Burlington Planning Board Approves Used-Car Lot on Rauhut Street Corner

Burlington's Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6-0 to recommend conditional rezoning at 521 Rauhut St., clearing the way for used-car dealer Mohamed Shahim Kaled to open a second lot at the corner of Rauhut and Apple streets, despite an explicit denial recommendation from city planning staff.

Kaled, who already operates a car lot on North Church Street across from Biscuitville, told commissioners his proposal is deliberately narrow: a single-use rezoning covering only a used-car lot, nothing more. He described his goal as "something clean, something nice" to replace the dilapidated building currently on the site, and argued that requesting broader zoning categories he had no intention of using would unnecessarily invite neighborhood opposition.

That argument put him directly at odds with planning director Jamie Lawson, who recommended denial on the grounds that a single-use rezoning is "very restrictive and limiting" and departs from the department's standard preference for more flexible commercial zoning. Lawson also flagged a technical deficiency in Kaled's submitted site layout: it omitted the 30-foot buffer the city would require before any permits could be issued.

The board overruled Lawson's recommendation anyway. Chairman James Kirkpatrick and members Mike Mills, Ethan Raynor, Lee Roane, Jonathan Sanders, and Ryan Spadaccini all voted in favor.

No organized opposition appeared at the hearing. One nearby resident urged Kaled to address the appearance of his existing North Church Street lot before expanding to a second location. Tom Boney Jr., publisher of The Alamance News, also addressed the board, not to oppose Kaled specifically but to challenge the city's practice of pressuring applicants to list multiple intended uses on rezoning applications. Boney argued the practice falls hardest on lower-income neighborhoods seeking commercial investment, casting the procedural dispute as a question of equity in land-use policy.

The recommendation now goes to Burlington's elected city council, which holds final authority on all rezonings. No council vote date has been announced. If the council approves, Kaled would still need to submit revised development plans satisfying the city's buffer, landscaping, and stormwater requirements before receiving permits. The missing 30-foot buffer in his current layout means at least one round of plan revisions is required regardless of how the council votes.

The unanimous board decision to side with the applicant over its own planning staff signals that commissioners found the targeted, limited-scope approach more persuasive than the department's preference for keeping future land-use options open at the Rauhut and Apple corner.