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The Greensboro Zoning Commission met Monday from 2 p.m. to about 7 p.m. to discuss a variety of rezonings, annexations and one special use permit for a scrap-processing facility on Holts Chapel Road.

The commission unanimously approved the rezoning of about an acre of land on the east side of Arlington Street between East Lewis and East Lee streets for another phase of Bob Isner's Southside Neighborhood.

And zoning officials, in a lengthy and somewhat contentious discussion, approved by a vote of 6 to 3 a special use permit for the operation of a salvage yard and scrap processing facility on 5.46 acres of on Holts Chapel between East Market and East Camel streets. The commission reviewed this item in a quasi-judicial hearing, in which every speaker had to be sworn in.

Last week, Legacy Classic Furniture filed a site plan with the city for a massive distribution center. The plan called for a 324,000 square foot building (about 7 acres under the roof) on a large tract at McConnell Road and Interstate 85.

But Legacy has changed its plans. Kevin O'Connor, the company's president and chief executive officer, said Tuesday that the company is no longer pursuing the McConnell Road tract.

"Since that time, we have backed out of the deal," he said.

But Legacy, located in Whitsett, has outgrown its current distribution center and might be looking to expand. "We still intend to do something in that area," O'Connor said.

A company that deals in refrigeration equipment for trucks and trailers is looking to relocate within Guilford County.

Thermo King, an international operation based in Minneapolis, Minn., currently rents an 8,000 square-foot facility on Burnt Poplar Road in Greensboro. But the local business is looking to buy land and build new digs on Chimney Rock Road.

Wednesday night, the Guilford County Planning Board rezoned 2.59 acres there for the company, despite the protests of a couple that owns land wrapped around 3/4 of the property. Jim Christian, branch manager for Thermo King Central Carolinas, a Charlotte operation which owns the Greensboro franchise, explained at the meeting that the company's planned facility will prepare and repair refrigeration equipment that is mounted on trucks and trailers for the transport of goods including food.

According to its Web site, Thermo King has been around since 1938, when the company's founder hooked a refrigeration unit to a truck carrying a load of chickens that had just been killed.

The board's approval - at a vote of 5 to 2 - could be appealed to the County Commissioners.

In other news from the planning meeting ...

RBC Centura is giving 10 bicycles to the United Way of Greater Greensboro and children served by the Salvation Army here as part of the bank's Free Rewards program, according to an RBC press release.

Some of the bikes, along with basketball hoops, were used in a local RBC billboard campaign here and in Raleigh, Norfolk, Va., and Atlanta. They were used to advertise the company's Visa check card program, which allows customers to accumulate points on purchases in the same way a credit card user might.

RBC has thrown a gift certificate for eight new bikes into its donation pool, along with the basketball hoops and two billboard bikes, the release states. The company plans to have bank employees deliver its bikes later this month.

A Big League Haircuts opened last week at 5872 Samet Drive in High Point. The company behind the shop - A Winning Team of NC - plans to open two more shops - which focus on men - in the area by next spring and, according to a press release, could have similar deals pending in Durham, Raleigh and Wilmington.

The N.C. company is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Big League Barbers, and its gimmick is the hometown barbershop. A press-release description includes this little tidbit:

"The one-price haircut - $14 for adults, $10 for kids - includes a shampoo, haircut, and a scalp and neck massage by a mostly female staff. There's a $2 discount for military, police and seniors."

A High Point company is among the three winners of $30,000 from the Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurial Network’s Growth Accelerator Program.
Bruce Thomas of High Point is the principal of Cleantechnics International, which is producing a truck fluid filtration system. Two Winston-Salem companies, Aqualutions and AudioFusion also received the awards.
The award also offers high-level mentors to the winners.
The program "gives the early stage company executives a chance to work one-on-one and in small groups with professionals in finance, law, marketing, human resources and venture investing," said Jon Obermeyer, the interim CEO/VP of programs of PTEN.

Greensboro’s Center for Creative Leadership placed near the top of a high-profile ranking of worldwide leadership centers released Tuesday.
The Financial Times ranked the center fifth in the world for executive education programs, just behind programs at such universities as the University of Virginia and Northwestern University. Duke University’s program was ranked sixth.
The rankings were based on surveys of organizations that use leadership programs.

Starting next week, Time Warner Cable plans to add trivia and polling to its Tuesday lineup on NBC.

As previously reported in the News & Record, the cable company has been testing interactive television in a number of markets. Time Warner already has launched a suite of services here, including local weather, sports updates and digital phone caller ID. Now, the company will offer trivia and opinion polling during "Last Comic Standing," every Tuesday night on NBC. Digital cable customers will see pop-up questions on their screen throughout the show and can choose to weigh in for a poll or test their mettle on trivia.

The Triad is one of the first markets to try out this technology, which also is available is New York, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Wilmington and Charlotte. Time Warner Cable and Bravo already are using interactive polling during "Top Chef," and the cable company reports that the features see an average of 30 percent participation from viewers in initial markets.