'It's right in our faces': Pender County residents oppose rezoning for industrial site

After hearing from numerous concerned residents in Currie, Pender County Commissioners voted to rezone an old lumber yard into a site that will allow for a plethora of industrial uses.

TW & AG Timber, LLC requested the approval of the commissioners on Jan. 16, to expand the existing industrial site of the old lumber yard located at the corner of Porter Road and Malpass Corner Road.

The site was originally approved with a special-use permit in 1988 for lumber manufacturing, but the current owner and applicant wished to seek the allowance of additional light industrial and industrial uses for the site as well as to expand the development into two adjacent parcels that are under the same ownership, which will bring the total acreage to 59.

The light industrial uses that the owners planned to allow on the property include construction of buildings, specialty trade contractors, artisan manufacturing, food manufacturing, wood product manufacturing, computer electronic product manufacturing, ready mixed concrete manufacturing, truck transportation, real estate and rental and leasing, storage businesses, waste management, textile production, educational services such as technical and trade schools, automobile repair and maintenance, commercial and industrial machinery and equipment repair, and sales and rental.

Residents of Currie, specifically those who reside on Porter Road and Malpass Corner Road, addressed commissioners with their concerns regarding what this new industrial site will bring into their lives because of the uncertainty of any specific use on the site.

Commissioner Jackie Newton, who represents the residents of Currie, addressed the applicant's attorney on behalf of Currie residents.

"They're seeing you appear to ask us for a blank check that may or may not adhere to their benefit," Newton said.

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A major concern shared among residents was the potential generation of harmful chemicals and dust that might pollute the air and ground around the site and their homes.

"Our health is something you cannot put a dollar value to," said resident Elsie Murphy.

Not only was air pollution a concern, but residents also were concerned about sound and light disturbances that the industrial uses might bring into their neighborhood.

"We have numerous homes in close proximity to this property and one of the elderly couples that resides there can touch the fence while standing in their yard," resident Mamie Hansley said. "It's not like this place is back off the road, it's right in our faces."

Chairman Brad George said the new site could be a win for Pender County's economy as he said 58% of Pender County residents travel outside of the county for work.

"We lost two of our big industrial sites right here in Hampstead area to Onslow County because of our UDO and our lack of infrastructure," he said.

Currie resident Conway Murphy opposed the rezoning. "If Currie is your home, look out because the majority of the community is saying no," Murphy said.

Resident Jason Hansley asked the commissioners to protect the future of current residents as well as their children and generations to come.

"Keep everything that is harmful to us and to our families away so when we go to work and we invest in our properties after coming home from a hard day year over year that we can live in peace," Hansley said.

Hansley said he and Currie residents welcome businesses and jobs and that they want to work. He said he had uncles and cousins who worked across from the previous mill, "but when they went home, they were at peace."

"I want to say in no uncertain terms, it is illegal and against the law to pollute the groundwater. It is illegal and against the law to pollute the air," said Sam Frank, the attorney for TW & AG Timber, LLC. "That's true for a textile mill. That's true for a lumber yard. That's true for someone on a residential lot, who changes the motor oil in their vehicle in their driveway and doesn't capture the oil."

Frank said the difference between those examples is that the sites with industrial uses have to record what they're doing regularly to comply with the law.

Rhett Polluck, who is a lawyer and serves Burgaw residents, saw the rezoning as an exciting opportunity to provide Pender County with more jobs.

"When people come to me and they have a job, it changes everything," Polluck said. "They're so proud to have that job."

Newton, who represents Currie, made a motion to approve the rezoning of the land and expansion without the allowance of waste management or textile uses. Newton also suggested the property have the buffers that the planning board recommended and have a maximum height of 40 feet.

The motion passed with all commissioners in favor.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Pender County residents oppose rezoning for industrial site