TO: Zoning Commission
THRU: Jennifer C. Baptiste - Planning & Zoning Division Manager
FROM: Thomas Cohen - Planner I
DATE: July 14, 2026
RE:Title
P26-30: A request by the Thomas R & Elizabeth E McLean Foundation Inc to rezone the ±0.16 acres at 1324 Fort Bragg Rd (0427960465000) from Mixed Residential 5 (MR-5) to Office and Institutional (OI).
Title
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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 - Ensure a diverse City Tax Base
• Objective 2.4 - To Sustain a Favorable Development Climate to Encourage Business Growth
The request creates potential for local business expansion while maintaining the façade of a single-family residence.
Goal III: City Investment in Today & Tomorrow
• Objective 3.2 - To Manage the City’s Future Growth and Strategic Land Use
The request is infill development via the conversion of a single-family home to commercial offices.
Executive Summary:
P26-30 is a request to rezone an approximately 0.16 acres parcel located at 1324 Fort Bragg Rd from Mixed Residential 5 (MR-5) to Office and Institutional (OI) for the stated purpose of converting the existing single-family home into commercial office space.
The subject property is an almost complete single-family home and has not been subject of any city action within the last five years. It’s predominantly surrounded by MR-5 and OI parcels with the OI parcels often being converted from single-family homes.
Background:
Owner: Onsite Homes LLC
Request: MR-5 to OI
Parcel Identification Number (PIN): 0427960465000
Parcel Size: ± 0.16
Existing Site Conditions: Almost finished single-family home
Adjacent Zoning:
• North: MR-5 - Single-family homes
• South: MR-5 & OI - Single-family homes and small businesses
• East: OI - Small-businesses
• West: MR-5 - Single-family homes
Utilities: Public water, sewer, and electricity
Reason for Request: To allow for building conversion into commercial office space
Public Notice: Notification letters were sent to property owners within 1,000 feet of the subject site equating to 303 notices sent.
Issues/Analysis:
Case P26-30 is a request by a contracted buyer to rezone the ± 0.16 acres parcel at 1324 Fort Bragg Rd from Mixed Residential 5 (MR-5) to Office and Institutional (OI). Pursuant to NCGS-160D, a rezoning without conditions entitles the landowner to the full range of uses specified for that base zoning district but bounded by the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO).
The Office and Institutional zoning district is intended to accommodate a mixture of small-scale, low-intensity professional business offices, and institutions with limited personal service and supporting retail uses while also allowing for a variety of residential forms such as single family attached, detached, multi-family, and mixed-use.
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. Per the FLUP, the subject property is designated for Medium Density Residential (MDR). This designation is for “primarily single-family residential neighborhoods with small lots (3-6 dwellings per acre). Duplex or townhomes interspersed, low-rise apartments possible. Mostly auto oriented, but some walkable neighborhoods and destinations.”
The subject property is located within Haymount in the central-western portion of the city, only a five-minute drive from the downtown area. The neighborhood is mostly single-family homes on small lots with some commercial buildings located where Fort Bragg Road and Morganton Road split off from Hay Street. These commercial buildings range in design and purpose from converted single-family homes to dedicated commercial space. It’s noted that in the immediate area of the subject property commercial districts are only on the southern side of the street while moderate-to-high density residential is found on the northern side.
While the OI zoning district is not directly aligned with the MDR designation there is room to interpret the request’s consistency with the policies, strategies, and goals of the FLUP such as Land Use Goals (LU) LU-1, LU-2, LU-4, and LU-6. There is also precedent set for this type of rezoning and conversion within the area by cases P22-41 and P21-05.
LU-1 is oriented around encouraging strategic growth in areas that are well-serviced by both infrastructure and urban services. This is a well-established area with access to many services, a short walk eastward along Fort Bragg Road and Hay Street with infrastructure to match. LU-2 is related by encouraging strategic economic development in key areas such as downtown and office and institutional zones. This neighborhood is located adjacent to downtown and within an area of casual commercial use.
LU-4 is centered on the development of walkable commercial and mixed-use areas and ensuring context-sensitive site-design while LU-6 encourages building standards that will result in quality neighborhoods. Conversion of an existing single-family home will provide commercial space that is directly compatible with the aesthetics and profile of a normal residential area while providing daytime hours sightlines that discourage crime.
As for precedence, cases P22-41 and P21-05 respectively were centered on 1320 and 1318 Fort Bragg Rd with 1320 being adjacent to the subject property. These were rezoning cases taking the respective properties from MR-5 to OI. These cases diverge from P26-30 in that the designation for the subject properties were for Neighborhood Mixed Use (NMU) which is a designation that OI is considered directly compatible. However, these cases showcase precedent for rezoning from MR-5 to OI in this commercial adjacent area of Fort Bragg Rd.
The request serves as a form of infill development and commercial conversion of the parcel from residential. While the FLUP designation is not in direct alignment with the request the extent of the request is not out of line and unprecedented within the immediate area and is in alignment with several City Strategic Goals and Future Land Use Goals and Strategies.
Budget Impact:
Approval or denial of the requested map amendment does not create immediate and direct impacts on the budget other than the collection of the application fee and cost for relevant staff. However, conversion from residential to commercial provides long-term tax revenue adjustments to the parcel and building as well as the downstream economic impacts of a building conversion.
Options:
• Approval (Recommended Action):
Recommend approval of the zoning map amendment as requested - finding that the request is consistent with the Future Land Use Plan and reasonable to local context as outlined by the Consistency and Reasonableness Statements.
• Approval, but to a more restrictive district:
Recommend approval of the zoning map amendment from OI to one that is more restrictive, but consistent with the Future Land Use Plan and Reasonable to the local contexts with amended Consistency and Reasonableness Statements.
• Denial:
Deny 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 Planning Staff recommends that the Zoning Commission recommends to City Council a motion to APPROVE the request to rezone the ± 0.16 acres at 1324 Fort Bragg Road from MR-5 to OI.
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Attachments:
1. Application
2. Aerial Notification Map
3. Current Zoning Map
4. Future Land Use Map
5. Site Pictures (Subject Site)
6. Site Pictures (Surrounding Properties)
7. Consistency and Reasonableness Statements