Update 4
This will be a long one, so...
***BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT: No vote was made at the Public Hearing this evening. This community will have to wait and try again at a future session. In the meantime, no progress will be made to rezone the property.***
Turnout at the Public Hearing tonight was fantastic, thank you to everyone who was able to make it out! Unfortunately, the board moved to table the hearing until a future meeting.
For those who were not able to attend this evening, the following will contain a summary of events:
Please be advised that statements made at rezoning hearings are NOT MADE UNDER OATH, the following statements from the developer SHOULD NOT be considered an authoritative source of information.
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1. The board moved our topic of discussion from second on the agenda to the end of the hearing, anticipating our cause to be the main talking point of the evening from the size of our audience and YOUR voices in the community. This is good news.
2. In their opening statements, the Planning and Zoning Department staff recommended the board approve the application, referencing other commercial plots that already exist in the area. This is bad news.
3. The representative for the company (J&K General Contractors/Raeford Development Co.) that is requesting the rezoning informed the public that the proposed plan for the land will be to construct a 22,500 sq.ft. building that will act as storage and administrative office space for two local businesses. The planned ingress/egress from the property will be located along Posey Farm Rd.
4. The representative for J&K/Raeford Development informed the board that the information on the application was incorrect before attempting to provide corrected documents to the members of the board on the spot. All further comments made between the developer and the board members were made in private and NOT for the record.
5. The board members motioned to approve tabling the discussion until next month's public hearing session.
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Keep an eye out for future updates. Update 5 will post within 72 hours and will contain a link to a Facebook page where we can take comments and consolidate official statements/updates to avoid as much confusion as possible in the coming weeks.
Remaining organized, informed, and ready to act will be critical to achieving victory.