Planning Board - Regular Meeting

Good evening, I'll calla meeting to order. Tab, if you would call a roll. Fred Austin Pre Michael Best, Lisa Ellison, Thompson Forbes, Sharon Gray, Lyman Hardy, Rita Jackson-Gilbert. Minnie Johnson-Stewart. Steve Little, Michael White, Mr. Chairman, we received notice that Charles McLaughhorn will not be present tonight. Thank you. If you would stand with me, we'll have our prayer and pledge of allegiance, Mr. Hardy. That is great Heavenly Father, we thank You, Lord, for this day, for each and every day that you give us, we ask your blessing upon this Lo Lord and state Discus the government thatit County just give them wisdom and knowledge of what they do. Jesus' name I p Please supply. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. and to the Republic Thank you. Uh Minutes from our January 21st meeting was sent out with the, uh, agenda materials I'll take a motion to approve those minutes. So vote. All those in favor say aye. No. At this time we'll take public address to the board. These would be general, uh, comments to the board from the public. not related necessarily to an item on the agenda. See you then, I'll close that public address and Ben kick us off

Yes, sir. Good evening, Chairman and Board members. Uh, the first rezoning request this afternoon, um, has been submitted by Michael Hammond. The request is to rezone 15.18 acres of property. Um, it's currently owned by Frankdale Farms Inc. This is parcel number 13255, and it is located on the western side of, um, State Road 1139. That's when we turnnage Road, just north of its intersection with 26 US 264, um, East Marlborough Road, and the request is to go from rural agricultural to general commercial condition condition al District, uh, to operate a wholesale farm equipment and hardware supply business. Um, but map location here just showing you that it's just east of the town of Farmville, um, along US 13, kind of before 13 hits, um, it goes to Greene County and it's west of the city of Greenville and Winterville. Some pictures of the site, uh, this is the site looking for Mournage Road. This is looking north Omour uh Torrence Road. and looking south Some adjacent property pictures. This is just north of the property. This is a Farmville, um, utility building. Directly across the street, uh, you see the Water tower there in the background, but also some uh undeveloped vacant land. Also across the street, uh, there's an existing church of residences just north of the subject property and then looking south back towards that intersection of US 264 and Moy turnnage. The existing land use in the area, uh, you see the parcel is currently just agricultural and undeveloped as is most of the surrounding properties. Um, as mentioned with that picture, there are a couple residencess just to the north, the red across the street is that church as well as the two utility structures, uh, the, um, water tower there to the south, and then the Farmville utility building there. The envisioned Pitt County 2045 landings plan does designate this area as agricultural. You do, uh, if you will notice also

there is a rural Center just east of the subject property at that um US 13 interchange or intersection. This designation includes prim farmlands that are vital to the agricultural production within the county. Activities include agriculture, forestry, and limited low density residential and commercial or institutional uses. Uh, they're typically located near strategic agricultural lands and surrounding areas. The uses include agriculture, agribusiness, forestry, limited commercial, single family properties, and occasional low density small scale residential subdivisions, utility access, um , includes on-site septic systems and community water service or private wells and very limited sewer availability. The density is generally less than 1 dwelling unit per acre. The current Pitt County zoning in the area. Again, the entire area is all RA that rural agricultural, um, in this general area. And again, the proposed zoning is general commercial, uh, conditional District, um, and general commercial in general is primarily intended to accommodate a range of retail, service, office, limited wholesale, and moderate density multi-family residential uses in areas that have access to major thoroughfares and the necessary utility support to support such development. A conditional zoning district does allow for the approval of a proposal for a specific use with reasonable conditions to assure the compatibility of that proposed use with the use and enjoyment of neighboring properties, and the proposed use again as a wholesale farm equipment and hardware supply business. The site plan that we received with the application is shown here The rezoning areas outlined there with that red hatch. There is a required 10-foot landscape buffer yard they're showing around the perimeter of the proposed rezoning area. The proposed Office Building and warehouse highlighted there in yellow. The proposed driveway P parking

and loading dock area. uh proposed six-foot chain link fence around the rear of the, uh , property. Proposed septic area and proposed dumpster. And again , if this is approved by the Board of Commissioners, a full site plan review will be completed at that time to make sure that all the aspects of our zoning ordinance are being met. Um, Pitt County planning staff does find that this request is consistent with the envisioned Pitt County 2045 Comprehensive land use plan. The area requested for rezoning is designated as Agricultural on the future land use map and the uses in the area of predominantly agricultural with limited residential land uses. The proposed uses in agricultural related commercial use that will offer agricultural equipment and supplies. Staff does find that this request is reasonable and in the public interest because the site is just west of a rural Center Node at the US 13264 intersection and is in close proximity to a major highway, as well as other non-residential uses, and there's very limited residential development near the site. Additionally, the proposed use will be screened from adjacent residential zoned or used properties, and staff does recommend approval with the following additional conditions. No zoning compliance permits shall be issued until a site plan prepared in accordance with Appendix B of the zoning ordinance is submitted to Pitt County Planning for review and approval . A landscaping plan is required in the property shall be screened from any adjacent residentialally used or zone lot and public road rights away by a 10-foot wide landscape buffer yard planted in accordance with the requirements of Section 10H of the zoning Ordinances. required parking spaces, access drives, and loading areas shall be paved and maintained with concrete asphalt or similar material or of sufficient weight and thickness and consistency to support anticipated traffic volumes and weights. A soil erosion and sedimentation control plan prepared by an engineer shall be submitted for development of this property that results in land des

disturbance over 1 acre. The site must also comply with the Pitt County stormwater Ordinance for nutrient control, nutrient loading and peak flow calculation shall be reviewed and approved prior to any improvements involving more than 1 half acre. The site must come by with any emergency Manage requirements for fire protection, and they must obtain all required permits from Pitt County inspections to occupy any proposed structures and comply with any applicable environmental health requirements for wastewater disposal. Public comments will now be entertained by the Planning Board, who will make a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners who are currently scheduled to hold a public hearing on March 16th. And I'm happy to answer any questions. The applicant is in attendance as well for any specific questions about the uh actual project itself, but I'm happy to answer any questions as well. At this time, I'll start over. At this time we, we will, uh, open it up for public comment. If you signed up to speak on this matter, I'll call your name . Please come up to the microphone, state your name and address, and, uh, you'll have a 3-minute timer. Uh, we'll start with Michael Hammond Good evening. Thank you for your time. I guess I'm here to, uh, answer any questions and assuage any fears that there may be concerning any kind of environmental concerns with our project or maybe our business model or um, or anything that may be of concern to the board or the public, um, so excited for the opportunity to develop something. Uh, we've been providing services to farms for over 60 years in this area. So we were, we definitely are looking to, um, build something that the county as well as Eastern North Carolina can be proud of because agriculture has a lot of proud people in it, as well as the communities that they that that they support. So

I am that's all I have to say, I guess Thank you, thank you Sheila Turnage Hello, hello everybody. I'm Sheila Turnage. Um, I live in one of those scattered dwellings that you just heard about, um, up and down the highway there. In fact, my family has lived on the farm around the proposed site for over 250 years Um, and the quality of life that we experience there is very important to us. I have concerns about rezoning some of this property across the highway from us, um, as commercial because, um, because I know that commercial property attracts other commercial property. Um, because I know it attracts, uh, increased traffic, and we have children that are playing up and down that road and bicycling, um, it increases noise. It increases light pollution. Many of the things that we value because of the place that we live and the place we have invested in, um, for as long as this country has been here or a little longer, are endangered, not specifically perhaps by this business, but, um, when you look at that area and consider what's going to happen Uh, will the rest of it, will it be um attracting apartments, other businesses. This begins to

have an effect on us. A tremendous effect, and, uh, I hope you will really consider refusing this request. Um, that would be my preference. Also, I'd like to point out, there's going to be a lot of increased traffic coming down Mournage Road and traffic coming to this business the way it's laid out Of of from the west of the 26413 is going to have to turn left to get onto Moi Turnni Road . You cannot turn a truck there. Um honestly, it's not the best designed, um space for turning uh, you can bear, you can barely make it with a car, so you're gonna see a lot of flat stop signs in that area. If you start trying to develop, uh, traffic moving in that direction . Um, I am also worried, of course, about what it's going to do to property values in our area, um, so I have many hesitations about this, uh, primarily I'd like to protect the quality of our life that we have established there over time . Thank you very much. Thank you, M M Turnage, will you state your address just for the record. Sure. Um, my address is 4475 Mury Turnage Road. and you know that pretty White house that you saw on the slides . That's my great grandparents' house. Thank you. Rodney Beasley I'm Rod Beasley. I also live at 4475 Moy Turnage Road. Sheila and I have been together for over 50 years.

