Midway trying to stay rural as he grows as a city – Whqr

This is the most recent contribution in our Main Street NC Series from WUNC POLITICSS We visit communities throughout the country to hear from local leaders about the positives that are happening in their cities, and the challenges they face, from damage from storm to gentification.

In the middle, about 15 minutes south of Winston-Salem, it was not even a city for most of its history. The Davidson County Community became a municipality in 2006 in an attempt to avoid annexation in the nearby city.

Local leaders did not want to pay higher taxes on the ownership of the city and wanted to prevent the development of high density. The formation of a city with its own rules for planning and zoning was an effort to maintain its rural character, despite the growth of the Triad region.

You will not currently see many new divisions on Midway, but urban leaders such as Mayor John Birum plan to build a large expansion of the city center, a 16 -acre park along the Rolling Hills, which opened several years ago. With numerous playgrounds and a large picnic and events pavilion, this is the species of a park you would expect to see in a bigger city.

“We have about 20 acres that the city still owns, which is underdeveloped, this is right until our current park,” Birum said. “We want to continue to build an additional 20 acres of relaxation, some green space. We had business sessions where ideas were thrown away, maybe a tournament or a disc golf. We like the idea of ​​having an unconventional relaxation.”

The city gives priority to the park even with its limited revenue from one of the largest tax rates in the country.

Midway is one of several cities with low tax, low density in North Carolina, where homes need to be built on larger lots and commercial development is facing some restrictions. Many of these cities were formed several decades ago before the state legislative body restricted cities and cities to expand their borders without the consent of property owners.

The slow growth approach is not contradictory in midway, but this is not everywhere.

North of Greensboro, the city of Summerfield recently tried to block development with mixed use with apartments. City leaders failed to compromise with the entrepreneur, and this led to legislation of Senate leader Phil Berger to remove the entire property from the city borders.

Legislative intervention has sparked protest by local leaders, including State Reporter Vendey Harrison, D-Guilford when the house passed last year.

“This is the biggest duty in the history of North Carolina,” Harrison said. “I believe this sets a dangerous precedent. I can’t imagine why any of us thinks it’s a good idea to do this to the city of Summerfield.”

Berger, however, said in a time that the legislature should intervene as the two parties could not reach an agreement.

However, there were no major battles in Midway between the developers and the City Council and there was no desire for a faster development.

This means that new companies here tend to be in the existing small shopping centers of the city, such as the only cafe in the city, Grind Daily, which opened in 2023.

Jamie Hock and her husband Alex own the cafe, a place that hosts church groups and chess clubs. They write biblical verse on every glass they serve.

Jamie said the residents of Midway prefer the smaller businesses.

“When people enter here, they are very big to support the locals,” she said. “They don’t want big complexes. They don’t want things with big names here. They like their little things.”

There is Starbucks in the process of building about three miles south, but it is outside the city of Midway in the area known as Welcome. This part of the Davidson County is unquestioned and has more free zoning rules.

Other Midway companies precede their creation as a city. Midway General Store has stood on the main road since 1936. It has been in the same family since then, and while it starts as grocery, it is now the type of hardware store in a small town where you can take everything from a Cheerwine can to water supplies and fertilizer S

Owner Hal Macalpin said he saw to tobacco fields replaced with houses and expects the store to close when he eventually retires.

“I’m likely to get off the ship or the ship will go down with me,” McALPIN said. “Most people don’t want to put so many hours.”

Vunk talks with Mayor John Bairum in the City Hall to find out more about how Midway was formed and what happened in the 18s since then.

Note: This transcript is edited for brevity and clarity.

Tell me about Midway history and why the community decided to join as a city in 2006.

“Everything was in the desire to preserve our rural identity. At that time there were different cities annexed by larger municipalities or cities. So the small towns were perhaps a target and there was a fear that Winston-Salem was one day to come south in the south of Davidson and take what is now known as the city of Midway. The inclusion of the city really happened as a result of attempts to maintain Midway’s identity. “

Given the low tax rate, how did you decide early what services will be offered?

“The state actually gives many guidance when it comes to it. When forming a city or city, you must provide a major number of basic services. The main services we provide here at Midway is the garbage pickup truck, we also provide street lights. We must have advice on planning and zoning, a correction advice and they can hear requests from citizens if they want to resonate their property. “

How would you describe the differences between how Midway has evolved in the last two decades compared to unaccorporated neighboring communities here, which also deal with some of the same pressure on the growth of suburban growth?

“If you want to grow a business or place a neighborhood, housing and commercial developers are likely to find Midway for a little more resistant. But this is not not to develop development, but to help maintain density, appearance, architectural feeling of what is an area. “

Has the Summerfield development dispute create any concerns here that this can turn into a trend affecting some other low -density cities with low taxation in North Carolina?

“I hope it doesn’t happen. Unfortunately, sometimes these things are not developed without any damage to the municipality and for the developers and for the various persons involved in the process. We accept it as it comes, and we handle it and just try to be level. We really try to make decisions solely based on what is best for the city. “

Hear more than visit by byrum and WUNC in midway on WUNC’s submission.