Person County commissioners approve rezoning of 3-acre Boston Road parcel to highway commercial

The Person County Board of Commissioners on June 2 approved ordinance RZ-02-24 to rezone a newly created roughly 3-acre parcel on Boston Road from GI (General Industrial) to B-1 (Highway Commercial).

Interim Planning Director Margaret Hoff introduced the request at a public hearing and said the site is separated from a larger 44-acre industrial tract by a creek. Hoff told commissioners the planning board recommended approval by a 4-2 vote and cited guiding principle 2.1 of the county’s joint comprehensive land use plan. Hoff said state law allows some flexibility when rezoning requests are found consistent through formal findings even if map graphics do not show a parcel as a growth area.

Greg Stewart of Retson Companies, the applicant, said the application was submitted in November and asked commissioners to recognize staff turnover that affected earlier communications. “Those ladies are doing the very best that they can do. So please…give them some support and some grace,” Stewart told the board. Stewart described the request as a conversion from an industrial zoning designation to commercial business uses and said the site aligns with a commercial corridor on Boston Road. Owner David Newell said he purchased the property in the mid-1980s with industrial uses in mind but that a creek naturally divides the parcel being rezoned.

Stewart and Hoff noted several permitting steps remain if the rezoning stands. NCDOT must approve driveway access; the project will require geotechnical and septic testing; an erosion and sedimentation plan will need state approval; and Person County will review site-plan compliance with UDO setbacks and building permits. Stewart said the proposed building and parking would not increase in size from the concept plan shown to the board, but orientation could change after testing.

No members of the public registered opposition at the hearing. Commissioners moved and voted to adopt the ordinance; the motion passed and the board recorded the action as approved.

Planning staff and the applicant also noted that a future update to the county’s ordinance could, if adopted, make some retail uses by-right on industrially zoned parcels, which could affect similar proposals going forward.

Next steps for the applicant include technical testing and the county’s site-plan review and permit approvals before any construction activity.