I'm worried about the way the water is being um when they put the new highway in , let me put it this way, when they put the new highway in and you guys took out the road uh, at Moyurnage Road. The ditches are clogged up, so luckily we haven't had a rain. 4 to 6 inches or 8 or 10 inches in the last two years. But what has happened all the ditches of the road that you have taken out has blocked the natural flow. of rain coming off of those wetlands of that you're building right up to those wetlands. uh, those forest trees in there hold 6 to 8 inches of water in there 2 to 3 months out of the year. and you need to be aware of that , that water going across 264 are underneath 264 and going down toward the double bridges that's where a lot of that water when you get a large rain that's the direction that Wa Ho goes, and it doesn't go by the reen Goss's house. which is right next to the other turnage farm It used to be that that was not used as the main drain because the ditches go back to a low land and spreads out and then goes off on 264, about 3 miles down the road. So that needs to be looked at as far as water because if we get a 10 inch rain again that field is going to flood if you block the water that's going or should be going across 264.

and that's my only concern right there. Thank you. Thank you Seeing no other individuals signed up to speak I will close the public comment period and open it up for the board Ask any questions Mr. Chairman. I'd just ask Mr. Hammond if he could come back and just share with the board, but for others that may want to know too. share more about what your business is and what you're gonna be selling, I guess, um, we are not, uh, there was a little, I don't not sure what the description, uh, that was actually describing us or just alike business, but we were not a retail business, so we would not have retail traffic. Um, we have, uh, approximately maybe 10 employees that are not always there at the same time. We, uh, deliver, uh, specially hardware parts for equipment, so we don't have equipment. We won't have any kind of a yard or laydown thing. We we we have proposed to use part of the screening to, um, have our parking and things for any kind of, uh, things we may have outside behind the building. What we really like to have is a really nice aesthetic look to when you come around that corner , you know, you go 13 to Snow Hill, you could this way is to have a barndaminium style look, you know, farm building, um, maybe with some pasture fencing around that piece of property for the full property. Um, so the, the business is only, uh, operating between 8 and 5 in the evening. I mean, the, and, and closed in the evening, uh, and not on weekends . So we're very much a family-oriented business business that delivers, um, and stocks and wholesales, um, uh, parts to farms and their equipment. So large commercial

farms, we wouldn't have traffic coming to us because we, we essentially take the things to the farm. So, you know, the traffic may not necessarily be, uh, akin to what a normal retail business you might think. Um, but that, other than that, um, steel parts, basically, um, things that would be warehoused inside, so we would have pallet racking inside, we'd have, you know, our, our areas in which our parks and things would actually be stored and when we get a call, we just take the to the farm and we help them keep their equipment in the field. So, um we don't do anything related to seed and chemical and other aspects of, of agriculture, um, as far as the production side. So we are not in the business of having to have any kind of um chemical spills, any kind of liquid spills, anything that would, um, maybe tarnish the water table. We're very cognizant of that, you know, Farmers are very good stewards of their land, so we want to make sure that, you know, we've learned a lot over the years from those, those types of, uh, people as well just to make sure that we're you know, taking care of what we can control and take care of, which is what kind of impact we would have on maybe the land and not only that, but the community around us. So our goal is to hopefully address and to satisfy any of the concerns that any of the neighborhood would have. Uh, we'd like to be good neighbors, um, you know, as far as that goes, but speaking on your question is, you know, essentially parts for equipment and hardware and like hand tools and we were the family that first put bolt bins in the farm shops when the, when the mechanical revolution happened in farming and it came from the blacksmith shop and, and, and plows were had animals into the shaft power we were the first people that, uh, uh, put the faster assortments in the shops so that they could make repairs on, on the, on the, uh, on the farm so we've maintained those relationships since then

so it's been quite a long ride. Uh, many people worked hard ahead of me. So, um, you know, that is really our w he el ho use and we will stay. We don't have any kind of plans to venture off into any other things related to agriculture. Uh, this is not, uh, you know, a property we look to have any kind of major expansion, um, you know, the, the set plan that we have that we've proposed is going to be static, you know, so they're, you know, we, we're very, very mindful of the screening, uh, what people can see, um, how it looks to the community, how it looks to the neighbors, and how, how we, um, and how we conduct ourselves is gonna to be very neighborly, so I understand that there are concerns with commercial properties that come in and that maybe commercial, other commercial properties may follow . Uh, I'm not a developer, um, I'm a business owner, um, so, you know, as far as any of that goes, we will not be subdividing the property, uh, in fact, we want to make it look really nice . So, you know, make it look like an agricultural setting. So basically too you're traffic would only consist of trucks that are maybe delivering to you and then your vehicles they might be pulling that product back across the distribution center. That's out. That's right. Yeah, so, and , and, and really the, the traffic to us is very limited you know, because of the, the, the stuff we get in bulk, so it's not lots of lots of, you know, commercial trucks just constantly going to. Thank you, sir. And by the way, Mr. Lyman would be the only one up here that would remember the blacksmith days. Well, they were, they were important Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I do have a question for Mr. Hammond. Sorry. Thank you. Um, will there be any kind of displays of farm implements or out beyond the building in the, the, um, area designated No, sir . Uh, other than just, um,

landscaping and things like that . We, we don't, we don't sell equipment. We don't resell equipment or wholesale equipment . We don't have durable goods. They're small components that go on shelving and bins and things inside, uh, in fact, you know, from a security standpoint, everything will be inside and locked and, you know, and cameras inside making sure. So, you know , as far as equipment, is that what you're asking? Yeah, no equipment, no nothing other than you know, tres and required screening, I guess. OK. Thank you. No animals ? Hum-um. No, no livestock, no animals. I don't know if that's important to note. I said a pasture fence, we're not gonna, you know, start herding goats or anything. Thank you. I have a question concerning, um the mention of the water. In the envi Mr. Gooby mentioned some of the conditions of um the plan and and would that be included in the environmental study, Mr. Gooby? Yes, so part of that and one of the conditions that the applicant will have to sign to if this is approved. Like I said , going through that full site plan review, which does include um requiring that soil erosion and sedimentation control plan. as well as, um, complying with the Pitt County stormwater Ordinance. So that's kind of standard for any non-residential commercial use, um that will all be done through that full site plan review. It goes both to internal agent or internal co-workers who review that as well as external agencies, DOT and otherwise will approve everything before any permits or issued anything uh shovels in the ground, basically . So that's one of those conditions that the applicant must agree to and what that process is, he would sign off to it if, if this board is OK with the conditions that we provided, and that would be part of the conditions presented to the, uh, ward Commissioner. So yes, ma'am , all that would be addressed. OK. One of the conditions you did not mention was traffic study.

Is that part of because they have We don't typically require that. Um it's something we could look at, you know, but typically staff doesn't require that or look at that, especially for something this scale, um, staff doesn't feel based off the information and conversations we've had with Mr. Hammond that he just kind of reiterated, you know, it's not a dollar general that's gonna have 15 delivery trucks and traffic in and out all day every day. Um , so especially for this type of use, staff would not necessarily recommend that, but if there are major concerns, that's always something that can be looked at. Thank you. You're welcome If I'm, if I may add to that, um , part of the site plan review we will send over to NCDOT. So they will have an opportunity to review it for any traffic impacts that could be caused by that, and they ultimately will be responsible for issuing the driveway permit for this business. So if there's any additional studies or anything that needs to be done, that would be the time that uh NCDO2 would advise us of that. I have one additional question. I'm sorry. Do you believe that the that the additional conditions that were, that, that you guys are requiring would be sufficient enough to address the concerns that were stated by Mr. Turnage as far as the flow of rain from into the wetlands and everything. I believe so because all that stuff was looked at. There are no, it's not in the flood plain, the property itself , um, there's no repairing buffers on site that they would have to be addressed anyway, um, but sometimes kind of, I guess, draw red flags to make sure they are addressed. Since those two things are not on this property. It's still reviewed, don't get me wrong, but a lot of times if you see if it's in the floodplain, it's thought to be automatic red flag. Let's make sure we address that. There's a riparian buffer on site. Let's make sure we stay away from that , um, but since there's neither one of those on the property, staff is comfortable with what we've, uh, provided. Just knowing that it's going to be looked at by those experts that deal with that and make sure that it's not gonna affect anything and increase some of

