Nash County commissioners deny Wildlife Road conditional rezoning after heated public hearing

The Nash County Board of Commissioners voted 4–3 on Oct. 6 to deny conditional rezoning request CZ-2500901, a proposal to rezone about 151.6 acres on Wildlife Road to allow a 122-lot single-family subdivision.

The proposal, submitted by Little Bear Creek Properties and presented by Planning Director Adam Tyson and engineer Justin Brown, would have reduced minimum lot sizes from 40,000 to 30,000 square feet, required extension of Nash County public water to the site and placed roughly 28 acres into a permanent conservation easement. Tyson told the board the developer revised the plan after a June denial to add public water service, a permanent conservation area and perimeter screening buffers.

Why it mattered: Neighbors said the development would add concentrated septic systems and heavy traffic to a dead-end rural road and would change the area’s character. A long public hearing drew multiple residents from the Castellia/Red Bud Road area who cited safety, flooding, wildlife and infrastructure concerns. Several speakers urged larger lots, better traffic planning or denial.

What residents said: Bruce Everett, a Wildlife Road resident who circulated a petition opposing the plan, told commissioners that residents “feel like they have no say” and called the subdivisions “like a cancer” scarring rural areas. Richard Huggins said the plan “wasn't appropriate for the area” and predicted traffic…