news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Efforts to establish a manual to guide downtown development could take another step forward at a public hearing Monday.

However, an attorney for several unidentified property owners has asked the Greensboro Zoning Commission to delay the matter until July 13 .

Attorney Henry Isaacson notified the commission Thursday that his clients want more time to consider how the proposed changes will affect their properties in and around the center city.

The Greensboro Planning Board already has approved the standards and guidelines laid out in the proposed manual. The zoning commission’s role would be to determine whether three so-called overlay districts contain the correct boundaries.

Those currently include a historic core along South Elm Street , an urban residential district along the Cedar Street, Smith Street and Fisher Avenue areas, and a pedestrian mixed-use area that would cover the rest of downtown.

Each district would have different standards and guidelines.

A group of 30 downtown property owners, developers, architects, preservationists and city staff members has spent more than two years developing the guidelines and districts. It introduced the proposed manual April 28 .

The zoning commission meeting, which is open to the public, begins at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Council Chamber of the Melvin Municipal Office Building , 300 W. Washington St.

The guidelines and districts must ultimately be approved by the City Council.

To learn about the proposed guidelines and the districts, visit www.greensboro-nc.gov/downtowndesign.

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com