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Planning board backs new Agriculture Technology (AT) zoning district to implement Corporate Park land use
Summary
The Planning & Zoning Board recommended adoption of a new Agriculture Technology (AT) zoning district to implement the corporate park future land use and support an AgriTech Park, with performance standards, permitted/prohibited uses and design guidance discussed at the hearing.
The City of Newberry Planning & Zoning Board on June 2 recommended adoption of an Agriculture Technology (AT) zoning district (Ordinance 2025-10) designed to implement the corporate park future land use and to incubate agricultural-technology businesses on the city's AgriTech Park site.
Community Development Director Stacy Hector presented the ordinance and the district’s purpose: to create an agri-business innovation center with uses tailored for demonstration growing fields, greenhouse operations, food processing and related tech/office incubation. Hector said the AT district is intended to fill a gap where the corporate park land use existed but no specific zoning had been created since the land-use designation was established years earlier.
The draft ordinance lists principal permitted uses for the AT district (research and development, greenhouses, processing and packaging tied to on-site production, incubator/accelerator space), describes special exceptions (e.g., larger-scale livestock or animal-processing facilities), and enumerates prohibited uses (heavy industrial activities not appropriate to the park). The ordinance also includes performance standards requiring operations to avoid nuisances — dust, smoke, vibration, odor, chemical emissions and excessive lighting — and establishes interior design and connectivity expectations, including pedestrian circulation and landscaping.
Consultants and stakeholders in the chamber supported the ordinance with suggested edits. Craig Brazier (MD5, formerly CHW) asked staff to clarify that outdoor agricultural activities and larger greenhouses were intended and to ensure conference space and some agricultural structures are treated as permitted uses rather than overly restricted accessory uses; staff said they would incorporate clarifying edits and refine building-standard language to avoid unintentionally excluding legitimate greenhouse and field uses.
Board members expressed support for the policy goal of attracting agri-tech businesses and for the draft provisions that limit inappropriate heavy industrial uses. The motion to recommend adoption of the AT zoning district passed unanimously; staff said they would incorporate consultant comments and bring a final draft to the City Commission on June 9.
