High Point adopts Southwest Mill District area plan after months of outreach; residents press water, displacement concerns

High Point City Council on Tuesday adopted the Southwest Mill District area plan, a policy document and recommended zoning framework aimed at encouraging mixed‑use redevelopment in a 171‑acre industrial area southwest of downtown.

The plan, presented by Andy Piper of the city planning department and Margaret Flippen of Dover Coal and Partners, recommends creating a new “Southwest Mill District” zoning district to allow a mix of uses, revise land‑development standards to support a walkable environment, and improve connectivity with the proposed Southwest Heritage Greenway. Piper said the next steps will be an amendment to the development ordinance and a zoning map amendment; city staff will gather property‑owner signatures under recent state law before those rezoning hearings.

“By creating a walkable, mixed‑use district, the intended plan is to preserve the physical character, support for infill and…spark redevelopment,” Flippen told the council in a slide presentation. She and Piper described the area’s existing land use as predominantly industrial but noted the greatest number of parcels are vacant or underutilized.

Why it matters: The plan is framed as a tool to unlock investment in an industrial corridor long part of High Point’s economic base. The council and planning staff said the approach aims to balance industry’s continuing role with new housing, business space and greenways that could drive economic activity and connect neighborhoods to downtown.

Public comment focused on environmental health and displacement risks. More than a dozen residents and neighborhood advocates pressed council members to address water contamination in a local creek, to protect long‑time residents from tax‑driven displacement, and to ensure meaningful local control over how redevelopment proceeds.

Johnny Horn, a resident who said he has lived in the area since the 1960s, asked for protections for longtime property owners and raised water quality questions. “When Southwest renewal come in…what are we going to do? Our tax is going to go way up,” Horn said. Tony Collins, volunteer president of the Southside Neighborhood Association and a past board chair of the Southwest Renewal Foundation, told councilmembers the core concern is whether the plan will amount to gentrification and displace renters.

Council members said they heard those concerns and asked staff to follow up on water testing, mechanisms to limit displacement and questions about greenway construction sequencing. Councilwoman Cook highlighted homestead exemptions and tax policy as possible tools to explore; Mayor Cyril Jefferson noted the city had received an EPA‑sponsored grant to support some water work through the Southwest Renewal Foundation and said staff is taking water issues seriously.

Planning background and outreach: City staff said the plan reflects work begun with the Southwest Renewal Foundation and consultant Dover Coal and Partners. The planning department said it held a public meeting at Southside Recreation Center that drew “over 75 community members” and ran an online survey that produced about 80 responses; staff said responses were largely positive toward a greater mix of uses. The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended approval (7–0).

Next steps and conditions: Piper said staff will prepare an amendment to the development ordinance text for a new Southwest Mill District, and will begin collecting signatures from property owners before the formal zoning map amendment process. That map amendment and any ordinance text changes will be followed by public hearings before the Planning & Zoning Commission and a return to City Council for a final vote.

Council action: Council voted to adopt the area plan. Adoption authorizes staff to move forward with text amendments and the owner‑signature process required by state law; it does not rezone property or change property rights until future map amendments and hearings are completed.

What remains unresolved: Residents asked for clearer commitments on water testing and pollution remediation, tax protections or abatements for current homeowners and renters, and a transparent schedule for the greenway construction. Council members directed staff to follow up with written responses and to coordinate with state and federal partners where appropriate.

The council’s adoption puts the plan into the city’s formal policy toolkit and begins a multi‑step process of ordinance drafting, owner notification and public hearings that will determine whether and how zoning and development standards change on the ground.