the, the flow there, um, as well , if that answers your question. Lisa, did you, and then we'll go to, Mr. Rollson. Also, Mr. Chairman, if I may add to that, I did hear the gentleman's concerns about, uh the drainage uh associated with the removal of the roads. Just wanted to clarify a point there. The county does not own or maintain, uh, state roads, their own and maintained by NCDOT. So I have made note of those concerns that he brought forward , and I will reach out to NCDOT on his behalf to see if they're is anything NCDOT can do to improve the drainage situation that already exists there at that intersection that he referred to. So I will do that on his behalf. You can stay there. Thank you. Um, the traffic study that will happen, uh, would that also address the tricky left turn that Miss Turnage was talking about. It could, but I would think that if there was an issue there, DOT would already be looking into it and addressing it. Um, I can bring that up as well, um, when I talked to them, uh, just to see, it sounds like that's uh, another issue. And I will say, just for the good of the group, NCDOT is doing a really good job , in my opinion, right now, of kind of assessing these intersections. We've had several intersection improvements in Pitt County that has taken place , uh, that addresses such concerns as left turns reducing conflict points and and that sort of thing. So I'll be glad to, uh, have discussion with them on that as well. Yeah, put that one on their radar, right, absolute. Um, I have a question for staff and who are would like to answer. Um could you please state that definition of agribusiness as in

the context of the rural agricultural zoning. Yeah, it's not specifically defined in our ordinance, but I think in general the way staff uses it is kind of just an overarching term for anything. Agricultural related. I think this is a perfect example of that. Um, there's a different category of Agritourism, which is a lot of uses that are exempt from the zoning ordinance as laid out by state. So those kind of uses would never come before this board, whether they're selling products from a farm or something like that, um, the state does have some pretty strong exemptions through zoning for agricultural kind of related uses that they define, but I think for, for staff's purpose of this agribusiness, I, I think this is really just a perfect example of this, a commercial use that directly ties into the, the agricultural world, um, without it being defined, um, directly from Arizoning ordinances. and that is under the rural Agricultural zoning. Is that correct, is from our ordinance. It's just not specifically defined. Yes, sir. What would be the best interests of converting it to a commercial district rather than keeping it RA. So basically, the type of views that it is, I think it's the closest use in the ordinance of some type of wholesale trade. Again, it's not a retail business. It's only allowed in that general commercial zoning district. It's not allowed in the RA, so it has to come before this board for a rezoning opportunity, um so it's, there's not a specific use in there for agricultural-related wholesale that would maybe be allowed in the RA type district. It's just a wholesale use that does require conditional or, uh, commercial zoning, um, to kind of allow that permitting. Thank you.

I, uh, uh, you may have just addressed this. I'm sorry, um. so with this, I was thinking that if the business should go under, um, this property would remain general commercial for this specific use, yes ma'am. So if it was to fail and somebody wanted to come in and put uh, indoor golf cart or racetrack or something. It would have to come back before this board Public hearing and everything. So the, the use of it could change ownership and keep the same use, but if the use were to change, it would have to come back before this board, uh, for any, anything else. So this is very specific to what has been requested this evening. So he couldn't sell in the future and the new owners decide we're going to relocate to Tennessee and now we're just gonna sell the shell Building. It would have to come back before this board for any other type of use. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Chairman, there's a question for staff. Is this being rezoned for a traditional district or a general commercial zone? Conditional District for this strictly confined to a wholesale farm equipment site. Correct, yes, sir. And that's something staff recommends when the applicant knows what they want to do out there because we've had obviously other conditional or uh rezonings for just a general general commercial district where maybe they're trying to sell it for speculative or otherwise. They don't know what's going to go there. We typically recommend this when the applicant knows what they want to do, so it can be upfront and in front of everybody, neighbors and otherwise, and conditions can be placed on this property, and this board does have the opportunity if you want to add conditions hours of operation 8 to 5. You know, the applicant would have to agree to that, but this board does have that opportunity and the commissioners do as well with this being a conditional district, but since it is for that specific use, it would only be that instead of just a basic rezoned to general commercial, which is gonna allow everything in our zoning ordinance that is allowed in the general commercial zoning District. So it is a voluntary process. We can't require an applicant to do that. We recommend it when they know what they want to do, and they're going to be forthright

and upcoming, you know, with neighbors and staff on the board as well. So. with your requests. and your proposed uses, if no, no retail and distribution only. could you make this congruent with that request and what you propose on the other page that I'm looking at. He might not be seeing it, but on this uh wholesale farm equipment at Hardware Supply open only to commercial farms. and no retail plans and distribution only. Are you suggesting maybe I'm sorry. Yeah, and, and his requests. I, I'm trying to make that be the same. I'm not sure. I understand . just for clarity. Sure, and again, we could do a condition that is no retail open to the public or otherwise, because that's not the intent of the business, correct? Um I'm not sure exactly what you're asking as far as exactly what his business model is? Is that what you're getting at? I understand that. I just, it's just that I'm trying to get the congruency of his requests and what he's going to do ever is is in the future you're not going, you're not gonna change. This is what you want for your business. Is that what you're saying? Well, you're this is what your incision, I think maybe I thought there may be a confusion even to me that it said farm equipment and essentially it's not equipment and, and I think that, uh, what were you asking to make sure that, you know, it's stated clearly the intent to follow the intent to follow the life of the building and the zoning request and everything cause, cause if I, you know, the , the equipment aspect of it, um , it's just part of the presentation, you know, it wasn't part of the intended um, use whenever I filed for the , um, for the condition, the conditional rezoning. So I think that just a little bit of lost in translation, but if, if, if hopefully I've been able to, uh,

at least answer any kind of concerns that would be any kind of farm equipment, you know, things that might have, um, a little bit more of an eyesore, uh, to the property itself. um and I don't, I don't know if there's any more clarity, uh, to that I can provide, um, but you're not going to, this is what you're asking for on paper. In the future, there's not gonna be any uh retail plans. No, ma'am. OK. No, this is intended to, hopefully, hopefully for many generations of my family as well , because I know that there's a lot of generations that are tied to family land and fam and the farm and so, you know I hope to be there as long as we can. OK, I'll add to that, ma'am , um, staff does do inspections every 2 years of all approved conditional, uh, rezoning districts to make sure that it's in compliance with the site plan , the use itself. If something were to change, we're probably gonna get a complaint from a neighbor anyway before that inspection, but we do do uh inspections every 2 years to make sure we just actually wrapped up, um, those inspections, um. for all the ones that have been approved previously. So that's just one way we make sure that they kind of stay within that scope of what was approved. And if for some reason he did want to add retail sales in the future, that'd be a different type of use, but in kind of accessory to the current one, he would need to come back before this board and say, OK, we've grown, we want to open up to the public. My understanding he has no intention of doing that. If he did, he would need to come modify that permit to allow that type of use. Thank you. Other questions Thank you, Mr. Hammond. Thank you. Seeing no more questions, I'll entertain emotion Mr. Chairman. I move that we recommend

approval of this request, seeing that this proposed rezoning request is consistent with the In Vision Pitt County 2045 Comprehensive land use plan. And furthermore, the request is reasonable because there is very limited residential development directly adjacent to the proposed commercial use and because there are other uh non-residential uses in the area. And additionally, the proposed will be screened from adjacent residential zone or used properties. Mr. Chairman, I suck at that motion. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. uh, to approve All those in favor, let it be known by raising your right hand . Thank you. Thank you all All right, moving on to our next item. I think Mr. Gooby's gonna think that one. And just as a reminder of the folks here in the audience and that might be watching the meeting as well. This does, this is again just a recommendation does go to the Board of County Commissioners in Mark so. Thank you. Yes, sir. Proceed on So our second rezoning request tonight is from Stonewood Solar LLC. Uh, the request is to rezone about almost 236 acres of property. It's owned by OMLLC. Uh, parcel 58349. Mr. Gooby, can you if, if you want to have conversation, can you step out in the hallway so we can move on to the next agenda item. Apologize. Continue. OK. Yes, sir. Thank you. Um, I'll just start back over again, the, uh, request again is from Stonewood Solar

