Harnett County commissioners approve several routine measures, agree to pursue conditional zoning

The Harnett County Board of Commissioners took a series of routine and project-specific actions at its meeting, approving grant applications, contracts and land purchases while signaling support for pursuing a new conditional-zoning process.

Board members voted to approve the meeting agenda, authorized a $560 refund for a duplicate excise-tax payment on Lot 10 on Alice Way and approved the library’s request to apply for a $5,000 National Endowment for the Arts Big Read grant (with a required $5,000 local match to be covered from the library’s existing budget), according to the meeting record. The board also approved a work authorization for design and bidding services for a runway extension at the Hornet Regional Jetport and accepted construction-manager-at-risk services for a county animal adoption center.

Why it matters: the votes clear the way for several near-term projects — a water-treatment site acquisition, airport runway design, and the animal-adoption facility — and give staff the green light to pursue conditional zoning, a planning tool intended to allow negotiated, condition-based rezoning that the county says will help manage growth and conform development to the Harnett Horizons 2040 plan.

Among the board’s approvals and actions were:

- A motion to refund a duplicate excise tax payment of $560 for Lot 10, Alice Way — approved by voice vote. - Approval to apply for and accept, if awarded, a $5,000 National Endowment for the Arts Big Read grant; the program requires a $5,000 local match covered from the library’s current budget — approved by voice vote. - Authorization to finalize a land purchase for a planned Northwest/Northeast water treatment plant in Erwin; staff reported completed due diligence (boundary survey, Phase I environmental assessment and wetlands delineation) and said funds would come from HRW reserves — motion approved; the board also authorized the county manager to sign closing documents. - Approval of a $991,374 work authorization for Parrish and Partners to proceed with design and bidding services for a runway extension at Hornet Regional Jetport — approved by voice vote. - Approval to contract with Edifice LLC for construction-manager-at-risk services for the county’s animal adoption center; staff reported a preconstruction fee of $88,000 and a construction-fee percentage of 4% and presented a capital project ordinance to fund the work — motion approved. - Multiple board and committee reappointments and the removal of one cemetery-board trustee — motions approved.

The meeting record shows commissioners also adopted a resolution to move the county’s legislative luncheon from Feb. 10 to Feb. 2 at 11:45 a.m. and approved several resolutions to add locally named roads to the state’s secondary road system.

On items without final action, the board gave staff a consensus to proceed with drafting a text amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance to establish conditional zoning; staff said the amendment will go to the planning board for review before a formal hearing and vote by the commissioners. The board spent substantial time in new business discussing options to relocate the county’s probation/parole office outside downtown Dunn, with staff describing state facility requirements and commissioners asking staff to explore short-term fixes pending a permanent solution.

What’s next: staff will present the conditional-zoning text amendment to the planning board (staff indicated a target of next month), continue site programming for the water-treatment plant, and pursue the procurement and permitting steps needed for the animal adoption center and runway design work. The probation/parole office matter remains under staff review with another meeting planned with the state probation and parole office.