Jamestown Council Rejects 138-Unit West Main Street Apartment Rezoning

The Jamestown Planning Board had voted on January 12 to recommend denial of a rezoning application that would have allowed a 138-unit apartment development to be built on 6.53 acres of historic and Main Street properties at 207, 209, 301 and 305 West Main Street. The Town Council followed suit on March 23, 2026, voting to deny the request outright, ending a months-long review of one of the more ambitious multifamily proposals the small Guilford County town has seen in recent years.

Burkely Communities proposed a development of up to 138 units of a multifamily residential community, situated within both the West Main and Town Center Future Land Use designations and within walking distance to downtown shopping and entertainment. The plan called for a mix of 138 "mansion-style apartments" and three-story apartment buildings, with the developer arguing the design would create a transition in scale and character consistent with West Main Street's small-town corridor.

The property owners who signed and submitted the rezoning application in September 2025 included BRC Jamestown LLC, with David F. Couch listed for 305 West Main; Ragsdale Brothers LLC at 301 West Main; and Frazier Family Partners LLC at 207 and 209 West Main. As of November 6, 2025, all four parcels were still owned by those three entities, with Burkley Properties LLC named as the prospective purchaser.

The property sits across the street from Jamestown Elementary School, and nearby residents raised concerns about existing school traffic in the morning and afternoon, prompting town staff to request that a full Traffic Impact Analysis be completed prior to the Town Council's consideration, with the study scope specifically addressing school-related peak periods in coordination with NCDOT and the Town.

The path to the council vote was neither smooth nor quick. After a split 2-2 vote, Planning Board Chair Hope Inge was the deciding "no" vote in the matter of rezoning the four parcels. Planning Director José Colón later clarified that the November result was not a formal final recommendation. With the Traffic Impact Analysis condition, Jamestown staff had recommended the Planning Board approve the rezoning and pass it on to the Town Council, but the Board was not persuaded. A December 8 continuation was canceled due to inclement weather, pushing the public hearing to January 12.

At the January 12 meeting, the motion to recommend denial was made by Board member Rob Garland and seconded by Brant Gomez, with Board Chairman Hope Inge also voting to recommend denial; Darlene Fete and Vice Chairman John Capes voted to recommend the rezoning.

The Planning Board's formal denial rationale was explicit. The motion stated the amendment "is not consistent with the adopted Comprehensive Plan," that it "does not sufficiently align with the development pattern and intensity envisioned for the portion of West Main Street," and that "the scale and intensity of the development may not be compatible with the surrounding uses or supportive of the area's existing character." The Board adopted the town staff's finding of unreasonableness and public interest concerns by reference, though the staff's earlier written materials had found the request consistent with the Envision Jamestown Comprehensive Plan adopted in 2021, creating a discrepancy in the public record that the Council inherited.

The site, like all of Jamestown, lies within the Randleman Water Supply Critical Watershed. In 2020, specific protections and construction requirements were mandated by the state for all jurisdictions in this watershed, and Jamestown has not yet updated its Land Development Ordinance to include those 2020 rules. The site also sits in proximity to Deep River, with the most recent FEMA flood hazard mapping for that section of Jamestown dating to 2007.

After the Planning Board's January recommendation, Planning Director Colón asked the Council to set a public hearing date for March 17, 2026, noting that under North Carolina General Statutes, any resident or property owner who submits a written statement to the Clerk at least two business days before the hearing must have that statement delivered to the Town Board. The Council held that hearing before voting to deny on March 23.

The three property-owning entities now hold land on West Main Street that remains zoned under the existing Main Street and Commercial/Main Street Transitional designations, leaving the blocks' long-term redevelopment an open question for Jamestown's historic corridor.