TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Jodi Phelps - Assistant City Manager
Dr. Gerald Newton, AICP - Development Services Director
FROM: Thomas Cohen - Planner I
Craig Harmon, CZO - Senior Planner
DATE: May 26, 2026
RE:Title
P26-10: A request to rezone the property at 2025 Hope Mill Rd (0416123213000) consisting of 0.31 acres and owned by Franco, Kimberly from Single Family Residential 10 (SF-10) to Office & Institutional (OI).
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COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
5 - Lynne Greene
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
Goal II: Responsive City Government Supporting a Diverse & Viable Economy
• Objective 2.1 - To Ensure a Diverse City Tax Base
• Objective 2.4 - To Sustain a Favorable Development Climate to Encourage Business Growth
The proposal broadens the city tax base by allowing a business to operate in place of a strictly residential home. A business within this district would generate taxable revenue from the business and its employees as well as would pay commercial property taxes rather than residential. It allows small businesses to establish and grow with the need for expensive office spaces or storefronts and to better serve a local customer base on well-traveled arterials such as Hope Mill Road.
Goal III: City Investment in Today & Tomorrow
• Objective 3.2 - To Manage the City’s Future Growth and Strategic Land Use
The request is an efficient use of existing land and infrastructure by repurposing an existing structure while producing limited additional impact on existing utilities or infrastructure. In effect, increasing land available for use through efficiency.
Goal IV: Desirable place to live, work, and recreate
• Objective 4.5 - To ensure a place for people to live in great neighborhoods
The property is, in part, used to house displaced families potentially preventing a rise in the homeless population and protecting at risk populations. The business operates in a capacity that serves the enhancement of the well-being of the local community as well as creating a positive social environment.
Executive Summary:
P26-10 is a request to rezone the 0.31 acres at 2025 Hope Mills Road, owned by Kimberly Gilbert (m.n. Franco), from Single Family 10 (SF-10) to Office and Institutional (OI).
This is a straight rezoning with no rezoning history within the last five years.
The area surrounding the subject property contains a mixture of single-family homes and a mixture of local businesses operating out of residential shells or sub-acre lots with single family home-friendly facades as well as a school. The road itself is classified as an arterial due to having four lanes and commonly, a central turning lane.
This case was tabled at the request of the applicant with unanimous agreement (5-0) by the Zoning Commission to be moved from March 10, 2026 to April 14, 2026
On April 14 of 2026 the request achieved a unanimous (5-0) recommendation of approval by the Zoning Commission. The motion was made by Roger Shah and seconded by Kevin Hight. There was one speaker in favor and none in opposition.
Background:
Rezoning Request: SF-10 to OI
Parcel Identification Number (PIN): 0416123213000
Site Size: 0.31 acres
Existing Site Conditions: Pre-existing single-family home
Utilities: Public power, sewer, and water
Applicant Narrative (Summary): Applicant claims the property is to be used for benefit of the community by providing multiple services that are a form of social welfare services.
Public Notice: Notification letters were sent to property owners within 1,000 feet of the subject site equating to 179 notices sent.
Issues/Analysis:
Case P26-10 is a request to rezone the 0.31-acre parcel at 2025 Hope Mill Road from Single Family 10 (SF-10) to Office and Institutional (OI). Per NCGS-160D, general rezoning would entitle the landowner to the full range of uses specified for that designation but bounded by the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). The OI district is intended to accommodate a mix of small-scale and low-intensity professional and business offices and institutions with limited personal service and supporting retail uses. They are often used as a transition or a buffer between neighborhoods and more intense districts.
Immediately surrounding the subject property is a mixture of detached-single family homes and various forms of businesses that occupy either OI or Limited Commercial (LC) status along Hope Mill Road which is classified as an arterial. Beyond the immediate area is an elementary school, daycare, and more detached, single-family homes.
The Future Land Use Plan 2040 (FLUP) designations are central to policy analysis affixed by local contexts, reasonableness of the request, and service to the public good. The FLUP the subject property is designated to be Office and Institutional (OI) which, as it happens, is the requested zoning district. Thus, the request is perfectly consistent with the FLUP and its intentions.
In relation to the local context, Hope Mill Road contains many businesses that use the OI district which is on the lower end of business intensity present as several businesses use the Limited Commercial or Community Commercial designation. As the existing structure is a single-family home the rezoning and any potential commercial standards applied will have limited impact on the character of the neighborhood. The UDO has standards for the operation of a business within OI to ensure appropriate intensity is retained and minimize potential intrusion on the nearby and abutting single-family homes.
The request serves to enable efficient property and resource utilization - adding to the tax base and serving the local community in a way that the existing single-family residence is not capable.
Budget Impact:
Approval or denial of the requested rezoning does not create immediate and direct impacts on the budget other than the budget allocated operating cost of relevant staff. Any indirect budget impact via utility extensions, enhancements, or other such costs are not triggered by the map amendment itself and will be evaluated through other processes.
Options:
1. Approve (Recommended Action):
Approval of the zoning map amendment from SF-10 to OI for the subject parcels - find the request consistent with the Future Land Use Plan and reasonable to the local context as demonstrated by the attached consistency and reasonability statement.
2. Approve to a More Restrictive District:
Approval of the zoning map amendment from SF-10 to a more restrictive zoning district - one more consistent with the Future Land Use Plan and reasonable to the local context with an amended consistency statement.
3. Denial of Map Amendment:
Denial of the proposed map amendment - find that the request is inconsistent with the Future Land Use Plan and unreasonable to the local context.
Recommended Action::Recommended Action
The Zoning Commission and The Professional Planning Staff recommend that the City Council move to APPROVE the proposed map amendment from Single Family 10 (SF-10) to Office and Institutional for the approximately 0.36 acres located at 2025 Hope Mills Road.
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Attachments:
1. Application
2. Aerial Map
3. Zoning Map
4. Future Land Use Map
5. Site Pictures
6. Surrounding Area Pictures
7. Consistency and Reasonableness Statement
8. PowerPoint