LLC to rezone about 236 acres of land It's owned by OMLLC, uh, parcel number 58349. It's located on the northwestern corner of the intersection of NC 903 North and Oakley Road, uh, heading up towards Stokes in that area. Uh, and also fronts on the southern side of Sweet Gum Grove Church Road. Uh, the requests to go from rural agricultural to rural agricultural conditional District, and this is to allow the operation of a solar farm This gives you an idea of where the property's at. So this is the northern side of Greenville that you see towards the bottom of the screen. Uh, this is on 903 North A again heading towards uh Stokes. This view of the property from NC 903 North. And this is, uh, looking down 903 as if you're heading back towards the city of Greenville. and this is looking to the northeast on 903 is if you're heading towards Stokes. This is the view of the property from Oakley Road. Uh, this is, uh, heading south on Oakley Road back towards 903 and then this is the Northview along Oakley Road. Then this is the view of the property from Sweet Gum Grove Church Road. Again, this is back towards Oakley Road, Osweet Gum Grove Church Road. and this is to the North, I believe it is, uh, on Sweet Gum Grove Church Road also . Uh, this is an existing commercial use. It's located off at the intersection of 903 and Oakley Roads directly across from the site. It's a, I know it's been a bar and, and a couple other things, Country Store, um. and then these are some adjacent properties. These are adjacent residential properties that are relocated off Oakley Road. Uh, there's an existing cell tower that's across from it on Sweet Gum Grove Church Road. And then you see the existing

land use again you see there's a little pocket of residential right there off Oakley Road directly to the east of this site. Uh, there's one you can just kind of barely see it. There's a little residence, uh, in the properties of the North, uh, and then for the most part, the rest of the area surrounding it is, is agricultural or wooded land, uh, with some other properties a little bit further to the north on Oakley Road and also some off of um 903 and then you see there's also a couple of commercial properties. They're off 903 as well. Uh, Vision Pitt County, 2045 designates the, the parcel as agricultural and open space conservation. The agricultural designation, uh , includes prime farmlands that are vital to agricultural production within the county. Activities in this designation include agriculture, forestry, and limited low density residential and commercial or institutional uses. Uh, these areas, uh, again are near strategic agricultural lands and surrounding areas, uh, uses that are typical for these designations or agriculture, agribusiness, forestry, uh limited commercial single-family properties and occasional low density small scale residential subdivisions. uh, utilities are primarily on-site septic systems and community water service or private wells with very limited sewer availability and density, particularly with the residential component is generally less than one dwelling unit per acre. Uh, the open space conservation Area. uh, it applies to lands that are deemed inappropriate for many development types due to physical or environmental barriers such as high flood risk , uh, includes properties within the 100 year flood plain, significant wetland areas, parks , and lands that have been designated for conservation and open space. Uh, primary uses in this area include timber and agricultural activities and recreation, uh, may include limited development that's not in conflict with the existing residential uses or significant environmental resources. And again, typical uses would be conservation,

forestry, agriculture, uh, outdoor recreation, and very limited new development. The zoning in the areas is primarily rural agricultural Again, the request is to go from rural agricultural to rural agricultural conditional districts. So really the, the request is to add that conditional District component to it. Um, and you see again, the, the store across the street on 903 that zone General Commercial and another general commercial just frod up 903. So again, rural agriculture is con is intended to accommodate very low density residential uses as well as associated public and institutional uses, uh, low-intensity commercial uses and agricultural-related industrial uses that are interspersed throughout areas that are principally characterized as rural in nature . Uh, it reflects the diverse nature of land uses within rural areas and therefore permits a wide array of land uses And again, the conditional zoning District just like the last one, with the Hammond request, it allows for the approval of a proposal for a specific use, uh, with reasonable conditions to ensure the compatibility of that use, uh, with the use and enjoyment of neighboring properties. And again, in this case, they are proposing a solar farm Uh, the zoning work does have several requirements for solar farms. I'll go through those really quickly. Uh, there's a minimum 50-foot setback from property lines, and a minimum 100 ft separation from any residents. And for the inverters themselves on the site, there's also a 150 ft separation for those because those are what tends to make the noise that you would associate with, with the solar farm or what little bit of noise there would be. Um, maximum height would be 25 ft for all equipment and structures. Uh, there are certain sit requirements. There's a site plan that's required Standard drawings of the components, uh, copies of any lease agreements and solar easements, uh, evidence of the utility interconnection, decommissioning plans and cost estimate. And, uh, most of that is included in your packet. We do have a couple of things that

we're just too much to print. It was about 80 pages worth of some stuff. So we have that on file in our office if anybody wants to come and look at that as well . Um, there are structural requirements that have to be met and they have to meet all building code requirements. Uh, underground electrical wiring is required as well as fencing and screening, uh, signage has to be posted on the site with emergency contact info and also any abandoned equipment must be removed after one year of inactivity, and that goes along with that decommissioning plan, which you have a copy of in your packet. Uh, just kind of go through the, the site plan itself. You see this is the site here. um again, it's about 236 acres, probably which about 2/3 of which is, is included in this site. Um so this is the property line and then the project boundary. So you see the area that's, that's left out, that's the area that if you look back on our Lay's plan and our flood plain maps, it's all in flood plain and part of that open space conservation. So that area that's designated as open space conservation. They're not doing any development within that at all. The developments primarily occurring in that agricultural designated area. Uh, you see the solar panels are here in the gray Uh, they do have 4 inverters which are located again kind of more towards the middle of the property, so they're away from any of the residential properties on Oakley Road. Uh, and then also the proposed Best, which is, I think the battery system that they're proposing will be up towards the front and where they'll kind of interconnect, I believe, with the, the utilities. Uh, there are 7 adjacent residences, as I mentioned, um, the, those are highlighted in yellow and the red circle kind of indicates the 100 ft setback, so they're meeting that requirement of our ordinance. Uh, also, they are meeting the 50-foot setback or proposing to meet the 50-foot setback along the, the sides and the rear of the property and along Oakley Road where it would be facing those residents as they're proposing a 100 ft setback. So

they're increasing that setback to try to kind of push it back a little bit further away from those residences. Again, this is the location of the flood zone. There are some wetlands also in that area which they're not encroaching into and there's also some riparian buffers that are shown for some, some stream features that run through the site itself. Uh, there is some existing vegetation, primarily on the south and the north. Those will be what is the, the majority of their screening of the site. Um, the pro the, the one to the north is primarily on the adjacent property, but if that ever gets cut down, they will have to go back in and replace that with, with screening of their own property, but in terms of the existing screen and it's sufficient for, for our requirements to meet. And then they're proposing to add vegetation like I said, primarily along Oakley Road facing those, those residences and then also where it meets um Sweet Gum Grove Church Road, and there's not any existing vegetation up there, so they are proposing to add some up on that area. Uh, and this is just a detail that they submitted. They'll show sort of a rendering of what the vegetation will look like along Oakley Road. Uh, this is essentially our, our basic requirement for any screening in the county. So it's trees, uh, every 40 ft, uh, minimum of 6 ft tall, chain link fence. and um trees and shrubs or a combination of trees and shrubs in there. So as far as our recommendation, uh, staff does find that the request is consistent with the Lani's plan. Again, the areas designated as agricultural and open space conservation. uh, agricultural designation does allow for limited commercial type uses, uh, in the area that's designated as that open space conservation, as I mentioned, is proposed to remain undeveloped and will be left in its natural state. Uh, there's also a significant amount of wooded and wetland areas that are surrounding the property, uh , that will provide spatial separation screening from adjacent residential uses. Uh, staff also finds that the request is reasonable and in the public interest. Uh it's for,

again, it is for a conditional zoning district, um, and spatial separation and screening are required, as outlined in our zoning ordinance, uh, and also they've, they've proposed increase those setbacks along Oakley Road. They're doubling the setback that's required, uh, in order to provide that additional separation from the facility. Uh, so staff does recommend approval of the request. We do have several, uh, additional conditions that we're recommending. Uh, first is that no zoning compliance permit should be issued until a site plan, prepared in accordance with the, the zoning warrants is submitted to our department for review and approval. Uh, they're also going to be required to provide a soil erosion and sedimentation control plan for development of the property resulting in disturbance over 1 acre. uh, to the maximum extent possible, they should utilize the existing vegetation in order to visually screen the facility from adjoining properties and public rights away. Uh, if it cannot be utilized, then they'll need to provide that 10-foot buffer yard, uh, planted in accordance with the requirements of the zoning ordinance, and they'll need to provide a detailed landscaping plan indicating the, the screening and we need to submit that along with the site plan for our review and approval. Uh, the site will also have to comply with the stormwater Ordinance for nutrient control. uh nutrient loading and peak flow calculations shall be reviewed and approved prior to any improvements involving more than one half acre, uh, 50-foot repairing buffers are required on all stream features on the site unless they get documentation from either our office or NCDWQ, uh, showing that the features are considered exempt from our buffer regulations. Uh, they'll need to obtain all required permits from Pitt County inspections, uh, obtain any required driveway permits from NCDOT and comply with any requirements for access to the property. And again, all equipment and structure shall be a minimum of 100 ft from all adjoining residential property lines and 50 ft from all other property lines except where they're showing that 100 ft stepback along Oakley Road on the submitted site plan. So with that atmosphere, we'd like to entertain public comments. Uh, the board would then make a recommendation to

