SNOW HILL – The Worcester County Commissioners approved a rezoning request for land on North Piney Point Road this week.
The commissioners on Tuesday voted 6-0 to rezone 9.4 acres on North Piney Point Road from E-1 estate to I-1 light industrial. The request, which came from Moore Boat LLC, had received a favorable recommendation from the Worcester County Planning Commission.
“The light industrial zoning will bring it consistent with the use that has existed there for many years and to some extent still exists today,” attorney Hugh Cropper told the commissioners.
According to county staff, the 9.4 acres is made up of three parcels that were initially zoned for agricultural use. The land was given the E-1 designation in the 1990s. Moore Boat applied for the rezoning to industrial on the basis that a mistake had been made in designating the land E-1.
“It’s not appropriate for houses,” Cropper said.
Phyllis Wimbrow, the county’s deputy director of development review and permitting, said the planning commission had concluded that a mistake had been made.
“The planning commission found that the petitioned area is the site of a long-established boat repair and fabrication operation and that although the intensity of this operation has waxed and waned, it has never ceased being utilized as such,” Wimbrow said.
She said the commission found that there was an issue with the consistency of the petitioned area’s zoning classification and its longtime use. The commission also noted that the property had long been the site of a boat repair operation and that it had coexisted with the residences in the area.
Todd Lekites told the commissioners he owned property on North Piney Point Road and was worried about an increase in traffic if the property was rezoned industrial.
“He’s been a great neighbor,” he said. “My only concern is the amount of traffic this rezoning might result in. I don’t want it to affect our quality of life.”
Property owner Leighton Moore said he didn’t expect to bring a big increase in traffic to the street.
“We are going to use this for storage so it should not generate that much more traffic,” he said, adding that he would also continue to use the property for boat and metal fabrication.
