GREENSBORO, N.C. — No sound barrier. Less beauty. More crime.
Those are just some of the worries a handful of Guilford Hills neighbors have now that an application for rezoning has been submitted by a new restaurant on Battleground Avenue right by Biscuitville.
Rezoning would mean a new 8-foot fence would be right by her driveway. Right now a chain-link fence sits about 25 feet away, and she prefers it that way.
"One of the conditions that is on the public zoning ordinance is an eight foot opaque wall that would literally be the edge of my driveway," Jennifer Leung said.
Her concern stems past her property value. It's personal.
"I literally couldn’t open my car door and I have disabled parents," Leung said. "Would they have to crawl over the console to get out of the car? Or if they needed a wheelchair there wouldn’t be any room."
Leung says she's always understood the space between her driveway, and that fence, to be an 'undisturbed buffer zone.' She even looked up zoning commission documents dating back decades that labeled this buffer zone.
But the buffer zone, might go away for good.
Property owners bought the old PNC bank on 2301 Battleground Avenue back in January. They want to move the fence closer to the residential area to add more parking.
But crime potentially getting closer to their homes with closer activity – is the main concern of these neighbors.
"We do have a problem with homeless people coming in behind this fence," Bonnie Wallace said. "Which is why we don’t want to make an opaque fence here, we want to be able to see what’s happening and call the police if we see people back here."
Leung says her house was burglarized in February.
"The whole door frame was broken, someone had tried to kick in the side door and it was very eerie," Jennifer said. "It was almost violating."
The neighbors fear the closer fence will only bring criminal activity closer.
The representative for the new restaurant sent out a newsletter to homeowners in the area. It reads in part:
The application for rezoning means that the land use proposal must go through the public hearing and review process of the City of Greensboro Zoning Commission. The Zoning Commission and public hearing for this case is scheduled for Monday, April 15, at 5:30 pm at the Greensboro City Hall Council Chambers. You are welcome to attend and speak about our proposal. Our desire is to limit the allowed uses so that major traffic generating uses are not allowed. We also want to provide a better buffer for adjacent neighbors. Zoning conditions are forever attached to a property and can only be changed by rezoning the property again.