The Kernersville Board of Aldermen this week unanimously rejected a request to rezone nearly six acres on Bost Street for more intensive residential development.
Bill Greco filed the request on behalf of the Paul J. Ciener Gardens Foundation, seeking to rezone the property from residential single-family with a 20,000-square-foot minimum lot size to residential multifamily allowing up to five units per acre.
Town staff recommended approval, though the Planning Board recommended denial at a meeting last month.
Greco explained that the foundation no longer needs the property for agricultural production and plans to use the proceeds of its sale to support the botanical garden. He pushed back against concerns about a potential Piney Grove Road connection, citing regulatory buffers and an existing stream as reasons that establishing such a connection would be effectively impossible.
Several residents spoke against the proposal, with traffic emerging as the most common concern. One long-time resident in the area said his neighborhood already experiences significant traffic due to cut-through between Piney Grove and Main Street, asserting that additional multifamily housing would exacerbate the issue.
Others questioned whether the existing roads could safely handle the additional traffic. Safety concerns included speeding, a lack of sidewalks in surrounding neighborhoods, and children waiting at nearby bus stops.
“We’re not asking to stop development,” said one of the residents who spoke during the public hearing. “We’re asking you not to grant unrestricted zoning before you know the actual development and its impacts.”
After seeking additional details from town staff about the rezoning request, the board moved to deny the rezoning. The motion cited a potential for additional traffic, noise, and other nuisances, as well as possible environmental impacts that could not be determined without further study.
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