the Board of Commissioners, and they are also scheduled to hold a public hearing on this request on March 16th. With that, we'd like to open up for public comments. Thank you. Thank you. We'll open it up for public comment, same as before. I'll call your name. Please come to the microphone to state your address, um, or affiliation, and you'll have 3 minutes to speak. Uh, first, uh, Merrick, Parrott Good evening, board members. My name is Mark Parrott. I am an attorney with Parker Poe, Adams and Bernstein. Addresses 301 Fayetteville Street in Raleigh. Um, here tonight on behalf of the applicant, Stonewood Solar, just wanted to quickly kind of introduce who will be having speak on behalf of the project. We do have 3 team members here tonight, um, first you'll hear from Jay Niemith. He is with Headwater Energy, the developer of the Stonewood Solar Project. Just to talk to you about who they are as a developer and a little bit about the project. Um , then you will hear from, um, Jennifer Lester with Kimly Horn. It's an engineering firm. Uh, they supported on the site plan and the engineering components of the project like the decommissioning plan. Um, and then last, we have um Rich Kirkland. He is an MAI designated appraiser who has studied the project in Solar Firms, um, generally, but specifically this project as well and is prepared to report on property value impacts in case the board has any questions about that. Um, he has again prepared a report. I do have copies of it would be convenient. I can go ahead and hand them up now or I can hand them up when he's ready . I'll hand them to you. Perfect . Thank you all so much. you Jay Niemoth Good evening and uh thank you for this opportunity to present, um Jay Niemith. I'm with

Headwater Energy. Our address is 2544 Durham Chapel Hill Boulevard. I'm here on behalf of Headwater Energy, a solar and energy storage developer located in Durham. We have North we are a North Carolina-based company, and we focus on projects in rural North Carolina that provide stable income to landowners, add to the local tax base, and do not create additional demand for county services. Before joining Headwater, I worked for the North Carolina Electric Cooperatives, where I had many opportunities to work alongside electric cities and some of the municipal utilities across our state. That experience gave me a strong appreciation for how important reliable, local ly delivered power is to the communities that they serve, and it's influenced the way that headwater designs our projects and the types of projects that we develop. We appreciate the planning staff's thorough review and their finding that this request is consistent with vision Pitt County 2045 Comprehensive Land Use Plan and that the request meets the county's conditional zoning requirements. This site is in very rural area, and it's partially surrounded by existing forested land which provides substantial natural screening. While the total parcel before you this evening is approximately 236 acres. The actual project area will be closer to 150 acres, and the fenced solar facility will occupy only a portion of that. The remaining areas, including wooded and wetland sections will remain in their natural state and continue to provide buffering and preserve the rural character of the property. We've also voluntarily increased the setback along Oakley Road in NC 903 from 50 ft to 100 ft to provide additional separation from the only nearby residences along with vegetative buffer in compliance with the ordinance. This is a 10 megawatt project intentionally designed at a smaller scale to fit the surrounding area, and it will interconnect with Greenville Utility's existing distribution system. This means that we'll avoid the need for any new transmission lines or large substations and will keep the overall overall impact much lower.

During construction, the project is expected to create approximately 45 jobs over the construction period, and we plan to use local contractors and vendors wherever possible. Once in operation, it will provide a stable, long-term source of tax revenue to the county without adding demand for schools, water , sewer, or other public services. As detailed in the project narrative, the facility meets or exceeds all county requirements for solar energy facilities, including height limits, setbacks, vegetative buffers, repairing protection, fencing and decommissioning. Projects also being designed with US manufactured solar panels reflecting our commitment to domestic manufacturing and American jobs. At its core, this is a low impact reversible land use that keeps the land in open space, preserves the rural character of the area and provides long-term economic benefit to both the landowner and Pitt County. For these reasons, we respectfully ask for a recommendation of approval. Thank you very much. Niemith Jennifer Lester Good evening. My name is Jen Lester. I am a uh licensed professional engineer. I'm currently employed at Kimly Horn and Associates. That address is 421 Fayetteville Street, Raleigh . Uh, I've been there for 9 years, uh, handling mainly civil design of solar sites, similar to this one, all across North Carolina and portions of the Southeast. Uh, a lot of these items I know you have in your packet and have been mentioned already, so I'm just gonna highlight a few things and if you have any questions, you know, feel free to, feel free to ask. So the setbacks, I know the 100 ft along both sides, so that's double, uh, what's required in the ordinance, the vegetative buffers, the site does have a lot of healthy mature vegetation , which is, you know, obviously our preference and what we like to see. So anywhere possible that will be preserved, um, and if not, it would be supplemented or planted, uh, according to the vegetative buffer in the packet and your ordinance, uh and then the decommissioning plan, uh, that was submitted meets the 90-day requirement

that is in the Pitt County Ordinance as well as the filing requirement with NCDEQ that would happen, um, at the construction of the project and then of course at the end of life uh for that project, um, so based on these items, it's my professional opinion that these, uh, meet or exceed, uh, the requirements that are in your ordinance, uh, but happy to answer any questions now or any questions that you may have later. Thank you. Rich Kirkland Uh, good evening. Um, my name's Rich Kirkland, Kirkland Appraisals. I'm out of Raleigh, North Carolina. I'm a state certified general appraiser here in North Carolina and in about 15 other states as well. I also have my MAI designation through the Appraisal Institute, which is the highest, uh, professional designation they give out. I also have the ARA designation or the accredited rural Appraiser designation from the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, um, which is the highest designation they give out. Been doing uh impact analysis for over 20 years, and I've been looking at solar projects for about 17 years, um, primarily here in North Carolina but also in about 28 states. That's, um, something we do all around. In that time, we've looked at over 1000, I think it's around 1800 solar projects at this point, um, and what we're really focusing on is looking for home sales around those projects that we can do research and analysis to see if there's any impacts we would detect from those. There's two different ways the appraisal institute, um, puts forward to doing that test is first one is the better method in my mind is the sale, resale analysis. It's where we look at a home that's sold next to a solar project after it was built, and we go back in time and look at the prior sale of that exact same home before the solar project was built and before it was announced and we just see did it appreciate at the same rate as other things in that zip code during that same time period between the two sales. So we've done a lot of research on that that's included

in the report you've got. We've also done match pair analysis, which is also supported, and that's where you look at a home sale next to a solar project, compared to similar homes that sold in the same time period, they're just not next to a solar project to see if there's anything you would detect for impacts. So again, we have a lot of data in there uh that report there, the, the, we have, I believe, 10 sales of where we've done the sale resale analysis in North Carolina and 40 some, uh, the match pair analysis we have in North Carolina. Uh, we have far more nationally that we've looked at in other areas. The research we're showing is showing that at the distances involved here we're seeing no impact on property value, where there's a reasonable landscaping screen. and we do consider that to be an important part of the process, the process is having, um, a landscape screen and appropriate distances. The only area we're really concerned with is appearance and appearance is always addressed regardless of what use you're looking at is through distance and, you know, separation and also visual barriers. Um, we've also interviewed brokers involved in sales of homes, and we've listed a bunch of those and the homes they looked at that sold next to solar projects including their comments that they saw no impact on property values. We surveyed all the assessors across North Carolina. 100% of the assessors who replied they have soil in their area. um, also indicated they see no basis for an adjustment for properties that adjoined solar projects. We've also addressed national studies that are in there. You can look at the, uh, comments on those, but they all cluster. Some show minor impacts, some show minor positive impacts. They all cluster around 0% impact. So it's my professional opinion, um, that this project as proposed will have no impact on adjoining property values. Happy to help with any questions later . Thank you. Michael Whitehurst

Uh, hey, I'm Michael Whitehurst. I'm a local farmer in the area. Um, my address is 4327 Oakley Road, and I'm a fifth-generation farmer, um, I've been farming for close to 30 years on the Oakley Road. And the only thing that they never address is the impact that it's gonna have on agriculture itself. Everybody wants to talk how great they are , but this is not bad agg land, and I could understand if we had , if it was poor, it didn't, it didn't raise good crops, but I've been driving past this place. I don't farm it. My neighbor does, and he does a great job, but the yields on these farms are high enough that it matters because if we keep taking good agricultural land and turn it into anything other than what it is. Eventually the farmers are going to have nothing but the bottom land, the sorris land , and they're not going to stay in business. Um, I know for us we're, uh, we've had 4 or 5 different solar companies come to us and want to put, uh, solar, um, solar panels on our farms and I can tell you honestly, it will never happen in my, my lifetime because we don't have good land is not made every day, and it takes years and years to bring back land that has been neglected. So in 30 years or 15 years or however, you can add 10 to 15 years on top to get it back where it needs to be. And I don't know what kind of agriculture that is, but it's not, it's not what it's not being good stewards of what we have in Pitt County.

