Board tables rezoning request
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on September 28, 2016 9:57 AM
A change in the appearance of a heavily wooded area along Thoroughfare Road prompted the Goldsboro Planning Commission Monday to table a rezoning request tied to a proposed solar farm.
Planning Commission member Glenn Barwick said he was concerned after recently driving near the 43-acre site where trees have been removed.
"It was all wooded before," Barwick said. "I just think they changed the site completely. You can literally ride down on Central Heights Road and see the site."
Heights Solar Farm is requesting to rezone the property from a single family residential area to a residential conditional district.
The developer made the same request earlier this year, which was approved by the planning board but later denied by the Goldsboro City Council. The developer reapplied following a required six month waiting period.
Barwick said he was in favor of the previous rezoning when the property was filled with trees, which have since been cut.
"There were trees in there, 30 foot high, and they were cleared out," Barwick said. "Now it's gone."
The property, between 3013 and 3025 Thoroughfare Road, is between Central Heights Road and the Norfolk Southern Railroad and is in close proximity to single-family homes.
The rezoning would require a 50-foot buffer around the solar farm, which led commission members to question the removal of the trees.
"What they should have done is left the existing trees as a buffer," said Pat McArthur, a member of the planning commission. "That's what they should have done. Then, you wouldn't have to plant any trees."
Jennifer Collins, Goldsboro assistant planning director, said the addition of new trees could take several years before they would conceal the solar panels. A mixture of large and small bushes and trees would be required, with the largest trees between 10 to 12 feet in height, Collins said.
"Over time, you will get that complete visible barrier, but it's not going to be instant," she said. "With any plant material, it's going to take some time for it to grow in."
Barwick said he is concerned because the planning commission, in 2015, required a vegetative buffer to conceal for another solar farm along Belfast Road, between Salem Church Road and Interstate 795. Barwick said the property has not been maintained to city standards and the solar farm is visible, especially from I-795.
"When the sun's shining, it just glows," he said.
City staff have been working with Heights Solar Farm to create a maintenance management plan. The plan would set in place required standards for regular property maintenance.
Ed Swindell, planning commission member, recommended and the board supported tabling the rezoning until the maintenance plan is complete. The plan would go through a city staff review before it becomes a part of a future rezoning proposal.
The planning commission quickly shot down a conditional-use permit request that would have allowed the addition of a bed and breakfast and event center on Leslie Street in the downtown area.
Property owner Patrick Gallagher made a similar request to rezone his 2.3-acre residential property, at 112 N. Leslie St., to a general business district in March. The March request was denied.
Chris Boyette, planning commission chairman, said the board previously made it clear to Gallagher it does not support the addition of a business district in the residential area.
"I think we explained that to the applicant before that we understand this is a unique piece of property, the way it was developed, but the original developer had no intent of ever using it for commercial purposes, and the new owner should have understood that when he bought the property that he bought a residential property," Boyette said.
The commission's denial will be recommended to the city council, which will review planning commission items during its Oct. 5 meeting.
The board also voted to not recommend to council a rezoning request for a vacant property at 1604 Wayne Memorial Drive, near Gracie Place.
Attaway Investments is asking that the property be rezoned from neighborhood business to a general business conditional district, which would allow for the addition of an auto parts store.
Kenneth Talton, city zoning administrator, said the rezoning would not be compatible with most surrounding zoning patterns and land uses. The board sided with the staff report.
A site plan for a new Verizon Wireless store, on U.S. 70 near N.C. 581 in the Shoppes of Goldsboro, was approved by the board and will be recommended to council.