GREENSBORO, N.C. — A unanimous vote from Greensboro's planning and zoning board will now move to city council.
There were nearly 100 people at Monday night's meeting. A handful of them spoke out against proposed rezoning off Friendly Avenue, near Elam Avenue.
If passed, it could mean the tearing down of a historic church and the constructing a Cone Health facility.
It's a topic that has several Friendly neighbors up in arms as they are mainly against the tearing down of Centenary United Methodist Church. Which they believe could result in years of construction, as well as growing public safety concerns.
One friendly neighbor, Karen Arnold, told stories about how patients who've been discharged from a nearby Cone Health facility often wander around the area and the feel it could get worse.
"Nearby homeowners has found EKG sensors on their property, discharge patience, sometimes knock on neighbors doors asking them to call 911, patients trying to get home by bus approach, neighbors asking for bus fare. Sometimes patients are seen sitting or lying on the sidewalk outside of the hospital," Arnold said.
Cone Health said it doesn't have solid plans for the property. That concerns some neighbors as well.
Right now, the area is zoned for single-family homes.
However, if rezoned, it could potentially accommodate a hospital, museum, or community center among other things.
Cone's Regional President, Preston Hammock, said they want to rezone for proximity.
"We are really requesting similar zoning to the properties that we already have directly adjacent, so that we can develop them in the future. Given its adjacency to our hospital campus, our security will be monitoring this 24/7 and we will continue to maintain it, landscaping, wise, and all other usage to ensure that it said tractive property in the meantime," Hammock said.
Friendly neighbors told WFMY News 2's Nixon Norman they plan to appeal this decision. Greensboro City Council is set to make a decision on September 17.