Planning board takes on new role

Jan. 16—HIGH POINT — Certain types of development projects in the city of High Point will soon have — in theory — a shorter path to approval.

Starting later this month, rezoning requests will go to the Planning and Zoning Commission for final decisions.

This appointed board previously made recommendations to the City Council, which then decided whether to grant zoning changes needed to support commercial, industrial or residential projects.

"This is a new process," said Planning Director Sushil Nepal. "What we're trying to do is educate the public."

The council sought and obtained state legislative approval to give this authority to the commission and made it effective Jan. 1.

In seeking the change, the council described the shorter process as "business-friendly" because it reduces from two to one the number of required public hearings on rezoning requests and the time and expense associated with them, often in the form of an attorney, engineer and other experts the applicant hires to handle a case.

Under the new procedure, the commission vote will be final and a case won't go to the council unless it's appealed.

An appeal can be initiated by a majority vote of the council or by the owner of a property that is within 300 feet of the zoning site in question.

Nepal said this will be spelled out in the rezoning notices the city mails out to nearby properties.

An appeals application form will be on the city's Build High Point website. The council didn't set an application fee for appeals, but one will be adopted in the next city budget this spring.

Nepal said the amount will likely be comparable to the $300 fee the city charges for applications to the Board of Adjustment.

Many rezoning cases also involve annexation requests, and these will continue to be decided by the council.

So will text amendments like the update to the city's sign regulations approved last year, as well as land-use plan amendments and requests for special-use permits and street closures.