Commissioners deny rezoning request
Commissioners said RV storage on the land outlined in red would have clashed with nearby homes and farmland.
A 2.6-acre tract on Raleigh Road won’t become home to indoor storage for RVs.
County Commissioners made that call at their meeting on June 1.
“As an RV owner myself, I don’t have anything against RV storage areas,” said Commissioner Mike Rose. “In fact, I think they are needed.”
But not on Raleigh Road, he said. “I don’t think this is a particularly good spot for one,” Rose said. “It’s surrounded by residential on every side.”
Neighbors on Raleigh Road agreed with Rose.
“We are completely residential,” said Samantha Worley, a Raleigh Road resident. “There are zero parcels zoned general business.”
Andy Evans, another neighbor, said a zoning change would open an unwelcome door. “You’re breaking precedent if this gets allowed,” he told Commissioners. “It’d be the first one allowed, and the neighbor next door could say, ‘Hey, let me put up the same thing.’”
Matthew Quiet said he did his homework before buying his home in a nearby subdivision. “I did my due diligence to make sure that everything around me was zoned residential,” he said.
That mattered to County Commissioner Ted Godwin. “The land was bought eight years ago when it was zoned RA,” he said, referring to residential and agricultural. “And all the people bought and built houses around there knowing that it was all RA. And the fact that there are no businesses all along this road tends to make me believe it ought to stay RA.”
Property owner Kurt Farrell had changed his rezoning request to try to overcome neighborhood opposition. His original plan was a scaffolding business.
“This proposal is substantially different from the previous application,” Farrell told Commissioners. “I listened very carefully to the concerns that were raised in that process and redesigned the project to significantly reduce the intensity and impact.”
Commissioners gave him credit for that.
“I will say I don’t know what use will be less intrusive than this,” said Commissioner Butch Lawter, the board’s vice chairman. “If you put a house or two houses there, you’re probably going to see more vehicle trips per day.”
But to pass muster, a rezoning request has to meet certain criteria. Among them, a rezoning has to be reasonable and in the public interest.
Lawter said Farrell’s request fell short of those marks. “Is this in the public interest?” he asked. “I’m not sure, but I know that the public in the immediate area seems to be totally against this.”
Page last updated on: July 14, 2026