Commissioners approve rezoning of 3,319 acres for proposed Pitt County ‘mega site’; land-use change enables state grant pursuit

Pitt County commissioners on July 21 approved a request to amend the county's future land use map and to rezone about 3,319.6 acres owned by Weyerhaeuser Company, Inc., from rural agricultural to general industrial, enabling the county and economic partners to pursue state mega-site grant funding. The board also approved use of a conservation area overlay intended to add permanent open-space buffers between industrial development and adjoining residences.

Planning staff told the board the rezoning and land-use amendment are prerequisites for applying to the N.C. Economic Development Partnership mega-site readiness program, and said the approvals would allow access to roughly $10 million for site due diligence and about $97 million for site development if later awards are granted.

The change matters because the parcel is large, contiguous and near existing infrastructure. Jonas Hill, planning staff, told the board the property's size and access to a four-lane road, utilities and the Pitt-Greenville Airport make it a candidate for large-scale industrial development. Hill said portions of the site are in a water-supply-watershed-protection overlay and that state watershed rules and federal wetland protections constrain what can be placed on portions of the land.

Scott Anderson, an owner of ARC Consulting Group and consultant for the applicant, said the rezoning area was chosen to minimize community impacts and that the county and economic partners have pursued outreach and review. "The boundary of the requested general industrial zoning area was carefully chosen, based on the proximity to existing infrastructure, while minimizing the impacts to the surrounding community," Anderson said.

Many nearby residents urged denial or further study during the public hearing. Frankie Spain, who said she lives on Riley Road, said residents there are agricultural and would lose farmland and neighborhood character if the change is approved. "I am very, very opposed to all of this. We're an agricultural community out there," Spain said. Linda Teal, who said she lives on Bellwhore School Road, raised concerns about loss of trees, wildlife habitat and increased flooding risk. "Why would you approve the rezoning of these parcels when we do not even know what will be placed on the site? A car plant, a battery plant, a site for a landfill, a site for dumping contaminated soil?" she asked.

Several speakers raised specific environmental and safety concerns: potential drainage and flooding changes if wetlands or trees are removed; impacts on wells and water quality for residents who use private wells; possible traffic and safety risks for farmers and school buses on narrow roads; and the potential for long-term industrial zoning to remain even if a project never develops. Rachel Moore, who said her farm adjoins the site, told the board that once land is rezoned industrial "it will never return to agricultural land." Clarine Brock described current flooding she already experiences and predicted hauling and site work would worsen it.

Planning staff and the applicant responded that federal wetland permitting and state rules limit draining or direct discharge to waterways, and that due-diligence studies would identify wetlands and constraints before any site build-out. Hill said, "a wetland study will be done and identify any wetland areas, and that will be taken into consideration as the site develops." Scott Anderson said the rezoning does not change zoning for any other private landowners and that proposed zoning lines were placed at least 500 feet from existing homes, with an additional 100-foot conservation overlay where adjacent to residences.

The planning board considered the land-use amendment and rezoning on June 18 and recommended approval of the land-use amendment and rezoning by a 6-to-3 vote, the planning staff told commissioners. Planning staff also found the request consistent with Envision Pitt County 2045, citing policies that promote locating industrial uses where utilities and supportive infrastructure exist and encouraging buffers between high-intensity uses and residences.

Commissioners moved and voted to approve first the amendment to the future land-use map, and then the rezoning to general industrial. Staff said Greenville Utilities will provide sewer to the site without requiring annexation, and that the county and the Greenville Eastern North Carolina Alliance will negotiate an option to purchase the property and submit grant applications to EDPNC if they proceed.

Opponents urged the board to delay or deny the rezoning pending full environmental and traffic studies and cautioned that mega-site projects in other parts of the state have sometimes remained empty. Supporters said the approvals are the next step in a long, multi-year due-diligence process needed before any infrastructure or private industrial investment occurs, and said the state program would fund those feasibility studies.

The board approved the land-use amendment and rezoning at the meeting. The actions authorize staff to pursue due-diligence work and to pursue negotiations and grant applications; they do not authorize immediate construction.

What happens next: staff and economic partners will pursue the state mega-site readiness funds and complete site assessments, environmental and wetlands studies, and transportation analyses before any construction or specific industrial commitments are made.