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Planning board backs rezoning for Smothers Road parcel after applicants say a judge restored possession
Summary
The Rockingham County Planning Board voted June 8 to recommend rezoning a Smothers Road parcel from Residential Protected to Residential Agricultural after applicants said they regained possession via a magistrate judgment and plan to place a sectional home; the Board of Commissioners will make the final decision (likely July 20).
Shannon Patterson, an administrator for the Wilkins R H Trust, told the Rockingham County Planning Board on June 8 that a magistrate court returned possession of a Smothers Road parcel to her family on May 26, 2026 and that she plans to evict transient occupants, clean up the property and place a sectional home pending rezoning and permits.
The board recommended approval of case 2026-08, a conventional rezoning that would change the parcel at 2015 Smothers Road in Wentworth Township from Residential Protected to Residential Agricultural. Planning staff recommended the rezoning as reasonable and consistent with applicable policies.
The applicant said the family inherited the property in a poor condition, with vagrants and transient occupants living on the land. "We were granted by the judge in magistrate court. On 05/26/2026, he granted the property back to our possession," Shannon Patterson said, adding that the family plans to remove structures and tidy the site and will apply for permits to place a sectional home.
Charles Patterson, Shannon's father, said neighbors support the plan and that this will be Shannon's first home. Board members asked whether code enforcement had been involved; the applicant said eviction was pursued in small-claims proceedings and that the sheriff's office executed the eviction, and that Triad Mobile Homes Inc. will remove an on-site single-wide trailer.
After a brief public-comment period that included a nearby resident who declined to speak, a board member moved to recommend approval based on the written consistency and reasonableness statements in the agenda packet; another member seconded the motion and the board voted to recommend approval. The planning board's decision is advisory; the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to hold the final public hearing and decision, likely at its July 20 meeting.
The vote recorded by the planning board was a recommendation only; the county commissioners will make the final determination at a future meeting.
