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Planning commission recommends denial of comprehensive-plan change for three parcels near Highway 280
Summary
Bryan County planning staff recommended and the Planning and Zoning Commission voted 3-2 to recommend denial of a comprehensive plan amendment to reclassify three parcels near Highway 280 and Harvey Road from rural residential to industrial; applicants said the sites are unmarketable for housing and needed for rail infrastructure, and the denial will go to the County Commission for final action on March 10 in Pembroke.
The Bryan County Planning and Zoning Commission voted 3-2 to recommend denial of a proposed comprehensive plan amendment that would have reclassified three parcels at the southeast corner of Highway 280 and Harvey Road from rural residential to an industrial character area.
Planning staff described the parcels (parcel numbers cited in the record: 008022, 00802301 and 008023) and said the county’s character-area map – created in 2023 – intended to contain industrial uses near I-16 and Highway 280. Staff concluded the amendment did not meet the plan’s amendment criteria, noted that nearby I-2-zoned parcels were largely underdeveloped and that no clear public benefit justified expanding industrial designation without a broader analysis, and therefore recommended denial.
Attorney Wes Ron, representing Southern Metals Properties LLC and other owners, argued the roughly eight acres were functionally unmarketable for residential uses because of existing and planned industrial activity nearby, including an asphalt plant. “The noise, the vibrations, the air pollution ... render this property unusable for residential,” Ron said, arguing the land’s best use is to support rail access and related industrial operations.
Owner Madison Elliott told the commission the applicant needs the specific 8 acres to add a rail spur and that moving the planned infrastructure to another parcel would not meet the operational needs of the neighboring industrial site. Landowner Jenna Harvey, who said she holds title for a portion of the acreage, told commissioners the property “in 36 years ... has not been marketable as a rural residential at all.”
After public comment the commission first considered a motion to approve the amendment, which failed. A subsequent motion to recommend denial passed on a 3-2 voice vote. The commission’s action is a recommendation; the county commissioners will take the final decision at their March 10 meeting in Pembroke.
Staff had said that if the commission wanted to expand the industrial character area, a larger analysis of infrastructure and impacts on utilities and existing uses would be required. Applicants said that analysis was unnecessary because the parcels are adjacent to existing industrial zoning and a rail line; commissioners were divided.
