🗞️ Kernersville's new comprehensive plan, the first major update since 2014, is now online

🗞️ This summer's drought may mute fall color, with Piedmont leaves expected to peak in late October

🗞️ School board approves interim superintendent Randy Bridges' contract at $23,000 a month

🗞️ Your Kernersville week ahead: aldermen, Friday football and a packed Saturday

☀️ Sunny | High: 78°F | Low: 57°F

The sunny streak rolls right into the new week. Expect clear skies, a gentle northwest breeze and a high near 78, with a comfortable, mostly clear night dipping to about 57. Tuesday stays sunny and warms to around 81.

The Town of Kernersville has posted the final, adopted version of its new Comprehensive Plan, the roadmap that will guide how the town grows over the next decade. The Board of Aldermen approved the plan unanimously on Aug. 26, and the finished document went up on the town's website on Friday.

It is the first major update to the plan since 2014. The work took more than a year and leaned heavily on residents, with pop-up booths around town, three open houses and an online survey that drew about 250 responses. In a letter at the front of the plan, Mayor Dawn Morgan thanked everyone who took part, down to "the children who drew a picture about the future."

The plan's vision centers on "thoughtful, carefully managed growth" that keeps Kernersville's small-town charm. That includes a lively downtown, streets, sidewalks and greenways that make it easier to walk and bike, plenty of parks and gathering spaces, and housing for residents at every stage of life. The future land-use map keeps most of town single-family, while steering mixed-use development toward major corridors, greenways and job centers. An updated thoroughfare plan and greenway network are also part of the package, which can help the town compete for trail and sidewalk funding.

Morgan's letter is candid about the tradeoffs. "With the positive benefits of growth can come increased traffic and differing visions of the best land use and development for the long term for our community," she wrote.

The plan does not rezone anyone's property on its own. Under North Carolina law it is advisory, but the Planning Board and aldermen use it as a guide when they weigh rezoning requests and new development. Residents can read the full plan and its maps on the town's website, and the mayor says input is still welcome as it is put into practice.

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Leaf season is starting in North Carolina, but this summer's heat and drought may take some of the shine off. WXII's fall foliage forecast, updated Sunday, calls for more subdued color this year, especially in the Piedmont, because the hot, dry summer put extra stress on trees. That stress could also make leaves turn and fall a little earlier than usual.

Color is already showing above 3,000 feet around Mount Mitchell, Grandfather Mountain and Beech Mountain. WXII expects the mountains to peak around mid-October, with the foothills and the Piedmont, including the Kernersville area, peaking around late October to early November. Around town, keep an eye on the maples, which usually put on the biggest show, along with golden hickories and purplish-red dogwoods.

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The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Board of Education has approved a contract paying interim superintendent Randy Bridges $23,000 a month, and the district will also provide him with a car. The contract runs from Oct. 1 to June 30, though the board can end it with 30 days' notice if it hires a permanent superintendent sooner.

Bridges, a retired superintendent who led five districts in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia between 1997 and 2017, most recently served as interim superintendent for Wake County Schools. He will be sworn in Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 5:30 p.m. at the Education Building, 4801 Bethania Station Road.

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The week starts quiet and builds to one of the busiest Saturdays of the fall. Here is what is on the Kernersville calendar.

Wednesday: The Board of Aldermen holds its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 134 E. Mountain St.

Friday: East Forsyth hosts West Forsyth at 7:30 p.m., and Bishop McGuinness hosts South Stokes at 7 p.m.

Saturday: Start early at Cars & Coffee on S. Main Street from 8 to 10 a.m., the last 8 a.m. meet of the year. The Triad Heart Walk opens at Triad Park at 9:30 a.m., and the free Artisan Craft Market fills Harmon Park and the Kernersville Museum from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Little ones can catch Storytime at the Park at the Paddison library at 10 a.m. Wrap up the day at the 16th Annual Kernersville Oktoberfest at Körner's Folly from 3 to 6 p.m. (ages 21 and up, $45 in advance).

One heads-up for families: the children's department at the Paddison library remains closed for HVAC work through Oct. 5. And the forecast is on your side, with sunshine and highs in the upper 70s to low 80s to start the week.