.
“Our plan is to develop a nice development there, something the city of Henderson can be proud of, something we can benefit from,” Chesson said. “I think it serves this side of the community quite well. … There’s not a fast-food facility on this side of Dabney Drive that I know about that’s convenient.”
“I’ve had a lot of calls from the apartments,” Evans said, and all but one favored the rezoning.
No one spoke against the rezoning during the City Council’s public hearing or the Planning Board’s public hearing. Smith said she received one e-mail message opposing the rezoning for traffic reasons.
But Smith said Planning Board members were dismayed that the Department of Transportation dropped a recommendation that 4-foot-wide, 100-foot-long concrete medians be installed on Andrews and Beckford to prevent left turns into the property. Instead, the DOT said a much cheaper, lower, concrete “pork chop” at each entrance would be sufficient to ensure a traffic flow of right in, right out only, but board members said they saw such setups violated frequently around town, such as at the new Bojangles’ on East Andrews Avenue.
Mayor Clem Seifert said he doesn’t like going against a Planning Board recommendation, but he also doesn’t like the Planning Board asking for and rejecting a DOT recommendation.
“DOT made a recommendation, and they don’t agree with it,” Seifert said of the Planning Board.
“That’s right, they don’t agree with it,” Smith said.
Smith said the Planning Board didn’t know all of the details of the land swap and tainted title in the property’s history.
Chesson’s Winston-Salem attorney, Randy James, explained that his client was part of the original development group that build Henderson Heights and carved out four lots for separate use.
Zollicoffer, who spoke “as a citizen, more or less,” during the public hearing, said he was the attorney for the city’s Redevelopment Commission back in the 1970s, and he said those lots were created with recreational uses in mind. But another lawyer forged title documents, creating a cloud over the property that lasted for years.
He also said there was concern about using the corner lot for recreation because of heavy traffic so close. As part of the settlement of the problems in 1999, Chesson swapped a lot on the other side of Henderson Heights for the corner lot and donated $20,000 for recreational uses in the city.
The $20,000 donation in 1999 “wasn’t limited to this property,” James said, “but the hope was it would be used here.”
Henderson Heights still lacks a playground.
Deryl von Williams, the only member of the general public to speak during the hearing, asked about the $20,000. “Where did the money go?”
Seifert pledged to find out. Council member John Wester said he thinks it was spent on a playground elsewhere in the city.
But as Smith said, none of that history directly affected the zoning decision.
“We need to be absolutely, absolutely safe and absolutely concerned with the development in neighborhoods and absolutely aware of what’s going on,” Seifert said. “But we also need to make sure that we are friendly to people who want to come in and increase the tax base in this town. We’re not really in a position to deny progress.”
City Manager Eric Williams noted that No. 9 among the City Council’s 36 budget priorities this year was to encourage retail growth in Ward 1.
“I’m glad to see a development coming, quote unquote, back into the African-American community,” said the Rev. C.J. Dale, speaking after the public hearing. He said it’s a nice change from restaurants being added to Dabney Drive or the far end of East Andrews Avenue, near the fairgrounds. “And it’s good food.”
Wester said it is important to remember that although Chesson is planning a fast-food establishment, he could change any day to a gas station, a florist or any other B-2 use. He also warned Evans that the development of the property is likely to make traffic worse at an intersection that already bothers her.
Evans turned back to the example of Dabney Drive, particularly Dabney Exchange, home to Chick-fil-A, Smithfield’s, Ruby Tuesday and Eckerd. She said the traffic pattern there is the most confusing thing she has seen, and, although the zoning for areas along Dabney Drive wasn’t up for discussion, she noted that any of those restaurants also could change to another business use.
“I’m asking the council, please do not hold my ward back,” Evans said.
She said she wants a walkway from Henderson Heights to the property through the back.
“We cannot mandate personal cut-throughs; however, the developer can do that,” Smith said.
Smith said the property will need a special-use permit if the plans include a drive-through, and that process would allow the city to address issues such as sidewalks and direct access to Henderson Heights. She also said the normal planning approval process should be enough to handle those issues.
“You’re only going to get one chance to build something there and build it right,” Chesson said.
Butler voted no because the Planning Board came out unanimously against the rezoning after extensive study in 1999, 2004 and 2005. Yount also based her decision on a reluctance to reverse a unanimous Planning Board decision.
Lonnie Davis made the motion to approve the rezoning, seconded by Evans. When City Clerk Dianne White announced the 6-2 result of the vote, Evans exclaimed, “Hallelujah!”