So I appreciate your time. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Michael. uh, Matt Nobles. Hey, I'm Matt Nobles, 680 Jordan Drive, uh, representing Noble's Farms. We own about 860 acres within maybe 10 miles of there. Um. got a couple points, uh, that I wanted to bring up. We talk about appraisal value, um, a lot of that depends on if it is a I guess a community that is, uh, focused more on, uh, green or if we're talking about a more rural agricultural area. On rural agricultural areas. The studies I've seen from Virginia Tech said that it, it brings down, uh , uh, residential properties, about 4.8% within a three-mile radius. So I know on the maps, it didn't show a lot of residential properties, but that's a major thoroughfare, and that goes right to Stokes and Stokes is growing and Grenville's growing and it's growing out that way because land prices are cheaper. That's why it's growing I've lived on a farm my entire life. I want a more, uh I guess, uh I personally prefer that type of lifestyle. And I know Greenville's growing that way, but let's not ruin it with a Soli form that is half as efficient as nuclear as uh biomass. I mean, I'm, I'm a logger

I produce biomass. Myout biomass goes to a husky. It is made into pellets, is shipped overseas to be burned in European coal-fired plants. They think that is more efficient than solar. So I, I don't know. I, I think that really brings, uh, something into perspective. Uh, also, Grindelll Creek is right there. Grindelll Creek floods all the time And I know they've done studies, but over the life, over my life stance span, which I've lived there for 47 years in the area. That area uh, right there at 903 in Oakley , floods constantly. So this is not going to help that. Um, we talk about construction jobs. Well, those construction jobs are not forever However farmers are here for good. You're gonna put farmers out of business. I mean, y'all have already approved 1000 acres in Grifton. I mean, like Michael said that land, uh, you know, you can't go and convert forestry land to farm land. You can't do it. It's not efficient with the way prices are with land. So if you ruin good farm land, you're ruining uh, ruining the lifestyle we have. One other thing, it's highly subsidized. They only pay 20% property tax on their stuff. We pay 100% property tax on all of our equipment and the federal government supports them to make this happen. Thank you. Seeing no more anybody else signed up to speak? I'll close the public comment

period and open it up for the board to ask any questions. Yes, sir. I have one question. Is, uh, a performance bond required to cover the cost of decommissioning the site and if so, will it be obtained before construction? The county doesn't require one, but the state does. So they will have to submit a, a bond to the state for decommissioning. And that would, that would be before they're in operation, yes . Mr. Austin In regards to the setback that's illustrated, uh, in the uh literature that you provided, um, it showed a radius around the, the home itself, I believe it did not, uh, address the property lines, and I believe that uh, well, that was, that was an effort our requirements is that that all the equipment has to be a minimum of 100 ft from the nearest residence. So on that site plan, they drew that 100 ft radius around those houses to show that it is meeting that setback from those, those particular residences, yes. OK, and it's not related to the property line itself. No, sir, it's a 50 ft from the property line, which is what they're showing also. OK. Thank you. Matter of curiosity, is the land currently growing crops? Do we know? I believe so. Um, the, uh, the owner's not here. The applicants may be on a, yeah ma'am. Thank you. And it's been rented for another year. past 10. but I've been falling longer than this lady's own Well, I think he just answered partial questions that I was wondering because I thought I had missed something, but who is who is the owner of this land?

Just curious. It's under an LLC. It's OM LLC. I don't have the, the agent. Yeah. OK. So, could I ask Mr. Kirkland back, uh, just a minute about because listen, you put together a great study, OK? I'm glad I didn't have time to read it. I mean, but anyway. but I'm curious as far as some of the valuations when this happening even now. What happens at the end of 20 years, 30 years. And is that where you're getting your 4.8%. The 4.8% is the Virginia Tech study. That's not my numbers. The Virginia Tech study, I, I would, I would just point out that if you look at it, it is, it is discussed in my report, um , of the national studies that are put out there, it's, it's a very unusual one because it shows the one of the lowest negative or it shows the highest negative impact, but it also shows the highest positive impact. It shows that agricultural land values go up by 19% within that same 3 mile radius, but I don't believe that's what's going on. What, what happens is, is that they, they do these studies by looking at a 3 mile radius around existing solar projects. They compare the housing values and the land values in that 3 mile radius to what's going on in a six mile radius. So comparing the 3 mile radius to 3.1 to 6 miles out. And what happens is, is most solar projects, especially in Virginia , North Carolina, within 6 miles , you go from being a rural property to inside of the towns. And so you wind up having a lot of sales points, data points that are in town, and that's where it's really measuring the impact of rural to urban areas and town areas, um, that's further highlighted. There's a study that um is also listed in my report. You can look at the Loyola study. They actually identified that specific problem with these 3 m, 6 mile radius

ring studies that are a lot of the universities use, and they, they control for that by looking and saying we're going to use the same rings rings to look at this, but we're gonna limit things within the zip code. So we're only comparing things within approximate zip codes to limit how much is in town versus out of town. And they found a slight positive impact on property values. So again, the, the National studies are largely done by grad students at our constructing these things. and the the other issue with the Virginia Tech study in particular is within that six mile radius, I mean, think about houses are as much as 12 miles apart that they're looking at. They, they only considered three possible things could be negative impacts. Solar farms, highways, power lines. They didn't consider wastewater treatment plants, poultry farms, hog farms, uh, landfills, none of those things could possibly be a negative impact in their analysis. They also didn't consider any positive impacts such as Waterfront, um, homes, golf course frontage, or um access to amenities or the difference between being in town with the public services and utilities versus out of town. So the Virginia Tech study is not a great study in my mind. I would focus on the Loova study. So just curious though when I think about what you're saying for on the backside when it goes to close, I keep hearing that there's gonna be some negative impact on the property itself, on the land itself, on the land itself, where the Solar project is that a true and is that something that is in your expertise or one of the colleagues over there. Well, what I can tell you is that um we don't have decommissioned solar projects for us to do that analysis on, um, but the expectation is, no, that's not, uh, the expectation because there's nothing about the project itself that should negatively impact the land. The American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers actually cites this as a good use for preserving Ag land for the future. They look at it as very similar to a CREEP program where it goes in instead of the

federal government paying you not to farm the land, it goes into this use, Private industry pays you not to farm the land, and at the end of that time period, they pull everything out and really you have to catch up on some, uh, you're gonna have to do a lot of liming and some other things to bring it back up because they're Solo Farm's not going to li this during the time period, but um, yeah, the, the American Society of Farm Manager rural Appraisers specifically see this as a good alternative to crap. And this, excuse me, and the assumption is that as we look at this, the owner you know, I'm, I'm a guy that, if I own a piece of land, I'd like to think that I can do whatever I want to with it. but in saying that I would like to realize too that if it was my property, I would have think that down the road, I'm damaging myself and in the meantime, I'm losing the ability as the farmers do. to produce and have great yields . that I'm damaging not only myself but the rest of the country on depending on the pro on the years that I get off that land. so I'm torn because yeah, I voted for Solar farms to be uh brought into Pier County, and I, I see him going up in a lot of places. but at the same time, when I say young farmers, and I think there's two young men that were up here and plus a young one sitting in the in the audience out there. that we got to protect what's going on with that, but I'm assuming that the owner is really gonna get more out of more. more money for his piece of land over the next 30 years, and he feels like he's going to get from the leasing that he's getting from the farmer that's farming it. true or not? I mean, and I would make that assumption

um. it's, it's something to consider and I appreciate what the young farmers are sharing with us. but at the same time, I can see the studies that are being put together and I'm still trying in my mind to understand which is the best method, but again, I got to look back at the owner too. If he feels like that he can get more rent if you would. from a solar company and he can give from farming it. and from what I'm assuming also. is that the owner today bought this land in recent years . He's not a 3rd generation or 5th generation . landowner in farming. So there's questions in my mind just I'm asking more questions than I got answers, OK? That's why I got to keep asking. To that end, I would just say that I've worked on projects, not this one in particular, but other projects where part of Family Farms goes into solar projects, and they see that as a form of diversification. It's another thing that's really put forward as a, uh, through the ASFMRA, but it diversifies and gives them a solid income for that portion of their property and then they continue farming in other areas. I don't know that that's that is not a reference necessarily to this project, but other projects we've looked at, there's plenty of farmers who are still farming who do this on part of their property. Mr. Chairman, if I may. we don't have a authorized representative from OM. here tonight, do we Because my question would be if the farmers who are currently farming that piece of property or or the ones right around that have had any opportunity to address their concerns that they may have had with someone from OMLLC at any point in time. Unfortunately, the landowner did have um a commitment tonight and was not able to make it. I can't

