Kernersville aldermen approve multiple rezonings, set annexation hearing and clear surplus property; parking and speed rules altered

The Kernersville Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a series of rezonings and municipal actions, including conditional rezoning for an outparcel at the Food Lion site on North Main Street that removes the requirement for an automobile connection between two small outparcels in favor of an ADA-compliant pedestrian sidewalk.

The actions, taken at the board’s Dec. 3 regular meeting at Kernersville Town Hall, also included approval of a parking expansion and drive-through modification for the Dario restaurant at NC 66 South, several downtown rezonings, a cleanup of split zoning on Hopkins Road to allow future redevelopment, authorization to apply for a public-safety facilities grant to renovate Colfax Station 16, setting a public hearing on a voluntary contiguous annexation for a 15.03-acre parcel near Brookford Road for Feb. 4, 2025, adoption of a school-hours no-parking restriction on Salem Crossing Road, a request to NCDOT to consider lowering speeds on Teague Lane, and a resolution declaring the former Tig/Teague Lane fire station surplus.

Why it matters: The rezonings and related approvals clear regulatory obstacles for small commercial redevelopment projects along major corridors and in the greater downtown area, while the parking and speed changes respond to neighborhood safety concerns around schools. The grant application and surplus declaration address town asset management and potential reuse of municipal property.

Most significant rezoning decisions

- North Main Street outparcel (Zoning docket K784A1): The board approved a conditional rezoning that changes a roughly one-acre outparcel at the Food Lion site from Limited Business Special (LB-S) to Highway Business Conditional (HB-C) to allow, among other uses, a restaurant with drive-through service. Planning staff and the planning board recommended approval with conditions. The applicant requested—and the board accepted—an alternative to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) requirement for automobile interconnectivity between the two narrow outparcels on the Food Lion site, citing tight lot geometry and turning radii; the approved condition requires construction of an ADA-compliant internal sidewalk between the parcels with final alignment to be set at civil construction plan review. The motion to…