Four hearings at City Council meeting
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on March 20, 2016 1:45 AM
There will be four public hearings held during the Goldsboro City Council meeting at 7 p.m. Monday night.
The first public hearing is regarding a conditional use permit that would allow George and JoAnn Humphrey to operate a place of outside storage and retail sales without having a main building at the intersection of U.S. 70 West and Claridge Nursery Road.
The Humphreys have already been using the lot to sell items without having a main building to operate out of, but the number of items being sold on the lot has increased and the city requires a them to obtain a permit to continue operations.
Next up on the list of public hearings is a request from Dustin Pike to operate a cigar lounge with ABC permits on the south side of West Chestnut Street between South Center Street and South James Street, behind Well Travelled Beer. The site is in Goldsboro's historic district, and since Pike wishes to upfit the existing building for his business he will have to obtain a certificate of appropriateness from the city's Historic District Commission for all exterior modifications he wishes to make.
Pike is looking to put the retail area at the front of the store, where he will sell cigars, artisan pipes, pipe tobacco and accessories associated with these products. Tables, chairs and seating will be installed next to a bar, and will seat 40 to 50 people. Both craft and domestic beers will be served.
The third public hearing of the evening will deal with a proposed solar farm operation that would be located south of Old Smithfield Road between Gin Road and N.C. 581 South. The hearing is to decide whether or not to issue a conditional use permit to the applicant, Lane Solar Farm, that would allow the operation of a solar farm on the site. There is no frontage on a public road at the proposed site for the solar farm, and the solar farm would be accessed through a private drive. It would sit on a 30-acre site, and the property is currently vacant farmland.
The final public hearing of the night is a request to rezone property behind Goshen Medical Center to allow for the construction of 80 apartment units. The applicant, Adair, LLC, is requesting the zoning of the site -- the south side of Keenway Drive between Adair Drive and N.C. 581 North -- be changed from shopping center to residential. This property is part of the Adair, LLC subdivision that was already approved by the Goldsboro City Council on May 3, 2010.
No immediate action will be taken regarding the items of these public hearings. The city's Planning Commission will return a recommendation on how to proceed with all of these items to the Goldsboro City Council on April 4.
There is one item of note on the council's consent agenda for the approval of funds to be allocated towards condemning and demolishing 14 dilapidated structures within the city limits.
The 14 structures are located at:
* 706 N. Alabama Ave.
* 708 N. Alabama Ave.
* 110 Brogden St.
* 702 Crawford St.
* 704 Crawford St.
* 510 Eason St.
* 707 E. Elm St.
* 421 Gulley St.
* 302 N. Leslie St.
* 410 Magnolia St.
* 618 W. Mulberry St.
* 705 Potley St.
* 707 Potley St.
* 1608 Slocumb St.
The respective owners of each property will be billed for the cost of demolition.