Planning board recommends approval of Weyerhaeuser mega-site land-use change and rezoning after lengthy public comment

The Pitt County Planning Board voted to recommend approval of a land-use map amendment and rezoning request from the Weyerhaeuser Company that would redesignate and rezone about 3,319.59 acres as an employment/industrial site and to establish a conservation-area overlay along portions of the property.

Planning staff presented the request as concurrent land-use and zoning actions intended to make the property viable as a potential 1,000-acre “mega site” suitable for large-scale industrial development. The staff presentation said the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) had identified the Weyerhaeuser site as one of seven potential mega sites in the state. Planning staff said approval of the land-use change and rezoning was required to access roughly $10 million in state grant funding for due diligence and approximately $97.8 million for site development (figures provided by staff during the presentation).

Jonas and planner Jonathan Hill described the property as largely timbered and in active forestry production; the county’s land-use map currently designates most of the parcel agricultural or…