Commission OKs zoning requests, subdivision plans
By Steve Herring
Published in News on August 5, 2010 2:14 PM
A rezoning request and four subdivision plats, including one in which a variance was denied, were approved Tuesday morning by county commissioners.
The Planning Board recommended approval of the rezoning and plats.
Dixie and Bobby Burroughs, owners/developers of the 10-lot Windy Hill section one subdivision, have sought county approval for a 20-foot landscape buffer instead of the 25-foot one the county requires. The lots are located on the south side of Swinson Drive at Dudley.
Commission Chairman Jack Best pressed County Planner Connie Price as to the Burroughs' reasoning for asking for the variance. Price said he did not know.
"Why have a 25-foot buffer if you are not going to enforce it?" Best said.
Price noted that the existing buffer is on state right-of-way separating the subdivision from the U.S. 117 Bypass and that the state could clear that area out whenever it wanted.
But Best persisted that if there was no reason for the request, then he did not see any reason why commissioners should allow it.
Not granting the change would mean that the subdivision map would have to be redrawn before it could be recorded, Price said.
Best also questioned why there was no better turnaround provided in the plans.
Price said the existing turnaround had been built by the state when the road was dead-ended after the U.S. 117 Bypass was built. Since the road is state-maintained, it would be up to the state to make improvements.
The owners have agreed to set aside land for a better turnaround, he said.
The other plats that were approved included:
* Camp Jubilee Road Acres final, four lots on the west side of Camp Jubilee Road 2,000 feet north of Ada Stroud Road, owners/developers Aubrey Walker, Chris Cox and Michael Hill. Cox, who is a member of the Planning Board, recused himself and left the room while the Planning Board discussed the project.
* Jean P. Bunch and Scott A. Patterson final, one lot on the west side of Black Creek Road.
* Jose G. Baltazar and Rose P. Baltazar final, three lots on the north side of New Hope Road, owner/developers Jose G. Baltazar and Rose P. Baltazar.
It was the second time that commissioners voted on a rezoning petition by B&D Management.
No one spoke at a July 6 public hearing on a request to rezone roughly 12.3 acres of land on the north side off Potts Road from Residential Agriculture 20 to Residential 10.
The board voted 6-1 following that hearing to approve the petition. Commissioner Andy Anderson voted "no." Since the vote was not unanimous, the board was required to have a second reading. Anderson is out of the country and did not attend Tuesday's meeting.
B&D officials sought the rezoning in order to add lots to an existing mobile home park.
No one spoke at a public hearing on the state Department of Transpor-tation proposed $1.565 million secondary road paving plan for the county.
The projects and anticipated costs include:
* Six-tenths of a mile of Manley Grove Road from Corbett Hill Road to Slapout Road, $90,000
* Replace pipe on Manley Grove Road with aluminum arch pipes and headwalls, $90,000
* Four-tenths of a mile of SR 1973 (Old SR 1909) from SR 1910 to SR 1909, $75,000
* 1.65 miles widen Grantham School Road from the bridge to O'Berry Road, $200,000
* 1.72 miles widen Thoroughfare Road from Central Heights Road to Millers Chapel Road, $200,000
* Construct a right turn lane on Country Day Road at N.C. 111, $150,000
* Widen Central Heights Road to create three-lane section at Eastern Wayne Middle School, $150,000.
An additional $435,000 is anticipated to supplement the maintenance budget for such activities as shoulder repair, spot stabilization, pipe replacement, safety projects and industrial access.
There also is $175,000 in contingency funds for surveys, right of ways and fire department and rescue driveways.
In other business, the board:
* Reappointed Mike Aycock to the county Planning Board
* Appointed Tax Administrator David Ward as county tax collector
* Scheduled a Board of Adjustment meeting for Aug. 17 . Commissioners, sitting as the Board of Adjustment, will hold a public hearing on a setback request by Dallas and Lydia Price of Londonderry Drive in the Canterbury Village. The Prices are asking for the variance to allow placement of an outbuilding. Best asked whether adjourning property owners had been contacted. Price said the property behind the Prices is woodland and that adjoining property owners would be contacted about the hearing to be held in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the county courthouse annex.
* Scheduled a public hearing on the county's proposed fire service districts for 9:15 a.m. on Sept. 21. It will be held in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the county courthouse annex.
* Adopted a resolution supporting EADS North America's bid to land the contract to build the Air Force's new generation of tanker aircraft.
* Voted to send a letter of congratulations to Hal Tanner Jr., who recently retired as publisher of the Goldsboro News-Argus. Commissioner Steve Keen praised Tanner for his many years of service to the community and the newspaper's role in the community.