Hearing will be held on rezoning request in the protection zone
By Barbara Arntsen
Published in News on June 22, 2005 1:45 PM
The public will get a chance to comment Aug. 2 on a request to rezone a 1.64 acre parcel of land in the county's protection zone around Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
Wayne County commissioners approved an ordinance in March restricting population density and establishing a noise overlay zone around the base.
Officials said the changes were needed to protect people from loud jet noise and the potential for accidents. But the rules were also intended to keep new homes and development from encroaching on the base and interfering with Air Force training.
Jonathan Shane Smith is requesting to rezone a 1.64 acre lot along the north side of Genoa Road, across from the Crescent Hill Mobile Home Park.
It's part of a 300-acre tract owned by his grandfather, Gray Smith.
The request would change the zone from light industry to an airport zone. The airport zone allows some residential development.
The property is also in a high-noise area.
Connie Price, the county's planning director, said that the request was unique, and would not set a precedent for additional rezoning requests in the area.
Price said the situation would be different if the Smith family was planning to sell the land, or wanting to build a subdivision.
County Attorney Borden Parker said that "the facts on this case are such that you won't have it again, or if you do, it will be very rare."
Smith's grandfather has owned the land since 1938, and his father lives across the road from the area proposed for rezoning.
Since Smith is aware of the noise and risk associated with building in the area, the planning board recommended that the zoning request be granted.
The commissioners agreed to set a public hearing on the request for their Aug. 2 meeting.
In other business:
Commissioners passed a resolution naming the new U.S. Highway 117 bridge over the existing U.S. Highway 70 in memory of the late Jerry K. Best, a captain in the Wayne County Sheriff's Office.
* The board also set an Aug. 2 public hearing date on a rezoning request from Ricky Young to rezone 40 acres from residential to heavy industry. If rezoned, the property, at 2550 U.S. 117 South Alternate, will allow for the expansion of an existing salvage yard, along with other industrial uses.
*Agreed to the removal of all graves in the Ephraim Moses Cemetery in the Stoney Creek Township, off Patetown Road, to the Evergreen Memorial Cemetery, at 3888 Highway 70 West.