Neighbors protest heavy-industrial rezoning request near Bear Creek; county schedules planning-board review

Lockley Holdings LLC, the owner of Bear Creek Fabrication, asked the Chatham County Board of Commissioners to rezone a 10.04-acre parcel on Campbell Road from R-1 residential to heavy industrial on Monday, saying the zoning change would allow the adjacent fabrication business to expand.

Attorney Nick Robinson, representing the applicant, told the board the parcel borders an existing heavy-industrial lot that was rezoned in 2018 as part of a county-initiated rezoning for businesses in previously unzoned areas. Robinson said the expansion is intended primarily for outdoor "lay down" and storage space in the near term, and could support additional indoor fabrication later. He said the business currently employs about 24 full-time people and the owner estimates a potential addition of 10 to 15 full-time jobs over 12 to 24 months if the rezoning is approved.

Many nearby residents opposed the rezoning at the legislative public hearing, urging the board to consider noise, heavy truck traffic on narrow rural roads and safety at a sharp curve and stop sign near the site. Residents said they already hear steel banging and forklifts from the existing facility and that tractor-trailer traffic has caused damage to the road and near-misses at the intersection where trucks enter and exit the site.

"The noise can be heard throughout the neighborhood," resident Jan Phillips said, and others described traffic behavior they called unsafe. Several asked whether employees live in Chatham County and whether the project would harm property values.

County staff noted the existing parcel is in an agricultural future land-use designation but also cited Plan Chatham language that supports reasonable expansions of appropriately zoned commercial and industrial uses. Planning staff said a general-use rezoning would permit uses listed in the heavy-industrial table of uses unless a special-use permit or additional studies are required for more noxious activities.

After hearing testimony, the board closed the hearing and referred the rezoning application to the county planning board for formal review; county staff said the planning board meeting is scheduled for Oct. 7 and the item will return to the commissioners for a final decision after planning review.

Ending: The planning board will hold a public meeting Oct. 7 to consider the rezoning; residents will have another opportunity to testify during that review and the board will take a final vote after planning-board recommendations.