Beaufort County commissioners voted to ask their legislative delegation to pursue repealing a 2006 local act that placed the county’s Chocolate (Chocquinity) Industrial Park into the town of Chocquinity’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), a move that commissioners said has complicated efforts to market the site for large industrial users.

County staff reviewed the history: in 2006 the General Assembly enacted House Bill 2524 (referenced in the meeting transcript as “house bill number 2524”), which placed the 277‑acre parcel south of U.S. 17 into the town’s ETJ and gave the town zoning control. Since then the town zoned the park light industrial (L‑1). The county and the town recently discussed creating a heavy‑industrial zoning category; the town later adopted a heavy‑industrial category but declined a wholesale rezoning of the industrial park. Town officials removed certain uses from heavy industrial (for example, rendering) and indicated they might consider a partial change west of the railroad line.

Commissioners debated options: leave the property zoned L‑1 and continue marketing it; negotiate with the town on a case‑by‑case basis for a prospective buyer; or pursue the “nuclear option” of asking the General Assembly to remove the land from the town’s ETJ and return jurisdiction to Beaufort County. Several commissioners said they have repeatedly seen large prospects skip Beaufort County because online screening shows the parcel as light industrial and not ready for advanced manufacturing. Supporters of asking the legislature argued that the county needs to present heavy‑industrial zoning to prospective large employers to remain competitive.

After extended debate that included concerns about negotiation with the town, the difficulty of selling a split‑zoned parcel and differing views about what types of industry count as “heavy,” the board approved a motion to ask the county’s legislative delegation to consider legislation that would restore county jurisdiction to the industrial park so the county could control zoning and marketing of the full site.

No legislative language was drafted in the meeting and commissioners acknowledged that any repeal would require support from the county’s state legislators.