City, county make plans for highway interchanges
By Steve Herring
Published in News on October 13, 2010 1:46 PM
Planning for development around new interchanges that the U.S. 70 Goldsboro Bypass will create continues to be a sticking point for local planners, so the city and county have decided to work together.
Some of the intersections are within the city limits; some are not. Some are partly in the city and partly in the county.
On Tuesday, the Wayne County Planning Board and its staff agreed to work with the city Planning Commission and its staff on the projects.
County Planner Connie Price told the county board that the city planning staff had suggested that the county help provide some input as to "to what do we need to look at" regarding the interchanges.
County Planning Board member Chris Cox said the boards should prioritize which intersections to work on, starting with the one at Wayne Memorial Drive, which is already under construction. Price agreed.
Cox added the county board should be more concerned with the interchanges that the county will have a direct stake in -- those outside the city limits.
"I do not think they will want our input on the ones that we do not control," Cox said.
Planning Board member Steve Keen said he realized that funding for planning was limited and that the county needed to take advantage of every opportunity to talk about zoning so that property owners at and near the interchanges will know what the plans are.
He noted that Johnson County had not anticipated the rapid development at the N.C. 42 and Interstate 40 interchange. The same could happen at interchanges in Wayne County, hence the need for planning.
In other business, the board denied a request by developers of Mallard Pointe on Hinnant Road in the Buck Swamp Township to turn the subdivision into the county's first gated community.
The request was made at the board's September meeting, but was tabled to allow county attorney Borden Parker time to review it.
Parker said current county ordinances do not allow a gated community unless it is a cluster subdivision. Mallard Pointe is not a cluster subdivision.
The plats and maps approved when the subdivision was created also require that the streets be public, he said. Parker said the county could amend the subdivision ordinance to allow gated communities. One that happens, Mallard Pointe developers could petition again for the gated status, he said.
Quick said the county needs to look at ways to allow gated communities since they are becoming more popular.
He followed up on his comments with a motion for Price to research what changes would be needed for county ordinances to allow for such communities. It was unanimously approved. Any changes would require a public hearing before county commissioners who would have final say.
Other ordinance changes could be in the works.
Board member and veteran firefighter Mike Aycock asked Price if the county could require that the size of existing water lines be shown on plats.
Price said they could, but that it would require a change to county ordinances.
Aycock's motion to recommend that the commissioners change the ordinance to require the information was unanimously approved.
Price also asked the board to recommend other changes to commissioners.
Currently, maps and plats are submitted on paper. Price wants surveyors to have the option to submit them electronically. Also, he said he wanted to add the Cooperative Extension Service, Emergency Medical Services and Wayne County Board of Education to the agencies that receive copies of plats. To do so will require surveyors to provide three additional copies of the maps and plats. In addition, they would have to provide an electronic version. The board approved recommending that commissioners schedule a public hearing on Price's proposals.
The board approved three subdivision plats and tabled another.
The approved plats were:
* Chris Fields, preliminary; owner/developer Earl Oliver, 26 lots at Davis Mill Road at Red Hill Road in Nahunta Township;
* Terri Gooding, final; owner/developer Terri Gooding, three lots on Black Creek Road in Nahunta Township;
* Timberlake, final; owner/developer, J&N Developers, 20 lots on Dollard Town Road in New Hope Township.
Final approval rests with county commissioners.
The board tabled action on the Frederick and Patricia White final for three lots on Antioch Loop Road in Pikeville Township.