Leland rezoning on table for council

Wednesday

Apr 17, 2013 at 10:18 AM

Leland's efforts to revitalize its downtown district have some residents concerned about how they'll be affected.

By Adam WagnerAdam.Wagner@StarNewsOnline.com

Leland's efforts to revitalize its downtown district have some residents concerned about how they'll be affected.FlexCode zoning on and around Village Road is meant to help the town develop a walkable area that can support both residential and retail spaces."The old flea market - that's 17 acres - if somebody wants to take that land and develop it to FlexCode, we could have a start of a miniature Mayfaire with the stores and condos up over them," said Brenda Bozeman, Leland's mayor.But some residents who are on board with the general idea of the plan are concerned about its specifics.One of those sticking points is the residentially zoned property sandwiched between the Leland Veterinary Hospital and Susan Seltzer's Woodland Drive home. The owner of the hospital bought the property as an insurance policy in case the N.C. Department of Transportation ever completed phase two of the widening of Village Road.Bozeman said the vet wouldn't be interested in going to the expense of moving his shop to the adjacent lot unless the widening were imminent, but "if the DOT comes in and we don't rezone it for him, he'd have to leave Leland."Seltzer's concerns are partly about the vet's office and partly about what could happen to the land if the rezoning occurs.If, for instance, the vet's office decides to leave Leland for whatever reason, the property would be zoned for mixed use, opening it up to whatever wanted to use the space.The chance of DOT funding the widening anytime soon is fairly low, Seltzer said. She's worried about the potential "to usurp my property rights at this point for something that may or may not happen ever, plus the potential I already have for losing more value than I already have."In addition to her property value, Seltzer, who uses groundwater, is also worried about how the vet's office moving could affect her drinking water.Teri Riddle, another Woodland Drive resident, supports the plan as long as it keeps commercial and large residential developments out of her neighborhood."There's two neighborhoods that kind of form an L-shape that have been here 30, 40 years. They're established single-family homes, and that's what needs to go in the area. You don't need to put T-40 (mixed-use) into that area," Riddle said. "It's just not appropriate. That's not to say I don't want that in the appropriate area of Leland."For her part, Bozeman says the town has been working on the zoning project for about a decade and could finally be ready see it through."Anything that grows changes," she said, "and if they say they want more stores, more restaurants to come to this part of Leland instead of up on 17, one way to do that is to have more people living here."Adam Wagner: 343-2096On Twitter: @adamwagner1990