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Hope Mills, county planners launch area land-use update; board approves annexation and zoning text rewrite
Summary
Cumberland County planners kicked off a multi-month update to the Hope Mills area land use plan and a community outreach campaign; the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners approved a 14.97-acre annexation and unanimously adopted a broad zoning-ordinance text amendment to align local regulations with state law.
Sarah Grace Mitchell, a Planner III with Cumberland County Planning Inspections, told the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners on Aug. 11 that the county has begun a formal update of the Hope Mills area land use plan, renaming the former Southwest Cumberland plan and describing an area of about 25,400 acres with more than 23,000 tax parcels.
"My name is Sarah Grace Mitchell and I am a planner 3 with Cumberland County Planning Inspections," Mitchell said, outlining the plan’s scope and community-engagement schedule and announcing a public kickoff on Oct. 28 at the Hope Mills Parks and Recreation Center. She said property owners will receive postcards and that outreach will include a website and a values survey to collect resident input.
Why it matters: Board members framed the plan as a key tool to manage growth, steer rezonings and preserve "small-town character" as major road projects and new development change the area. Commissioners emphasized that public engagement will be ongoing and that the plan must be shaped by residents and business owners.
After the presentation, the board handled two formal land-use actions. The board opened (and recessed) an earlier public hearing to Oct. 6 for case A2025-008 at the applicant’s request to avoid re-advertisement. For case A2025-009 — a petition to annex roughly 14.97 acres — staff reported the site’s parcel references and recommended proceeding with initial zoning steps. With no public speakers for or against, the board moved to "authorize the initial zoning process" and approved the annexation by voice vote.
At the same time, the board unanimously approved a broad text amendment to the town zoning ordinance (ZNG-012-24). Staff characterized the rewrite as approximately a 200-page cleanup to modernize the ordinance, incorporate a recently approved historic overlay district, tighten landscaping requirements, update vehicle- and sign-related sections, and bring political sign size language in line with the state "general statute." During the meeting staff noted that the general statute sets a maximum sign area of 864 square inches (six square feet) and said the local ordinance was changed to match that standard.
What the board voted on: The annexation (A2025-009) was approved and the board authorized the initial zoning process; the zoning text amendment (ZNG-012-24) was opened for public hearing, drew no public comment, and was approved following a motion and second. The transcript records the votes as unanimous voice votes; no roll-call tallies were read aloud in the meeting record.
Next steps: County staff said the Oct. 28 kickoff will include in-person events and digital outreach; the county aims to complete the plan work by mid next year and to use the land use plan to inform future rezoning and capital planning decisions.
Quotes: "The postcards, the website, and the value survey will be sent to the public," Mitchell said. Commissioner comments emphasized that the plan is "the answer" to residents’ questions about how the town will manage future growth.
Provenance: Topic introduced by Mitchell and the county planning team (topicintro: SEG 430–SEG 451) and concluded with board votes on annexation and the text amendment (topfinish: SEG 1170–SEG 1367).
