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Surf City planning board recommends job‑growth corridor policies to town council
Summary
At its Dec. 11 meeting the Surf City Planning Board approved a package of policies to designate job‑growth corridors and will forward the recommendations to the town council after guidance from the State Division of Coastal Management; the policies do not change underlying future land‑use categories.
The Surf City Planning Board voted Dec. 11 to endorse a set of job‑growth corridor policies and forward the recommendations to the town council once the State Division of Coastal Management (DCM) confirms whether the change requires a minor or major plan update. Committee member (S1) made the motion and the board approved it by voice vote.
The policies are meant to encourage "economic diversity, regional connectivity, infrastructure efficiency, environmental stewardship and workforce support," Jeremy (staff member) told the board, and are designed to guide future rezoning decisions rather than alter the town's official future land‑use categories. "Everything points to minor because it's not changing the future land use category for any properties," Jeremy said, noting that a minor determination would permit advertising and a council presentation rather than a full major update process with additional hearings.
Why it matters: the corridor policies are intended to make it easier for the town to support developments that bring larger employment centers to Surf City, such as light manufacturing, medical facilities, flex space and other employers Jeremy described as "high employment" (roughly more than 15 employees). The board stressed the policies would not automatically rezone parcels or specify particular properties; rather, they would provide supporting policy rationale that town council could use when reviewing annexations and rezoning applications.
Jeremy outlined the geographic coverage the staff proposed: corridors running from the 5210 intersection north toward the Donnell County line, the areas connecting to the Cape Fear Community College Surf City campus and along US 17 to the Honslow County line. The board reduced an earlier roughly 1,000‑foot buffer to a corridor definition aligned with the right‑of‑way, a change Jeremy said was intended to give the town more flexible, targeted policy tools immediately adjacent to the roadway.
Board members asked clarifying questions about whether specific uses or parcels would be targeted. A planning board member (S1) asked whether the corridor mapping would identify particular properties or industries; Jeremy answered that the policies do not identify specific properties and that zoning, site design and NCDOT access requirements would still govern what could be developed.
The planning board approved the recommendation by voice vote and Jeremy said he expects to bring the item to the town council as early as February after DCM confirms the process and any required advertising is completed.
The planning board also handled routine business and other agenda items later in the meeting.
