Verizon seeks to add store in city
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on September 25, 2016 1:45 AM
Verizon Wireless is interested in adding a second store in the city at the Shoppes of Goldsboro near the intersection of U.S. 70 and N.C. 581.
Site plans for a 3,000-square-foot, single-story retail building will be reviewed by the Goldsboro Planning Commission Monday night. The building is planned on a 1.37-acre site alongside a new Wendy's restaurant currently under construction in the shopping center near Walmart.
The site plan recommends that access to the wireless store be allowed within the shopping center and not along U.S. 70 or N.C. 581. The store's parking lot will have 20 available spaces.
SOLAR FARM
Also up for review Monday is a rezoning request allowing the addition of a 32-acre, 5-megawatt solar farm on Thoroughfare Road between Central Heights Road and the Norfolk Southern Railroad.
The request is the second made by the property owner, after the rezoning was denied by the Goldsboro City Council in February. City staff recommended denial because the rezoning from a single family residential district to a residential conditional district is not compatible with the city's land-use plan.
The applicant, Heights Solar Farm, is making a second identical request after waiting a required six months to apply, said James Rowe, Goldsboro planning director.
The rezoning to a residential conditional district would limit the property's use to solar farm development. The city's land-use plan recommends that the property be used for medium density residential development. The rezoning would change the site to a low density residential area.
Because there are two Seymour Johnson Air Force Base flight paths in the area, city staff are seeking base input. Base officials previously analyzed the request and had no objections related to visibility, light emissions, strike hazards, radio or electromagnetic interference.
A public hearing for the rezoning was recently held, with residents speaking in opposition and developers in favor of the change.
The proposed solar development would be enclosed within a 50-foot vegetative buffer and a 6-foot-high chain link fence topped with barbed wire.
BED AND
BREAKFAST
The planning commission will also consider a conditional-use permit for a bed and breakfast and activity center on a 2.3-acre property at 112 N. Leslie St. in the downtown area,
A public hearing on Sept. 19 drew criticism from area neighbors concerned about the addition of a business in a residential area of the city. Property owner Patrick Gallagher said the businesses would be neighborhood-friendly and safe.
One resident accused the property owner of trying to repackage the zoning request, after being denied a request to change the residential property to a general business district in March. The March request was denied by council because the property is designated for high-residential use in the land-use plan.
The permit request includes using a 1,200-square-foot guest house as a bed and breakfast and a 2,251-square-foot building as a rental site for events, including private parties, receptions and other similar activities.
The property, located between Mulberry and Walnut streets, also has a 5,467-square-foot home, a pool house, greenhouse and 3,000-square-foot storage building. The property is surrounded by fencing and masonry walls. The owner plans to install a 70-space parking lot.
Gallagher is asking for several modifications from city zoning rules. The modification requests include allowing the bed and breakfast as a stand-alone building instead of the required attachment to a primary residence and allowing the business on secondary street instead of the required proximity to a major or minor thoroughfare. Also requested is a waiver from property interconnectivity requirements.
AUTO PARTS
STORE
Attaway Investments is seeking a rezoning from neighborhood business to a general business conditional district for a vacant property at 1604 Wayne Memorial Drive, near Gracie Place.
The applicant is interested in adding an auto parts and supply store to the site.
The planning commission will meet at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall Monday. Commission decisions will be recommended to the Goldsboro City Council, which will review the requests during its Oct. 3 meeting.