speak to, um, whether she has had conversations with those landowners. Um, we did send out letters to adjoining property owners, um, to alert them to the project, um, again, I believe, um, the two gentleman who spoke were a couple miles away, I think I heard them say from the project, so don't believe they got those letters, but, um, welcome conversations with the developer, um, certainly, um, after this, if needed. OK, but no one who is actually farming that particular piece of property currently, um, or who has, who has, uh, worked that property in the past, like if there's one right there, had stated before or had a current lease or contract or whatever, whatever you, they may have to work that property now, continuing going forward until this, you know, if this were to be approved. So they haven't had an opportunity that you know of to address their concerns with the OM. Um, uh, not to my knowledge, but again, if there's an existing contract with a farmer with that landowner, I would think that there were open channels of communication, but I don't, I don't know for certain. OK. Thank you. Of course. I have a quick question. Is, are there any other existing um solar farms in the Stokes area, and how far, if so, how far would they be from this location . The only one other one that I'm aware of is off Ramshorn Road, uh, which is closer towards Greenville. Um, if you're familiar with kind of where the North Campus Recreation Area is for ECU, uh, it's sort of on the backside of that off Ramshhorn Road. So there's not one at the end of 30 and 11. going towards Bethel. There's OK. Yeah, there, there is, there is one up towards Bethel, um, and there's one that's, there's a large one that's under construction up at that way, but , um, but yeah, that's the majority of that's in Bethel. There is, there's a portion of

it that's in the county's jurisdiction, but it's maybe a, maybe not even a quarter of the entire site. Eric, is the vegetative barrier to the north, is that on the within the property bounds? Yes, or is that on the adjacent property? Well, the, the actual vegetation itself is on the neighboring properties is what it appears, um but they're, like I said, if, if that's clear, there, that condition is that they would have to plant their own barrier in there to, to make up for that . So that, so it allows for the vegetative barrier to exist on an adjacent property because it, yeah, it goes up to the property line and so yes. and that vegetative barrier would then be in addition to the setback or within the setback. It's, it's in addition to this, well, it's, if they have to plant the barrier, is that what you're talking about if they have to plant new trees in it, it would be within the setback within the setback. Same as along the roadfront that those, those vegetative buffers are within that setback. I have a question also again for , uh, probably for Mr. uh, Niemith. What, what is the return of solar to the county. What do our do our citizens get any return from the energy that's created from solar. But Mr. Niemoth answer. Um, all right, so as background, um, I'm formerly with the North Carolina co ops and before that with Progress Energy. So uh, I speak, you know, sort of from a utility perspective, I will let you know that yes, the electrons stay close to where they're being produced. It's like water. If you're producing water and putting it into a stream. that water is going to be used

near where you put it in. So the electrons will be consumed on the Greenville Utilities grid. The power purchase agreement is with Nikempa, the North Carolina Eastern municipal Power A Agency . That is the wholesale supplier for Greenville Utilities. So that's who's buying the power, the power is being consumed by Greenville, and Greenville actually has what I've found to be a, a fairly novel approach. We will pay Greenville for the facilities to interconnect our project. We will pay them a monthly operation and maintenance fee. to maintain those facilities and what's novel that I've not seen uh among any other jurisdiction or any other co op or Duke, is they'll be charging us an additional fee to use their grid . So considering that no other jurisdiction does this that I've worked with in the Carolinas, North Carolina or South Carolina . That tells me that there is an incremental value that's being provided to Greenville Utilities that should be a positive impact to the, the users and consumers who are on that system. But the direct impact return is not quantified. Tell me what you mean, because, because the way that the wholesale agreement works between Nikempa and Greenville is such that Greenville can't purchase the power directly. In other solar farms, the energy created, does it result in a benefit to the county with which it was created. Other than to Greenville Utilities, the company. through your knowledge of these and other places reduced power, uh, so you want to take more, like you want to take a different perspective of what benefits are . And I can, I can address that.

So what I would share is that solar energy is it's a fuel-free source of energy, meaning that there's no variable cost risk. There's no volatility risk. I was a, a natural gas trader when I was at Progress Energy. And I was trading gas whenever hurricanes Katrina and Rita happened, and we saw the price of Gas go from $2 an MMBTU to $20 an Mb MBTU. You all as consumers are hearing the price of electricity is getting more and more expensive. And it's because the cost of new equipment is more expensive. The cost of fuel keeps going up. Natural gas is prevalent, but with all the LNG export facilities we're sending this US domestic natural gas overseas, which means that the US is competing for that natural gas and as a result, paying a higher price. So when we look at the forecasts for where fuel prices are going, they're going up. Solar has no fuel cost. It's, it's free fuel. We pay for the maintenance , we pay for the operations, we pay our debt for the project, but the costs are, are predictable. So the benefit that we're selling to the utility at what's called their avoided cost, meaning the cost that they estimating it, it costs them to produce the the next megawatt hour. We fixed that price and there's no pri there's no price spike risk from these solar projects. I'll add that the addition of battery storage on this project means that we are we are mitigating one of the other complaints about solar in that it's a variable resource. It's not there when you need it, they say. So with the addition of battery storage I'm on, I'm on Duke Energy Progress. I live in Carteret County and two weeks ago, 1 week and a half ago, I got an email

and a text that said, we're gonna be very highly loaded tomorrow. If you can use less energy tomorrow morning that will help the system. I don't know if you all got something similar. but that tells us that the demand occurs in the winter mornings. People wake up, their house is cold, they turn on their thermostat. to a comfortable temperature. If you're on a heat pump, it's going to the, to the emergency strip. Everyone does it at once. They get in the shower, and what happens is those winter mornings are really the peak hours. So the addition of battery storage means that we're able to take the solar that was produced the afternoon of the, the winter day before and store that so that whenever Greenville Utilities needs it the next morning, it's there and available. For dispatch. So that, so that's, those are some benefits. Thank you. Other questions? What type of tax credit does Greenwell Utility or Pitt County receive as a result of it. So we, we did the, the math, um, before coming in. And what we estimate is with no services being needed, we will probably add approximately $45,000 to the tax basis every year. So that's above and beyond what they would get off that property So, I would say that. On a normal basis. uh, it depends. So that's our, that's for our real property. So the property tax depending on what the use is, I don't know if, if there is a, a lower land use rate for agricultural, um, but if our rate changes because of the use, then we

would also pay a higher rate for the, for the land as well. So $45,000 is for the real property or for the, the property on site and then whatever the, the tax is for the land So to the staff just just to thank you, Ms. Curiosity question again. Have we ever run that study, by the way, sir, I appreciate that education. Of course not. I, I do appreciate that. And uh so do we any of us know what the difference is? Do, do we lose not only the chance for these farmers to be able to farm and get the yields off that land. but then we lose them Tax money for the county along the way, or do we gain? any tax money? From what I'm, what I'm hearing from, uh, the applicant, so it sounds like the county had been gaining taxes, tax money on because they're probably paying a deferred rate if the property's enrolled in present use value, which I assume it most likely is they're paying a lower tax rate off of the present use rather than the, the market value of the of the land or the, the full tax value. um so there probably would be a net increase in terms of property value, um, but beyond that and anything in terms of what the property owner is receiving. I, I couldn't answer that for you. Thank you, sir. Yes sir. Other questions? All right. See you nun.

I'll entertain motion Do we need more discussion What'd you say? I said, do we need more discussion? We don't have a motion Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir. I'd like to make a motion to approve this request. Um it is consistent with the Envisioned Pitt County 2045 comprehensive. plan. Uh, the area requested for rezoning is designated as agricultural and open spacece conservation on the future land use. The Agricultural designation allows for the limited commercial users in the area designated as open space conservation and to remain undeveloped and will be left in its natural state. In addition, there is significant amount of wooded and wetland areas surrounding the site. that will provide spatial separation and screening between , uh, res adjacent residential uses. It this request is reasonable and in the public interest because the request is for a conditional zoning district. and spatial separation and screening are required as outlined in the Pitt County Zoning Ordinance. The applicant has proposed proposing to increase setbacks from Oakley Road from 50 to 100 ft in order to provide additional separation from the few residences that are within the vicinity of the facility. Thank you I second that motion. Thank you. I have a motion in a second. All those in favor, let it be known by raising your right hand. Dis discussion, sorry.

