YOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1978 w w w. j a m e s t o w n n e w s . c o m
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JUlY 15-21, 2026 Vol 48 No 29 | 1 Section | 8 Pages
Board approves parking variance By CaROL BROOks FreeLANCe WrIter cab1hp@gmail.com If all goes according to plan, Jamestown will have a new branch bank in the months ahead after the Jamestown Board of Adjustment approved a variance to the Land Development Ordinance (LDO) on July 8. Developers for the bank, which was not named in the variance application, said parking space on the property at 6014 W. Gate City Boulevard was not sufficient for their needs. The 1.5 +/- acre property is beside Panda Express and both are in front of GTCC’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CADM) building. It is zoned Conditional Zoning-Commercial (CZ-C). Section 12.11 of the LDO establishes maximum off-street parking requirements. "Based on the size and proposed
use of the building, the ordinance permits a maximum of eight parking spaces," said Planning Director José Colón. "The applicant is requesting a variance to allow a total of 13 parking spaces." This is five more than currently allowed. The building will not be large but there would be six employees plus customers and visitors. "The applicant has stated that the maximum permitted parking standard does not adequately accommodate anticipated operational needs," Colón added. Tim Loken, architect with BDG Architects, presented his firm’s case. Board members had few comments. The July 8 meeting a quasi-judicial hearing, meaning a decision must satisfy four guidelines: 1) The unnecessary hardship results from the strict application of the ordinance; 2) The hardship results from conditions that are peculiar to the applicant’s property; 3) The
hardship is not self-created; and 4) The variance is consistent with the spirit, purpose, and intent of the ordinance such that public safety is secured and substantial justice is achieved. “The variance remedy exists to permit owners the ability to vary from the strict application of the ordinance when it is believed that health, safety, and welfare would not be adversely affected," Colón said in his staff analysis. "Staff does not believe that the additional parking spaces would adversely affect public safety, provided all other applicable development standards are met. Staff further believes the request may be consistent with the spirit, purpose, and intent of the ordinance by allowing adequate on-site parking while avoiding potential overflow parking issues.” These guidelines were satisfied. The Board’s decision did not take long. “It appears to be straightfor-
Photo courtesy of Guilford County Geographic Information System (GIS)
6014 W. gate City Boulevard is outlined in orange. Panda express is in the lower left corner. ward,” said John Capes. “The request is fair,” said Robert Garland. “The footprint looks good.” The Board unanimously voted in favor of the variance.
town Council to meet July 21
Jamestown man arrested in 1988 murder case
By CaROL BROOks FreeLANCe WrIter cab1hp@gmail.com
By CaROL BROOks FreeLANCe WrIter cab1hp@gmail.com Police procedurals on television and movies often rely on DNA to solve a case. It happened in real life last week as Willie James Carpenter was arrested in a nearly 40-year old murder case. Reports indicate Carpenter is a resident of Jamestown. Carpenter, 68, is charged with firstdegree murder and is accused in the death of Diane Matthews while she was at work Sept. 8, 1988, in Orlando, Fla. Matthews’ injuries were so severe she was unrecognizable, but a coworker identified her by her hair. At the time, Orlando detectives did their due diligence, including collecting DNA samples, but DNA technology was not as advanced, nor routinely used, as it is today. Two potential suspects were determined to be persons of interest. Carpenter was questioned in 2013 but refused to give a DNA sample. Carpenter moved to North Carolina in the interim and was arrested, but not convicted, in 2013 for a sexual offence with an underage female. His DNA was see MURdeR, PAGe 3
The decision of the Board of Adjustment is final and does not need approval by the Town Council. Board of Adjustment members are also members of the Planning Board.
game meals for the football team. Also accepting the donation were football players Sion Stevenson, quarterback, and Sam Kluttz, linebacker and punter. “Both are good players and good students and
The Jamestown Town Council will hold its monthly meeting July 21. There are two public hearings on the agenda. The first public hearing is to consider text amendments to Articles 3, 7 and 18 of the Land Development Ordinance (LDO) regarding flood damage prevention for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) compliance and adoption of revised Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM). The second public hearing is to consider rezoning property located at 4909 Guilford College Road from Agriculture (AG) to Conditional Zoning-Single Family Residential (CZ-SFR). This is for expansion of the Harvest Church property. The Planning Board unanimously denied the rezoning on June 8. The Council will also consider adopting the updated Strategic Plan for the town. Consent agenda items include approval of the Interlocal Agreement regarding funding for the Jamestown Public Library and approval of the First Amendment to Statement of Agreement regarding the Consolidated Municipal Alcohol
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Photo by Norma B. Dennis
Pictured left to right when Jamestown Rotary Club presented a donation to Ragsdale High school athletic Booster Club are Coach antwon stevenson, sion stevenson, sam kluttz, Jamestown Rotary President angela Morrow and Page kluttz.
Rotary Club supports Athletic Booster Club
By nORMa B. dennIs FreeLANCe WrIter ndworddesign@gmail.com One goal of Ragsdale High School Football Coach Antwon Stevenson and Athlete Booster Club Treasurer Page Kluttz is to reconnect Ragsdale to the Jamestown community.
To this end, the Jamestown Rotary Club has been glad to help. During the club’s July 7 meeting at the Jamestown Park Clubhouse, Rotary Club President Angela Morrow presented the Athletic Booster Club with a check for $2,000 to be used toward pre-
ancestor signed declaration of independence
GCS elementary students responsible for new state symbol
By CaROL BROOks FreeLANCe WrIter cab1hp@gmail.com
COMPILed By nORMa B. dennIs FreeLANCe WrIter ndworddesign@gmail.com
I had a wonderful surprise on July 3 and it related to the Declaration of Independence. I received an email from the genealogy site FamilySearch saying, “You’re related to a signer of the Declaration of Independence.” That got my attention, of course, and I immediately checked it out. I believe the lineage provided is correct. The ancestor is Caesar Rodney and turns out he not only signed the Declaration of Independence, he was also a very important figure in the history of the state of Delaware. According to “Caesar Rodney Patriot – Delaware’s hero for all times and all seasons” by William P. Frank for The Delaware American Revolution Bicentennial Commission (quoted throughout this article), Rodney was the “patron saint of his
Most every North Carolinian knows that the cardinal is the state bird and dogwood is the state flower, but North Carolina now has a new official state cookie. Governor Josh Stein recently passed a historic budget and tucked away in the legislation was the approval of the Moravian Cookie to be the state cookie. This action was the result of a dream conceived in 2018 by some former students at Brooks Global Studies Magnet School. Under the leadership of former state Rep. Ashton Clemmons, who was the principal at Brooks at the time, students in John Phillips’ 4th-grade class were learning how the government works when the topic of state symbols ensued. New additions were suggested. Phillips informed the students that state symbols have to become laws and a class
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Photo courtesy of Architect of the Capitol
a statue of Caesar Rodney holding the declaration of Independence stands in the rotunda of the Capitol building in Washington, d.C. The marble sculpture is by Bryant Baker and was a gift from delaware in 1934.
discussion began on what things make the state unique. “It was one of those fluke moments,” Phillips said. “Sometimes, as a teacher, you plan, and plan, and plan, and things get off track, and you have to go with it. These students had a genuine thirst for knowledge.” Following a week of research for a perfect new symbol and the creation of arguments to support their ideas, the class decided on two: the USS North Carolina as the state battleship and the Moravian Cookie as the state cookie.