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Showroom zoning nixed

Owners cheer High Point decision

By Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, January 11, 2010

HIGH POINT — A contingent of showroom owners burst into applause in city council chambers here last week as the council voted down a proposed market overlay district zoning.

The zoning, which would have been a boundary centered on the city's downtown showrooms, had drawn the ire of many showroom building owners who feared that being left out of the zone would cause their properties' value to fall.

Last week, the city was originally slated to vote on a set of alternate plans for showroom zoning that would have increased the size of the proposed district significantly from its originally planned 249 acres.

The new proposal included some properties excluded by the original plan. It also included a market “growth area” inside the boundary where new showrooms would need to be built.

Councilman John Faircloth expressed concerns that the city was dictating uses for showroom owners. He also said that the current real estate market is driving owners to consider the best uses for their property, which may or may not be for showrooms.

The intent of the proposed district was to open lots outside the boundary for uses other than showrooms.

Showrooms already in use outside the district would have been grandfathered in, but would have lost their status if they were unoccupied by market tenants for four consecutive markets.

The showroom district proposal was part of a plan High Point adopted in 2007 to revitalize the city's downtown.

Angie Hebert, showroom manager for Safavieh, which has planned to build a new showroom at Lindsay Street and Kivett Drive, on property that was outside the original zoning boundary, was relieved by the vote.

“If the time and money spent on the (core city) plan was spent on incentives for downtown businesses, it may have helped more,” Hebert said.

High Point Mayor Becky Smothers encouraged showroom owners to take care of maintaining their downtown properties.

Councilwoman Bernita Sims told showroom owners that the city needs to create an environment where its children want to stay. She encouraged showroom owners to come back to High Point with ideas to create a vibrant city.

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High Point nixes showroom zoning proposal

Jan 5, 2010

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