Um, does that, did that motion include the conditional or the additional conditions recommended. Yes, it should have. Yes. But just to clarify, you're you are making a motion to accept staff's full recommendations. OK . What the additional conditions that you applied. Yes, sir. Thank you. All right, a motion in a second All those in favor, let it be known by raising your right hand . Those opposed right hand. Thank you. Motion carries to approve. Thank you Thank you for everyone that provided comments. And just as a reminder again, uh, this will again be heard by the Board of County Commissioners on March 16th at a public hearing as well . Thanks. Could we return our large packets so that you can use them again? I will happily save the, save the paper. Mr. Hill you can make your way. Thank you . Rima. And just to make the board aware of Mr. White's and I's conversation just then, um, we will be sending out notices to the adjacent property owners, letting them know of the next public hearing at the Board of Commissioners on the 16th. for both items that you just heard. So the next item on your agenda is the uh subdivision activity report, um, at, at your last meeting, it was brought up by our Chairman, uh, that the need for more information

regarding the subdivision activity that our department is involved with, um, and just to give you a little bit of background, how we got to this point. In January of 23, the Planning Board formed an Advisory committee consisting of 4 planning board members, 2 developers and the engineer to review specific information required for major subdivision lats, as well as the overall subdivision process. The committee met 3 times in this and thoroughly reviewed the subdivision ordinance, took into consideration various factors including state laws concerning septic system approvals, legal limitations of the board as well as best practices for preliminary latt review and approval processes from other jurisdictions. On May 17th, 23, the Planning Board reviewed the committee's recommendation and voted unanimously to recommend approval of amending the subdivision ordinance to remove the planning board's responsibility for plan approvals and shift that responsibility over to the technical Review Commit. In June of 23, the Board of Commissioners also voted unanimously to make those amendments to the subdivision ordinance. Therefore, you guys are no longer seeing the subdivision plans that are being approved. So hence, the Chairman's, uh, recommendation that we look at how you guys receive those reports. Um, I think he has some concerns and, and other members as well, um, when approached by the general public asking what is happening in our community, some of the planning board was unaware. So, looking into that, uh, staff has, uh assessed where we are and looked at some options moving forward, and you should see at your uh, place, a handout that was placed there prior to the meeting, uh, of a proposal that

we have. However, our current method is simply including that information in your monthly report. So that's what we've done, uh, since June of 23, uh, is included those numbers in your, uh, monthly report package , um, and it, that section looks like you see on the screen, it's basically the approved preliminary plats showing how many plats we got and how many lots were created as a result. So that was our form of communicating the activity. Um, however the packet that you have before you tonight is something that staff, uh, worked on since your last meeting, uh, in an effort to be more transparent, if you will, and, and providing that information to you guys. Uh, you'll see a, uh, spreadsheet that has several columns. It lists a map number and there are maps, uh, with the corresponding numbers in that package, showing the layout of the subdivision, the road names, where it's located in general. I realize it's only an 8.5 by 11. It's kind of hard to read. Um, however, I think you can get a general overview of what is occurring, uh, based on those plans, and of course, if you have any questions, you can always contact us and the staff will be glad to provide you with more details of those plans. Uh, it also includes the subdivision name, the plan type, whether it was a preliminary plat construction plan, or final plat . The parcel number that the property is located on. the number of lots, the total acreage for the tract that's being subdivided. The District, I wanted to, uh, point out what the district means. Uh, you'll see all of these refer to Pitt as the district. Many of y'all probably know, but some may not. We administer subdivision regulations for some municipalities. So if it was in, let's say the village of Simpson

, it would save Village of Simpson in that, uh uh, block. Um, also the application date when we received the plan and the plan's status, whether or not it's been approved under review, um and so forth So that is what we are proposing moving forward, um, and just wanted to get some input. Is this the the direction that you're looking at heading, is this suit your needs? Is there any information that we may have overlooked on this spreadsheet that you would like to see moving forward. So I'll open it up for comments from, uh, the board. Thank you for providing this. It's one of the board members that requested something that this, this serves a purpose to at least be able to articulate an answer to the public when asked. Absolutely. And fortunately, I will add that we recently, uh, this last calendar year, we, um, moved forward with our new permitting system and this data is coming directly from that system that we implemented, which has been great. It provides this information at Little staff time, uh, involved. So it's something that we can quickly pull together, put in your package on a monthly basis moving forward. What's the difference, uh Jonas approved and TRC approval. I believe, uh the approved is that was the final lat. So it's not approved by the technical Review Commit. It's just approved by staff at that point. and recorded My bad, I didn't look back across.

If that satisfies you, that will be what we will provide moving forward, uh, if in the future, you think of something that needs to be added or that you want to know if you'll let us know. And speaking of the future , we have another idea, uh, as staff, but we couldn't pull this one off, uh, quite as quickly, uh, in a month turnaround, but we have had some initial talks with the different departments within the county. And you'll see an example up here, um, from Raleigh, and this is a web-based, uh, program that anyone in the general public planning Board can go online and , uh, to this link and you'll see a map that shows the activity around the county, and you can click on that property and pull up the plan that is associated that has been submitted and looked further at the details. So, this is something that we're looking at, uh, possibly implementing, it should be low cost. Again, we have the data. It's just a matter of linking that data through GIS and publishing it on the web. So this is something that staff will pursue with MIS and our GIS folks to see if we can implement down the road, um, to just provide that not only for the planning boardard but for the general public. And then, Mr . Chairman, if you're asked by the general public, you can direct them to the website and they can look for themselves. So I think it will be a great thing , uh, benefit to both planning Board and the general public as well. So this is something we'll continue to pursue, and I'll keep you updated as, as we move along in that process. Thank you. All right Next item I have, uh, is informational items in your packet, uh, to give you an update last month, you heard the rezoning request for, uh,

Christopher Sutton, um that request went to the Board of Commissioners this past Monday and was approved, uh, per your recommendation, uh, for a rezoning from rural agricultural to rural residential at Haddock's Crossroads. Uh, also, the North Carolina Department of Transportation requests for additions to state-maintained road system for Salttooth Oaks was approved by the board. So those subdivision roads will now , uh, be assumed by the Department of Transportation for maintenance purposes which is a very good thing Also in your packet is the January, uh, monthly report, as well as some other articles and correspondences related to the world of planning here in Pitt County. So, Mr. Chairman, that's all I have. Good point, uh, Tab asked if we needed a motion to move forward with that subdivision. I'll leave it to your discretion, Mr. Chair, if you want a motion to move forward with that, I'll accept it and just so we have consensus from the board that this is valuable, I'll take a motion to approve this subdivision. I make a motion that we approve it. Thank you at the same time, so. All those in favor say aye. All right. Thank you. Thanks for that clarification tab and board. All right. Anything else from members of the board? See younnn. Thank you. Yes, sir. Can I just share something with those of us that are left too right now because to me, we've had a couple of interesting conversations, especially. this last one on the solar farms . and, and listen, I know that I've sat here and put it on some solar farms and to a landowner, if he can make more money, I guess that's his land and he needs to be able to do what he wants to with that property. But at the same time, he's a

stated a while ago for the farmers and uh I was raised on a farm and I hate to see farming go away. any folks gonna tell me, well, that's progress, Steve, and I understand that, but again, these folks made a I think they put together a great presentation. I'm still wondering how somebody can tell me my land value is going to stay the same. and not gonna decline. 20 years from now or 30 years from now. when they just been chasing in a study 1517 years thus far. So how can you tell me that that's what's going? I know it's a fall forecast, but please don't ever thank board members that I'm voting in in in opposition to you for anything personal. It's not personal, but it's just in my mind, I'm trying to figure out how do we try to do the best we can. for the county because I'm still at a loss to figure out who's, have we lost some tax money? for the county in this whole swapping. but yet still, yeah, it came back to me that it sounds like we're making some money. fact rather than fiction. That's what I'd like to make sure that I'm casting my vote sometimes for his facts rather than fiction. Steve , the reason, the reason I voted for it was actually two reasons. One reason he got up there and said that it flooded. Oh yeah. So that's no good. The other reason is that they could go out there and do a subdivision, and you can never reclaim the land. 15 or 20 years down the road and uh. you know. that's the reason I understand that's the reason, that's the reason they have, how many of us now on the board? I mean, just because we have got different opinions and we need to share those. So, and I think that's something too, we don't, we need to be stand tall and at least if we got a question because I learned some things tonight and

I appreciated the presentations that I heard, but I also appreciated what the young farmers were. saying too and appreciate where their plight is. Thank you. I'll be quiet now. OK, sir. Other comments See you not, I'll take a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second, all those in favor say aye.