Planning Board recommends rezoning of 173 Allen Road from residential agriculture to highway commercial

The Rockingham County Planning Board voted 4-1 on Oct. 13 to recommend that the Board of County Commissioners rezone a 16-acre parcel at 173 Allen Road (tax PIN 891307688521) from Residential Agriculture to Highway Commercial.

Planning Department staff presented the case as a conventional rezoning and said the request was being recommended chiefly because of the zoning of adjacent parcels. A staff summary noted the parcel lies in the G1 transect in the county comprehensive plan, designated for low-density growth, and that technical review would be required if development is proposed.

"Before us tonight is zoning planning case 20 25, dash 12. This is going to be a request to rezone a property from residential agriculture to highway commercial. For the record, the tax pin is 89 1 307688521 and the location is addresses 173 Allen Road," a Planning Department presenter told the board.

Residents who live near the property urged caution. Mary Jane Webb, who identified herself as a resident of 221 Busick Road, said the rezoning parcel contains the creek that feeds a large pond and that repeated breaches of the pond's dam have blocked access to two homes at 272 and 276 Busick Road during heavy rain.

"If that dam is breached, neither of those residents are able to exit their residence. Also, emergency services are not able to enter their residence as well," Webb said, adding that recent repairs may not have fully solved the problem.

Another nearby resident, Nani Billingsley of 924 Grooms Road, said the neighborhood is largely residential and cited existing traffic and pedestrian-safety concerns, noting several recent fatalities on the road. "If we bring in something highway commercial that's gonna bring in more vehicles, more big trucks, which means more fatalities, more traffic," Billingsley said.

Staff told the board that development proposals would undergo technical review and permitting by multiple agencies, including the county technical review committee, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, NCDOT and the fire marshal. A Planning Department staff member said environmental permitting and erosion-control requirements are primarily handled at the state level and would be reviewed during site-plan review rather than at the rezoning stage.

Board members asked whether conditions could be attached to a conventional rezoning; staff said specific use conditions cannot be placed on a general-use rezoning and that site-specific issues would be addressed later in technical review.

A motion to recommend approval of the rezoning, based on the consistency and reasonableness statements in the agenda packet, passed 4-1. The planning board's recommendation goes to the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners, which is scheduled to consider the case at its Nov. 17 meeting.