Officials review state-backed plan for 1,000‑acre Pitt County "mega site"; rezoning and sewer extension set as next steps

Pitt County and Greenville leaders reviewed a state‑sponsored site study and a local development concept for a roughly 1,000‑acre “mega site” located entirely on Weyerhaeuser property north of Greenville, and discussed the approvals, utility work and state grant applications that would be required before pursuing industrial recruitment.

The presentation at a joint meeting of the Pitt County Board of Commissioners and the Greenville City Council laid out why the site was included among seven in a statewide study, the infrastructure upgrades likely needed to make part of the land “pad‑ready,” and a proposed rezoning of about 3,000 acres around the core site to allow supporting industry and commercial development.

Why it matters: State and local presenters said a multi‑billion‑dollar industrial investment on a prepared site could bring thousands of jobs, millions of dollars in annual tax revenue and new supplier activity that would affect a broad two‑hour labor market across eastern North Carolina. The consultants and state economic development staff cautioned that the project would require years of work — and that local governments must first secure property control, zoning and sewer access to be eligible for state megasite funds.

Presenters from the North Carolina economic development partnership, consulting teams and the private landowner described the site selection process and constraints. Garrett Wyckoff, representing the state economic development program (EDPNC), said the General Assembly defined a megasite for this program as “at least a thousand contiguous acres.” Joe Hines, a principal with the Timmons Group engineering firm, summarized the consultant evaluation and the site’s strengths — a single landowner (Weyerhaeuser), proximity to transmission and water, and workforce access — and warned that “no deal is better than a bad deal” when negotiating incentives and infrastructure commitments.

The study process and funding rules: EDPNC staff said the mega‑site program was authorized in the 2022 state budget. State funding previously included $1 million for the original study, roughly $10 million for initial site‑development activity, and further funding for site build‑out; EDPNC staff described two separate funding tiers (due diligence/site preparation and later site development/acquisition) and said only the seven study sites are eligible for those state grants. Eligible applicants must be a unit of local government (or a qualifying public‑private partnership), and must either own the property or hold an option; EDPNC staff said the due‑diligence option must be at least two years and the site‑development option at least five years.

Local approvals and timeline: City staff described a proposed order of steps for the Pitt County site: 1) the city would authorize the Greenville Utilities Commission (GUC) to extend sewer service to the site without annexation; 2) Pitt County would consider a rezoning to a general industrial designation so the county could apply for state funds; 3) the local governments or partners would secure an option or purchase contract; and 4) the locality would submit grant applications to EDPNC. Staff gave a tentative timeline that includes public input meetings in late March and April, a GUC authorization and a city council resolution in the spring, county planning and commissioners’ consideration in early summer, and a state application window in July–August.

Utilities and capacity: Tony Cannon, identified as general manager and CEO of the utilities provider, said Greenville’s water and wastewater systems have recent upgrades and nearby capacity. He said the water plant was expanded from 22.5 million gallons per day to 32 million gallons per day and described an available 12 million‑gallon margin between peak day demand and current capacity. For electric service, staff said a transmission extension and a substation would be required for initial service — an estimated initial construction cost to reach the site of roughly $10 million — and full buildout with redundant transmission could cost substantially more (a figure cited by consultants for total site‑infrastructure orders of magnitude was about $450 million).

Costs, revenue and economics: Consultants presented an illustrative scenario used to evaluate fiscal outcomes: a $5 billion capital investment and average wage of $85,000 could generate roughly $21 million a year in local tax revenue and create bonding capacity on the order of $288 million to $344 million (figures presented as estimates and model outputs, not guarantees). Consultants stressed that most site costs and investments are staged and many infrastructure items (interchanges, full four‑lane connections) would be triggered only by an actual prospect.

Environmental and land‑use issues: The consultants identified environmental features — wetlands and blue‑line streams — as potential permitting challenges that require detailed field studies. Study teams recommended standard due‑diligence work (wetland delineations, geotechnical borings, ALTA title surveys) before committing to major earthwork. Weyerhaeuser representatives and consultants said the property is an active timber tract managed in rotations and that much of the 1,000‑acre core is already within the company’s holdings; presenters also proposed buffer rules and a county conservation overlay to reduce impacts to existing residences. The rezoning sketch provided to officials showed a proposed 500‑foot buffer from existing homes and a 100‑foot conservation buffer for other edges.

Public engagement and concerns: Officials scheduled four public input sessions — including at the Pitt County Agriculture Center on March 31 and additional sessions in April at Aden Middle School, Welcome Middle School and a virtual meeting — and said they would widely publicize opportunities for residents to review maps and ask questions. Multiple elected officials pressed presenters about who would pay for infrastructure, whether utility ratepayers would see rate increases and how new roads would affect nearby residents; presenters said significant capital work would typically be financed by bonds, grants or recovered through future customer revenues and that the city and utility would seek to limit rate impacts but could not yet predict them.

What was not decided: No vote or formal commitment was taken at the meeting. City and county officials were presented with the study and a local rezoning concept; the next formal steps identified by staff are actions to authorize sewer extension by the Greenville Utilities Commission and a county zoning application so the locality can apply for due‑diligence funding from the state.

What to watch: Officials and consultants said the key near‑term items are (1) whether the city will authorize GUC to extend sewer to the site without annexation, (2) whether the county approves rezoning to general industrial, (3) whether a property option or purchase agreement is secured, and (4) whether EDPNC awards due‑diligence grant funding. If those gates are met, consultants said further environmental and engineering studies would follow before any major construction or recruitment effort.