Burlington seeks more public input on North Church Street plan

Burlington is opening another round of public input on the North Church Street Area Plan, with traffic, land use and redevelopment decisions still on the table. The Community Check-in survey is available online, and paper copies can be picked up at Burlington’s Municipal Building at 425 South Lexington Ave.

The plan reaches beyond North Church Street itself and includes Vaughn Road and Graham Hopedale Road. City staff is using the study to look at existing businesses, housing, streets, sidewalks and city- and county-owned properties, including schools and parks, before setting a direction for future growth. Jamie Lawson, executive director of Planning and Development Services, is the contact for residents who want to weigh in directly.

Burlington’s earlier survey ran from Aug. 18, 2025, through Nov. 6, 2025, and drew 206 completed responses. In that feedback, residents described the corridor as a place with deep African American history and historic neighborhoods, but also one marked by disinvestment, deteriorating buildings, vacant lots and weak maintenance. People repeatedly asked for grocery stores, pharmacies, sit-down restaurants and banks, and many described the area as a food desert.

The Western Electric property remains the biggest flash point in the corridor. The site includes 22 buildings on about 22 acres. It was known as the Tarheel Army Missile Plant when it was owned by the U.S. Department of Defense from 1942 to 2004, and it later passed through four private owners. Burlington does not own the property, and cleanup responsibility is split between the private owner above ground and the federal government below ground, while the current owner was found ineligible for a North Carolina brownfields agreement.

That site came up again in stakeholder interviews on Sept. 10, 2025, when 13 participants said the corridor was being “held down” by the Western Electric property and that the site’s condition discouraged investment. More than 55 people also attended a community open house that same day at Fairchild Community Center, where 17 boards covered land use, housing, transportation and economic development. City staff, Freese and Nichols and the North Carolina Department of Transportation were on hand, with materials in English and Spanish and translation available.

Burlington City Council approved moving ahead with Freese and Nichols on March 4, 2025, and a draft plan was reviewed at an open house on May 20, 2026. The current check-in survey follows that draft plan review.