Wayne County Commissioners will take a look at changes for Board of Adjustment
By Matthew Whittle
Published in News on May 14, 2007 1:45 PM
The Wayne County Zoning Ordinance could get a slight makeover Tuesday as the county Board of Commissioners is scheduled to kick off its short meeting with two public hearings.
Slated to begin at 9:15 a.m., the commissioners will first hear from the public on a proposal to change the county Board of Adjustment.
Currently, the board, which considers special use permits and zoning variances, is appointed by the commissioners. Under the new proposal, the commissioners themselves would make up the quasi-judicial board.
They would be allowed to approve a request for a special use permit or variance by a simple majority vote, but any reversal of an order, requirement, decision or determination of the zoning enforcement officer would need a four-fifths majority.
Also in the proposal is a recommendation from the county Planning Board that it be allowed to review any requests of the board of adjustment before any action is taken.
At the planning board's meeting last week, county Planning Director Connie Price explained that he believed the commissioners were looking to make the change to better control land use within the county. Already, the commissioners can go beyond regular zoning and create special use zones.
"I think it had been the case they just felt they weren't in the loop on those special use permits and variances," Price said, adding that he did not have any objections to the change.
The commissioners also will hold a public hearing on a request from American Legion Post 11, which is seeking approval for a temporary recreational vehicle campground on its property along the east side of U.S. 117 South. The campground, which would surround Legion Lake, would not be equipped with sewer hookups. It is within the noise contour zone of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, but outside the accident potential zone.
Finally, the board also will vote on the awarding of bids for construction work under the 2006 Community Development Block Grant-Concentrated Needs Housing Project.
The five projects, totaling about $71,000, will be awarded to Artis Building Construction in Pikeville and Harvey's Home Improvement in Fremont.
Project manager David Harris explained in his recommendation that the projects are being split up in order to involve more local contractors, provide for better monitoring and faster completion.