Rocky Mount council overturns planning board, approves Maple Grove floodplain permit

City Council approved a Class 2 floodplain development permit for the proposed Maple Grove subdivision on Bethlehem Road after a quasi‑judicial hearing that included technical testimony and public comment.

The decision, made on a motion by Councilman Harris and seconded by Councilman TJ Walker, overturned the planning board’s December denial of the permit and allows the developer, PGB Land Company LLC (owner listed as Grama Berry), to proceed with the 120‑lot single‑family subdivision on a 45.5‑acre site subject to the permit conditions and the city’s floodplain and stormwater requirements.

The vote followed testimony from city staff, the project engineer and a nearby resident. Joseph Bowcook, Director of Development Services and a certified floodplain manager, told council the site includes about eight acres mapped in the regulatory floodway and roughly 7.5 acres in the 100‑year floodplain. He said all proposed buildable lots are outside the 100‑year floodplain, no fill is proposed within the floodway, and the applicant’s net effect in the 100‑year floodplain is a reduction of 288 cubic yards (2,166 cubic yards of fill proposed and 2,454 cubic yards excavated).

“Following a thorough…