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Spencer advances preliminary annexation steps for 850 Hackett Street industrial site
Summary
The board directed the clerk to investigate annexation of a 98-acre industrial parcel at 850 Hackett Street (the Fisher Lamb site) and accepted the certificate of sufficiency; planners said the annexation would enable water/sewer connections and could support rail-served industrial buildings that would expand the town's tax base if built.
The Spencer Board of Aldermen on July 14 authorized preliminary steps in a potential annexation of a 98-acre industrial parcel at 850 Hackett Street (Parcel 049003), known in presentation materials as the Fisher Lamb site. Town planner Steve Blunt told the board the property is already zoned industrial, sits near the North Carolina Finishing Company site and has rail, natural gas and electric infrastructure that make it attractive for rail-served industrial development.
Blunt said the conceptual industrial park could include multiple buildings totalling about 1,000,000 square feet; using a conservative $100-per-square-foot estimate, he told the board the full build-out could add roughly $87 million to the town's tax base and more than $500,000 a year in tax revenues, though he cautioned the site would not be built out quickly and that such projects often take years.
The board adopted Resolution 26-08 directing the clerk to investigate the annexation petition; the clerk reported the petition as sufficient and the board accepted the certificate of sufficiency. The board also set a public hearing for Aug. 6, 2026, to consider the annexation steps. Members discussed road access and noted the need for an industrial access road to route truck traffic off residential streets.
Blunt said the parcel had not been part of the brownfield study and that much of its history was farmland rather than former industrial contamination. He repeated that the property's proximity to a rail spur, Duke Energy power lines and I-85 make it a logical candidate for industrial development and noted prior grant funding from the North Carolina Railroad Company for nearby sites.
The board's actions advanced administrative and public-notice steps; approval of annexation and subsequent development approvals remain subject to public hearing outcomes and later votes.
