County board to discuss zoning around air base
By Matt Shaw
Published in News on August 1, 2004 2:06 AM
The Wayne County Board of Commissioners will resume discussion this week of proposed zoning and development rules around Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
The county board has scheduled a work session Tuesday as part of its regular meeting. Representatives of the base are expected to attend and perhaps give their views.
The commissioners plan to make some decisions and call a third and final public hearing, probably for later this month. They intend to act before the Sept. 1 expiration of the moratorium on new subdivisions and mobile home parks in the high-noise areas.
Currently, the commissioners plan to rezone nearly 20 square miles around Seymour Johnson and the pathway of jet traffic. In most cases, the new zoning would allow less dense development than current zoning would.
The board also plans to establish zoning for another 6.8 square miles that borders the existing zoned land.
Finally, the proposal would create an "airport overlay district" that would cover areas with average noise levels of 65 decibels or greater. The district would restrict what could be built and how it must be constructed.
None of the changes would have any effect on existing homes, businesses or churches, all of which could be expanded or rebuilt without having to comply with the rules.
Properties inside Goldsboro would also be unaffected.
Hearing set
The commissioners have called a 9:15 a.m. hearing Tuesday to consider whether the county should offer a $300,000 grant to Turkington Industries as an incentive to buy the APV Baker plant.
Turkington Industries, based in Lancashire, England, manufactures machinery for the baking, food and brewing industries. It is considering acquiring the Goldsboro plant, which makes equipment for automated bakeries, as its first entry into the U.S. market.
County officials are worried about other potential buyers who might close, downsize or relocate APV Baker. The county is seeking a state grant to cover the $300,000 incentive.
The APV plant, which also includes APV Products, is located on Ash Street Extension near Cherry Hospital. It employs around 260 people.
Other business
The Mount Olive Airport's committee will ask the commissioners to endorse its expansion plans.
The committee is seeking the authority to lengthen the airport's runway from its current 3,700 feet to 5,000 feet. The Federal Aviation Administration has been encouraging all N.C. airports to have runways at least this long as a safety measure.
Also Tuesday, the commissioners are scheduled to do the following:
*Recognize departments that recently won safety awards from the N.C. Department of Labor.
*Consider whether to add automobile sales as a special-use in the county's "airport" zoning.
*Award a bid for a landfill compactor.
*Hear a presentation from the Wayne Action Teams for Community Health (WATCH).
*Approve a resolution in support of a deceleration lane being built on U.S. 70 to allow people to turn onto Brentwood Drive.
The commissioners will convene at 8 a.m. Tuesday for a briefing on the agenda. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the commissioners' meeting room, third floor, Wayne County Courthouse Annex, 224 E. Walnut St.