County to weigh zoning proposal
By Steve Herring
Published in News on June 5, 2011 1:50 AM
Wayne County commissioners Tuesday morning will hold a public hearing on a proposed amendment to the county's Zoning Ordinance and Map that in turn would allow them to hold a public hearing on a rezoning request by Goldsboro Milling Co.
The hearings will start at 9:15 a.m. in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the county courthouse annex. An agenda briefing will be held at 8 a.m. followed by the board meeting at 9 a.m.
Goldsboro Milling wants approximately 80 acres currently zoned Light Industry rezoned to Heavy Industry Conditional District. The property is located on the east side of Millers Chapel Road at its intersection with the Atlantic and East Carolina Railroad.
However, before that can happen commissioners must create the new zone. Permitted uses would include feed mills, grain elevators, railroad sidings, offices, warehouses, parking areas and structures and antennas. The maximum height would be 250 feet. All other setback requirements of the underlying Heavy Industry zone would apply.
The Wayne County Planning Board at its May 10 meeting considered the rezoning petition from Goldsboro Milling.
Currently, the property is used for feed mills, railroad sidings and woodland. It is bordered on the east and south by woodland. A feed mill, warehouses and offices are on the north and west sides.
The company wants to expand the existing rail siding to allow longer trains to access the feed mill, county officials said. The feed mill and rail siding were in place prior to the establishment of the current zoning that does not allow feed mills or rail sidings.
The Light Industry zone also has a maximum height limitation of 75 feet and the existing grain elevators are 211 feet tall.
While Heavy Industry zoning allows feed mills and rail sidings, it does not impose a maximum height limitation -- a concern in this case because of the property's proximity to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
The property also falls within the base's high noise area.
Planning Board members said the property should not be changed to Heavy Industry unless restrictions are placed on the property since that zone would leave open the possibility of a structure being built that would encroach on the air base's approach area.
Instead, the Planning Board recommended that the new Heavy Industry Conditional District be created and that the property be rezoned.
It also recommended that:
* Permitted uses would be feed mills, rail sidings, warehouses, offices, hatcheries, grain elevators and parking areas or structures.
* The maximum height will be 250 feet (This would provide a separation of 99 feet from the top of a structure and the approach zone.)
* The minimum lot area will 50 acres and the minimum lot width will be 200 feet.
* The minimum setbacks will be front -- none, side-- none and rear -- none.
Deputy base engineer Dennis G. Goodson, in a letter to County Planner Connie Price, said that the property falls entirely outside of the base's Accident Potential Zones.
However, he wrote, it does fall within the Approach-Departure Clearance Ima-ginary Surface for Runway 26 (east end of runway).
Goodson also wrote that since the property is within three nautical miles of the runway and has an existing structure exceeding 200 feet that the company might need to file notice with the Federal Aviation Admini-stration for an obstruction evaluation analysis.