Industrial Park Put Under City Zoning Rules
Salisbury, Rowan County officials compromise on areas in dispute

BY MARK WINEKA
SALISBURY POST

Salisbury city and Rowan County officials settled their differences Wednesday and agreed to new boundaries for the city’s zoning authority outside the city limits.

With Rowan County Commissioner Dave Rowland pushing both boards for a decision, the officials reached agreement on three issues:

- They decided that the county’s industrial park off Heilig Road should fall under the city’s zoning control.

- Proposed annexation areas along N.C. 150 (including the Summerfield and Homestead Hills subdivisions) will remain under the county’s zoning authority, for now.

- In a disputed area along Ridge and Enon Church roads, the two boards decided to split the difference. From U.S. 601 to U.S. 70, the city will have zoning jurisdiction on both sides of the road. From U.S. 601 to Spencer, the county will control both sides.

Even though the county now has zoning in place, the city of Salisbury is still entitled to have zoning control over land at least one mile beyond its limits.

County commissioners went into Wednesday’s joint luncheon proposing that the industrial park be under their zoning jurisdiction, though it lies inside the one-mile extraterritorial area that the city has a right to control.

County Chairman Newton Cohen said the county’s restrictive covenants on the park protected it as much or more than city zoning could. Rather, the county’s main concern was having to fight delays incumbent in the city’s subdivision process.

If the county has a prospective tenant for the park, commissioners want the ability to move quickly, so the prospective industry will not face delays that might cause it to look elsewhere, Cohen said.

Councilman Bill Burgin said the extraterritorial area is established for a purpose and the city has a feeling of obligation to that area. If given a choice, he added, he would want the industrial park under the city’s zoning control, rather than the proposed annexation area, which will probably come under city control eventually.

The city and county have a non-annexation agreement on the industrial park that prohibits the city from annexing the park for 13 more years.

City Manager David Treme noted that with 10 acres or more the county can subdivide property in the park without delay. On parcels 10 acres or less, he said, the city could provide a 15- to 30-day turnaround. The city wants the county’s industrial recruitment effort to be successful, besides wanting new water customers the park might offer, Treme added.

As a compromise, the boards agreed to place the industrial park within the city’s zoning control but leave out the proposed annexation areas along N.C. 150. The city’s annexation efforts west and southwest of the city are under court challenge, with an N.C. Court of Appeals decision not expected until this summer or fall.

If annexation is approved, the areas will come under city zoning control, but the city’s extraterritorial area would not extend a mile beyond the new city limits.

Ridge Road and Enon Church Road just happen to lie close to a mile from the city limits, so they became a natural boundary line between city and county zoning. But both boards expressed concern about one side of the road being under city jurisdiction, with the other side being in the county’s control.

Under the compromise, properties on both sides of the roads will be in the same jurisdiction – either city or county. Elsewhere, as much as it could, the city’s new extraterritorial area will follow railroad tracks, property lines and roads as its boundaries, rather than going exactly one mile out from the current city limits.

The city and county officials have discussed the zoning boundaries for months, prompting Rowland to say at one point Wednesday that he was ‘‘sick and tired of it.’’ The officials applauded themselves when they reached their final agreement Wednesday.

‘‘You see, that was easy,’’ Rowland said.