Council approves first reading to rezone Wilson Business Parkway site for Onyabeni North America with deed restrictions

York County Council on Feb. 3 approved first reading to rezone a 16.77-acre parcel on Wilson Business Parkway from Light Industrial (LI) to Industrial Development (ID) to allow a machinery-manufacturing facility for Onyabeni North America, with deed restrictions the petitioner volunteered to limit more intensive industrial uses.

The move is intended to allow the U.S. subsidiary of Onyabeni to relocate a tool-and-die and hydraulic-piston assembly operation from Charlotte to a new roughly 45,000-square-foot building at the end of Wilson Business Parkway. Attorney John Floyd, representing the petitioner, told council the company expects an initial 20 employees and hopes to grow to about 60 across three shifts; he said the work is largely assembly and not a chemical or refining operation.

Staff said the site is currently zoned LI and that the county's comprehensive plan designates the area as I-77 Corridor employment, supporting industrial and employment uses. Jonathan Bueno, county planning staff, described the site layout, adjacent industrial buildings and a transmission line bisecting the parcel; he said planning staff and the planning commission recommended approval.

Residents spoke against rezoning without more safeguards. John Lee, a nearby resident, said he was not opposed to the company but questioned spot rezoning to a broader industrial district and whether deed restrictions can be enforced as reliably as zoning. Heidi Ketchbaudel, who identified herself as an Eppington South resident, told council the neighborhood includes schools, senior housing and day care and urged caution about adding manufacturing close to residential areas.

The petitioner presented a list of industrial uses that would not be allowed on the parcel; Floyd said the company agreed to a deed restriction that would bar more intensive uses (for example petroleum and chemical manufacturing) and that the deed restriction would run with the land and be enforceable by the county. Council members debated whether deed restrictions were an appropriate mechanism or whether the zoning code should be adjusted more broadly to address specific uses.

Council voted to approve first reading with the deed restrictions as part of the application. Several council members asked staff and the county attorney to review the deed-restriction language and report back before second reading to confirm enforceability and to determine whether a text amendment or special-exemption approach might be preferable for future cases.

The council chair and other members said they wanted staff to return with legal confirmation that a volunteered deed restriction would be binding on future owners and enforceable by the county. Staff agreed to provide that analysis before second reading.

The item will return for second reading; council directed staff to evaluate the deed-restriction approach and whether code changes (for example special exemptions or text amendments) would be preferable in similar future requests.

Ending: The applicant said construction would be an approximately $8 million investment. Council did not set a final vote date; the council emphasized that the deed-restriction language and legal enforceability must be reviewed before the rezoning returns for second reading.