Downtown Design Overlay and Manual Approved
Council Seeks Residents for Property Owners Review Team

GREENSBORO, NC (September 13, 2010) – Greensboro City Council recently approved the Downtown Design Overlay and Manual, a blueprint for promoting quality design, enhancing urban character and maintaining long-term compatibility in downtown Greensboro.

As part of this approval, a new Council-appointed Property Owners Review Team (PORT), made up of downtown property owners and design experts, has been created to review downtown development proposals that do not meet enough of the manual’s guidelines. PORT will review any development proposal that cannot be approved in the routine staff process.

The City is currently taking applications from residents who are interested in being a PORT member. PORT will include eight members:

Voting Members (must be downtown property owner)
• One property owner from the Urban Residential Mixed Use character area
• One property owner from the Historic Core character area
• Two  property owners from the Pedestrian Mixed Use character area
• One property owner from Downtown Greensboro Inc’s Board

Advisors (Non-Voting Members; do not have to be downtown property owners)
• Two representatives from the design community who have recently been involved with projects in downtown, such as  an architect, landscape architect, engineer, urban and / or landscape designer, historic preservationist, etc.)
• One designee or the president of Downtown Greensboro Inc.

Anyone interested in joining PORT should complete a boards and commission interest form, attach a resume or bio, and mail both to the City Clerk's Office at PO Box 3136, Greensboro, NC, 27402. Interested residents may also call the City Clerk's Office at 336-373-2397 for additional information about serving on the team.

For more information about the Downtown Design Overlay and Manual, visit this Web page or contact Mike Kirkman, with the City’s Planning Department, at 336-373-4649.