Aycock elected new mayor pro-tem
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on December 22, 2015 1:46 PM
Following Monday night's City Council meeting, Goldsboro has a new mayor pro-tem.
District 6 council member Gene Aycock was unanimously elected by his peers on the council to the position.
District 2 council member Bill Broadaway made the motion to nominate Aycock to the position.
"I want to thank them (the council) for putting the confidence in me for mayor pro-tem," Aycock said.
There were also three public hearings on Monday night, one of which was continued until the Jan. 19 council meeting upon request of the applicant.
The hearing for a request from Highwater Solar Farm to rezone property on the west side of Thoroughfare Road to allow a solar farm to be built was the hearing that was continued, with the applicant submitting a letter early Monday requesting an extension.
Brian Quinlan, manager of Heights Solar Farm, wrote to the city requesting the extension, citing a need for more time to address questions from the community.
City Planning Director Jimmy Rowe said the hearing needed to go forward on Monday night since it had already been advertised, but that the council should continue the meeting to ensure everyone was able to speak on the issue that wished to do so.
The proposed site for the solar farm lies within two flight paths that traverse the property going to and from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
SJAFB officials have requested the city conduct a solar glare hazard analysis to ensure that the panels will not interfere with any aircraft flying over the property by causing glare.
"This property has two flight tracks that cross it, and they (SJAFB) are requesting a glare study to make sure that it won't interfere with the pilots," Rowe said.
Rowe said the request for a glare hazard analysis from SJAFB had been forwarded to Highwater Solar Farm.
Peter Stewart, who lives on Thoroughfare Road, stepped forward during the Monday night hearing to speak against the rezoning request that would allow the solar farm to be built.
Stewart said he was speaking on behalf of the entirety of the population that lives on Thoroughfare Road, saying he had talked to everyone living along the road and was voicing both his and their concerns.
"It was unanimous that they don't want it there," Stewart said.
Stewart said he has several personal concerns related to the matter, also.
"I'm concerned due to there are such things as EMF (electromagnetic fields)," Stewart said. "I have a pacemaker, and I'm not supposed to be under the hood of a car. We're talking about maybe kilowatts, we're talking maybe this very minimal thing that I'm not supposed to walk through a door at Lowe's when the motors are running because of the EMF (and how it affects the pacemaker). Now you're talking about kilowatts, and if you read about solar farm and the electricity that goes through, we're talking megawatts and we're talking major EMF. We're also talking EMR, which is electromagnetic radiation, which, they don't know the effects of electromagnetic radiation."
Stewart also said his neighbors had voiced concerns that the city was attempting to place an unpopular construction item in a low-income community that does not have as much pull as wealthier communities in Goldsboro.
Since June of this year, there has been one solar farm approved by the City Council for construction and one request to build a solar farm was denied by the council.
Mayor Chuck Allen reassured Stewart that the placement of the proposed solar farm had nothing to do with income levels.
"Your economic status makes no difference, period," Allen said. "Nobody here cares whether you're rich or poor. Matter of fact, I'm going to tell you, in my opinion this council has generally done more for poor or low to moderate income folks because they don't have the resources that wealthier people have."
There were no further comments on the solar farm following Stewart's, and the matter will come back before the council in January.
Another public hearing was held Monday night regarding a rezoning request by Roy Creech of property on the south side of U.S. 70 West between Claridge Nursery Road and Westwood Drive from a general business zoning classification to a residential manufactured home park classification.
Attorney Tommy Jarrett spoke during the hearing on Monday night to represent Creech.
Jarrett said Creech was willing to upgrade the lot to meet nearly any and all city specifications for the site to improve the quality of the site.
"The only thing that I heard that might be of a problem -- I hope it's not a problem -- is that we did want to move away from that 8,000 square foot area, and some of those lots might be closer to 5,000 square feet rather than 6,000," Jarrett said, referencing the proposed square-footage sizes recommended for lots on the property. "What has happened is, Mr. Creech does not own the mobile home. He proposes to buy it. The gentleman who owns it lives out of town, and it has suffered, I guess, from his absence. We want to try and rejuvenate it, simply put."
This site is currently where the Green Valley Mobile Estates are, and has been operated as a mobile home park since 1972. The city expanded its extra-territorial jurisdiction to include the site in 1994, and properties are allowed to continue operating as they are without being forced to switch zoning classifications after this occurs. At the time, the city designated the area as a general business zoning classification and the mobile home park was allowed to continue operating.
Manufactured mobile home parks included in the city's ETJ are allowed to continue operating even though they do not fit the general business zoning classification, as long as the number of lots does not increase and the city's removal and replacement guidelines are followed.
The mobile home lot had 49 mobile homes on the site when it was constructed in 1972, but there are only 19 remaining lots. Under city ordinances, mobile homes can be replaced within six months of one being removed. If a mobile home is not replaced after it is removed within that six-month timeframe, the lot loses its legal status allowing it to exist in the non-conforming zoning area and it can no longer be replaced.
The 30 vacant lots have been vacant for more than six months and therefore cannot be replaced. Creech, the applicant, wishes to purchase and upgrade the mobile home park and also utilize all 49 lots on the site. Therefore, rezoning the property to allow mobile homes to exist in the area is required.
A recommendation on the matter will be returned to the council in January.
The third hearing concerned annexing the non-contiguous Triangle East Timber Co. property on the east side of Wayne Memorial Drive and Best Avenue.
There are four requirements a property must meet for the city to annex a non-contiguous property, which the Triangle East Timber Co. property is. The requirements are that the property must be within one mile of the city limits, the city must be able to provide fire and police protection, the non-contiguous area must not interfere with the city's overall annexation plans, and public water supply must be available in the area.
The property meets all four of those requirements, and the City Council voted unanimously to approve the annexation of the property.