Garner council approves rezoning for Exchange at 401 Commercial on Fayetteville Road

The Town of Garner council on March 1 adopted Ordinance No. 20255321, approving CZ-24-003 to rezone an 8.32-acre site at 7509 Fayetteville Road from R4-C11-PRD (residential) to Commercial Mixed Use. The motion, made by Council member Vance and seconded by Council member Matthews, passed on a 3-2 roll-call vote.

Assistant planning director Erin Joseph presented the request, identifying the applicant as Beth Blackman on behalf of the Timmons Group and describing staff and planning commission review. Joseph said the applicant narrowed permitted uses from 62 to 32 and proffered nine written conditions, adding that staff found the request “strongly consistent” with the town’s comprehensive plan framework.

The rezoning includes multiple site commitments intended to limit impacts on adjacent residential areas. Among those proffers are an outdoor gathering space of at least 1,000 square feet with three benches and a 500-square-foot flower bed with at least 50% pollinator-friendly plants; a requirement that 55% of primary building materials be brick, stone or scored concrete masonry; covered building entrances (awnings, colonnades or canopies) or covered walkways; two-way pet waste stations distributed on interior sidewalks; 75% native/adaptive landscaping and warm-season turf; interior sidewalks linking to the existing Exchange at 401 subdivision; and a dedicated transit easement measuring 15 by 20 feet along the Fayetteville Road frontage.

Joseph noted the site falls within the Commercial Highway Overlay District, which imposes additional design, buffer and screening standards, and said the most recent NCDOT traffic count showed average annual daily trips of 34,690 on the corridor. The planning commission held two hearings and recommended approval by a 6-1 vote after the applicant removed convenience-store fuel sales from the permitted uses.

Council debate focused on planning approach and long-term land-use goals. Council member Behringer said she would vote no, arguing the rezoning represented “the long tail of a past mistake” in the town’s comprehensive plan and warning against piecemeal commercial rezonings that, in her view, undercut opportunities for more integrated mixed-use development. Other council members expressed support for the staff findings and the project’s proffered design commitments.

The roll-call vote recorded Council member Vance, Council member Dellinger and Council member Matthews as voting in favor and Council member Behringer and Council member Singleton as opposed, producing a 3-2 approval. The council did not specify an implementation date in the public discussion.

Planning staff will proceed with administrative next steps required under the Unified Development Ordinance for a Tier 1 conditional rezoning now that the ordinance has been adopted.