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GREENSBORO — The first protest petition since the state legislature repealed the exemption for Greensboro was filed in the city clerk’s office Thursday.

Greensboro was the only city in the state that has not been able to use the petition, a tool that makes it more difficult to rezone land when abutting property owners oppose the change. The city has been exempt from the state law since 1971.

The rezoning in question involves 4.8 acres off West Wendover Avenue and Meadowood Street, to be turned into multifamily units by Prestwick Development.

The zoning commission denied the rezoning request last month. The City Council will hear the appeal of the case Tuesday.

When a valid protest petition is filed, it requires a supermajority of council members, or seven of nine, to approve the rezoning. The petition must be signed by the owners of 5 percent of the property within the 100-foot area around the land to be rezoned.

Prestwick, based in Atlanta, wants to build 56 multifamily units at the end of Cox Place, a narrow side street off Meadowood Street.

Residents of the neighboring single-family homes and the Georgetowne Square condominiums are concerned about traffic congestion and the density of the development.

Sitting under wind chimes and his beech tree, petition signer Anthony Howard said he and his wife have lived in their modest home on Cox Place for 30 years.

Back then, Wendover Avenue was a two-lane road.

Somehow, though it is a stone’s throw from Interstate 40 and a short walk to major retail giants like Costco, the neighborhood remains a nice, quiet place.

Howard worries that will change if the condos are built at the end of the block.

Cox Place, a road with about a half-dozen homes, is already a shortcut for rescue vehicles going to the nearby Greensboro fire station.

The proposed development would add up to 40 additional cars an hour during peak times, according to city staff.

“People just don’t want them to use our quiet little road as a driveway,” said Howard, who has an anti-rezoning sign in his yard.

The developer, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, increased the tree buffer and decreased the

number of three-bedroom units to ease concerns of neighbors.

But the zoning commission still concluded that it was premature to have this kind of development in the neighborhood.

Thursday’s petition touched off a flurry of activity for the city staff.

The signatures of more than 40 area property owners must be checked against property records and validated by the city legal department, city planning administrator Rawls Howard said.

The planning department then must tally it up and ensure that it meets the 5 percent threshold.

The staff members have until Tuesday to validate the petition before it goes to the council for a vote.

Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com