"City To Become Land Developer" by the Rhino Times Alex Jakubsen?

"The Greensboro City Council is moving forward with plans to get into the land development business.

...the council heard a presentation on numerous sites all around Greensboro that the city could invest in or purchase to develop into "shovel-ready sites," which could then be used to attract businesses.

The councilmembers were each given a set of "confidential" maps along with the presentation...

Two small maps of one area were all that was given to the public during the presentation.

...The city is already slated to spend roughly $18 million from the now defunct joint city-county water and sewer fund to bring water and sewer to about 9,000 acres in that area.

Councilmember Trudy Wade questioned why the maps wouldn't be public records, since they don't meet any of the narrow requirements for an exemption.

The response was that it was because of the sensitive nature of possible real estate acquisitions, even though the city wasn't considering any deals for the properties in question.

Shortly after the meeting Greensboro City Attorney Mujeeb Shah-Khan determined that the maps are actually public records and so couldn't be kept confidential.

Among the city's site development role outlined in the presentation was the purchase and development of sites either by the city or indirectly through a development corporation.

The city paying for infrastructure development was also discussed as an option, along with the use of planning and zoning regulations to protect the value of certain sites and subsidizing public/private land acquisition.

...Mayor Robbie Perkins, who is in the commercial real estate business, referred to the material of the presentation as "strategy 101 for economic development."

...The nine areas were labeled as NC 68 North, Eastern Mixed Use, White Street, Colfax and Reedy Fork, as well as four clustered around I-85/I-40 east of the outer loop – Sedalia, Knox Road/Birch Creek, Rock Creek and Carolina Corporate Center.

Rhino