By Mark Wineka
Salisbury Post
Salisbury City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday for establishing city zoning on roughly 55 acres that were annexed into the city April 1.
The area takes in 10 parcels located along Circle M Drive, Dollie Circle and the east side of Cedar Springs Road.
It includes properties owned by Bennett Distributing, Rowan Investment Co., Fast Food Merchandisers, Gould Investors, Southern Investments and Deloitte & Touche.
These companies were part of an 81-acre area that Salisbury tried to involuntarily annex in June 2006, but Rack Room Shoes Inc. filed a lawsuit and effectively blocked the annexation.
Rack Room Shoes and the city eventually reached an out-of-court settlement in which the city agreed not to annex the company’s property, including a distribution center off Circle M Drive, until June 30, 2010.
None of the other property owners in this particular area filed a legal challenge to Salisbury’s annexation before the expiration date, so their annexation became effective April 1 once the Rack Room lawsuit was settled.
The total land and building valuation of the 10 parcels is roughly $14 million.
A light-industrial zoning designation is proposed for seven of the 10 properties, which had a similar zoning under Rowan County’s zoning authority.
Multi-family residential zoning is proposed on three other properties that had been zoned light-industrial but exist as residential parcels.
Salisbury City Council meets at 4 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 217 S. Main St.
In other agenda items, council will:
– Receive an update, from the city’s perspective, on Alcoa’s relicensing process for the Yadkin Project.
– Hear an update from staff on parking restrictions in the 700 and 800 blocks of West Kerr Street.
– Receive a petition and consider adopting an ordinance to allow parking in the 400 block of North Lee Street.
– Consider contract changes to reflect additional funds available to the South Square Streetscape Improvement Project.
– Consider closing the 100 block of East Liberty Street from Waterworks Visual Arts Center to the intersection of Liberty and Lee streets from 4 p.m. March 29, 2008, to 2 a.m. March 30, 2008, for purposes of a wedding reception.
– Hold a public hearing to amend the city code in relation to city-owned parking lots.
– Consider an appointment to the Community Appearance Commission.
– Consider a revised site plan for Ashton Manor, a proposed townhouse and single-family development, in the 200 block of Sunset Drive.
– Consider a budget amendment of $191,000 in community development funds. The city’s Community Development Block Grant and HOME Funds received program income of $191,000 more than originally budgeted for 2006-2007.
Program income primarily comes from the sale of houses. The city has sold three homes that were either constructed or rehabilitated in 2007.
All program income is invested back into the program, aimed at helping first-time home buyers. Council will be asked to appropriate the $191,000 so that the sale proceeds can be reinvested into future projects.
– Consider appropriating $1,100 from Police Department donations to pay for a bronze memorial plaque for former officer Jim Hurley.
– Receive the Trailblazer Award from the National Center for Civic Innovation.
– Proclaim June 16 as “A Day of the Arts” in Salisbury.
– Recognize various veteran, rookie and employees of the year in the Police and Fire departments.
Council meetings are streamed live at www.salisburync.gov/council/webcast.html and also shown later on Time Warner Cable’s ACCESS 16.
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Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263 or mwineka@salisburypost.com.