Council will eye cellular tower
By Ty Johnson
Published in News on September 17, 2012 1:46 PM
U.S. Cellular will again attempt to receive the blessing of the Goldsboro City Council tonight for a communications tower to be erected on the northwest corner of the intersection of East New Hope and Central Heights roads.
The City Council will meet at 7 p.m. in Historic City Hall.
The cell phone company previously submitted a request to build a tower on that property, which is owned and operated by Jennings Transmission, but the proposal did not meet the city's setback requirements, which require the tower to be away from property lines and residential areas by more than 150 percent of the tower's height. The 120-foot monopole would require a setback of at least 180 feet, which the new conditional use request meets.
The council will welcome public comment on the proposal, along with another conditional use permit request to open a place of entertainment with ABC permits on the west side of North Center Street between Mulberry and Walnut streets. Drew Wofford intends to open a nightclub at the location.
The council will also seek public comment on two rezoning requests, one for the northeast corner of East Ash Street and Andrews Avenue, which asks that the residential plot be rezoned for office and institutional use.
The other asks that the north side of East Beech Street between Madison Avenue and Best Street be rezoned from residential to neighborhood business.
The council is expected to approve by consent a petition by S. Dillon Wooten Jr. to have the southeast corner of Buck Swamp Road and Huntington Drive annexed into the city limits, along with the addition of health care components to the city's comprehensive plan.
Counties in Eastern North Carolina are eligible to receive funding for the additional cost through the Region 10 Community Transformation Grant, whereby those funds will be reimbursed fully by the grant, which is a collaboration between the Pitt County Health Department and the state.
The council is also expected to approve the classification of Rebuilding Broken Places as a community housing development organization, making the organization eligible to receive federally earmarked funds that can only be distributed to those types of groups.
The consent agenda also includes the condemnation of six dilapidated buildings within the city limits and the city's departmental reports.
The council will be addressed during its regular meeting by Terri Stober and Ronnie Sadoski, who will discuss the Wags 4 Tags program.
During the council's 5 p.m. work session in the City Hall Annex, Parks and Recreation Director Scott Barnard will provide updates on the W.A. Foster Center and Herman Park Center plans and greenways. Planning Director Randy Guthrie is expected to update the council on sidewalks and the Center Street Streetscape project and Police Chief Jeff Stewart will shed light onto his department's new initiatives to develop better partnerships between the city and the community.
The council is also expected to finally tackle council committee appointments to several standing committees after largely delaying any actions during the past two meetings.