Developer seeks to rezone 430 acres off Lower Moncure Road for light industrial park; neighbors and land trust warn of water, traffic impacts

Trustwell Property Group asked the Lee County Board of Commissioners on Monday to rezone 430 acres off Lower Moncure Road from residential‑agricultural to light industrial to develop a business park the company calls Vector Innovation Park.

The request, presented during a joint public hearing with the county planning board, would change the property’s zoning so the owner could market the site to rail‑served and power‑intensive tenants. The developer said the location’s rail connection and nearby electrical infrastructure make it attractive for advanced manufacturing and life‑science companies, and that buffers and stormwater controls would protect nearby properties and streams.

Planning staff told commissioners the site lies in a watershed conservation overlay, contains 100‑year floodplain along Hughes Creek and Roberts Creek, and is bisected by a Norfolk Southern rail line. The land is shown in the county’s Plan San Lee long‑range plan mostly as “countryside,” a designation staff said is intended to preserve agricultural uses and low‑density residential development. The planning report emphasized that…