Greensboro City Council approves zoning request citing dire housing needs

The Greensboro City Council approved a zoning request Tuesday that would allow for more than 70 homes to be built on around 24 acres as officials say it could help the city amid a housing crisis.

The City Council unanimously approved the annexation and rezoning request of just over 24 acres on Lewiston Road and Hackamore Road by Granville Homes, LLC. The decision came despite opposition from several neighbors.

Mayor Nancy Vaughan says she understands that facing change is difficult, but the city is in a housing crisis and must build its way out.

"We talk about affordable housing, but really it's attainable housing," Vaughan says. "There are people at every single price point that are searching for houses. ... there are a lot of people who are looking for housing alternatives, and they're just not out there."

A report last year by the Center for the Study of Economic Mobility found homeownership rates have declined in the city over the past decade.

The decision comes as Greensboro concluded the second year of its Doorway Project, which provides pallet shelters for the unhoused population over the colder months. City of Greensboro Supportive Housing Analyst Liz Alverson says the program highlighted the city's lack of and need for a broad range of housing.

"That's negatively impacting lower-income households and especially those that are experiencing homelessness because there's just nothing available and what is available is really unattainable."

Alverson says there've been ongoing conversations on ways to build on the program to support a clear need, but no changes have been made yet.