HIGH POINT – A land-use proposal that would limit the development of new furniture showrooms to one area within the city may be expanded.

High Point City Council members agreed on Monday they wanted to hear more information about an alternative Market Overlay District plan with extended boundaries.

After the Planning and Development Department presented a rough draft of an alternative plan, the council approved a motion to return the plan to staff so it could be further developed and brought back to the council in the future. The alternative plan includes an area of showrooms between High Avenue and Church Avenue that previously were excluded.

Planning Director Lee Burnette said the line could be extended even further, allowing the Market Overlay District to grow considerably in size.

The market district proposal is based on a Core City Plan recommendation to confine showrooms to a specified downtown area, freeing up other areas for other businesses to develop downtown, which traditionally has been dominated by furniture showrooms.

Under the new proposal, showrooms previously not included would be drawn into the lines and become conforming showrooms that could develop their existing properties without permission from the city. Within the larger district would be a smaller growth area, Burnette said, where only new showrooms could develop. Also, once an existing showroom outside of that growth area changed its occupancy use, it could no longer revert back to a showroom.

Council member Bernita Sims made the motion to receive further information because she said it was the best plan for a market district she had seen so far.

“This is probably the best of a win-win situation I have seen since we started talking about the Market Overlay,” she said. “I don’t think this is going to be harmful to anybody that I can see in this phase.”

Randy Short, owner of a showroom on Wrenn Street, said during the public hearing that he objected to the idea of a market district.

“It really doesn’t make a lot of sense to do this now,” he said about economic conditions. “I stand to lose a lot of property value if the plan is left the way it is.”

phaynes@hpe.com | 888-3617