900-home proposal in southern Guilford County alarms rural neighbors

Neighbors along Old Randleman Road are confronting a housing proposal that would put up to 900 homes on 104 acres in a part of southern Guilford County long defined by woods, wells and family land.

VennTerra, a Graham-based developer, is seeking to build the project at 5101, 5113 and 5327 Old Randleman Road in two phases, with up to 250 units in the first phase and up to 650 in the second. The request would move the land from agricultural and low-density residential use to a planned unit development and raise density to about 8.67 units per acre, far above the current limit of roughly one home per acre.

The Greensboro Planning and Zoning Commission voted 7-2 on March 13 to recommend annexing the property into city limits and approving the rezoning. That vote put the proposal on a longer path that still has to clear additional city review, and because the tract is now in unincorporated territory, Guilford County land-use steps could still matter as the project moves ahead.

For homeowners on the road, the issue is not simple opposition to growth. Barry Morgan said his family has had land there for more than a century, while Annette Gray said her husband’s family has been on their property for more than 60 years. Their concerns centered on whether a large new subdivision would alter a rural community built around open land, private wells and long-standing family ties.

Traffic, road capacity and city services were among the sharpest worries. Neighbors also raised concerns about possible effects on wells, animals and the remaining open space in the area. Those objections now collide with Greensboro’s broader housing push, including the Road to 10,000 initiative, which is designed to support 10,000 new housing units by 2030.

Greensboro Zoning Administrator Mike Kirkman said mixed housing types can help address the city’s housing needs and that infrastructure questions are part of the normal review process. City staff have also said the project fits the long-range GSO 2040 framework, which has noted a high volume of annexation requests and a trend toward rezoning that mixes single-family detached homes with other housing types.

The development also sits near a corridor the city has already singled out for change. Greensboro City Council adopted the Randleman Road Corridor Plan Phase 2 on Nov. 19, 2024, covering the 2.3-mile stretch from the I-40 interchange to the city limits. That plan cites continued reinvestment needs, safety concerns, better traffic and transit systems and broader quality-of-life improvements.

The next major test comes May 19, when city council is scheduled to hear from supporters and opponents. Whatever council decides, the debate has already sharpened a central question for southern Guilford County: how much growth can a rural edge absorb before its character is permanently changed.