North Forsyth may be the first area of the county to get a rezoning category created earlier this year.

A request to rezone about 36 acres on A C Smith and Goodson roads from agricultural district, or A1, to single family community residential district, or CR2, to build 72 lots with a density of 1.99 units per acre was approved on June 28 by the Forsyth County planning board.

If approved by the Board of Commissioners, which is scheduled to hear the request at a July 21 public hearing, the neighborhood would be the first built with the CR2 category since the BOC created it in March.

Concerns aired at the public hearing Tuesday centered on precedent and building this neighborhood in largely agricultural lands, though all but one neighboring family said they supported the request.

Terry Smith, a neighbor, said he likes this zoning category because it provides variety in lot size and prevents cookie cutter subdivisions.

He said there is a myth about people in north Forsyth not wanting growth — he said he wants smart growth and to have the “same amenities in the north that other people have. We want good growth.”

Another neighbor said he was at first skeptical about the rezoning but that the property owner has worked with adjacent neighbors to make the product aesthetically pleasing with buffers and fences.

Part of the CR2 category is that the lot size requirement is measured by averages instead of minimums — therefore, for every small lot there must be a large lot to offset the average.

When approved in March, it was thought this category would be in between a single-family residential district Res-3 and Res-2 density-wise, which have recently been the most commonly requested rezonings.

The family who spoke out against this application, who does not have property adjacent to it, said it would destroy the rural sense of the area and that they were not included in discussions with property owners.

Bettina Hammond, planning representative for District 4, where this application is, said she looked at other zoning categories and that she thought this fit the area best.

A CR2 zoning must be at least 30 acres, and she said where better to build larger subdivisions that are have variety in lot sizes than in the north part of the county?

The planning board voted 4-0, with Chairwoman Jayne Iglesias, of District 2, absent, to recommend the BOC approve the request.