The Pitt County Planning Board voted to recommend denial of a conditional rezoning request from Sawyers Property Management Group LLC that would have rezoned 13.72 acres on Quarry Road from rural residential to general commercial conditional for uses including mini-storage, boat and RV parking, and contractor storage.

Planning staff described the site as located on the western side of Quarry Road north of Worthington Road, surrounded by predominantly residential uses and near existing subdivisions including Quarry Ridge. The countys future land-use map designates the parcel as suburban residential and staff said the comprehensive plan calls for context-sensitive evaluation of commercial uses in such areas.

Applicant representatives said they had reduced an earlier proposal and engaged neighbors over the past year to refine the plan into a lower-traffic proposal. “A self storage facility is a very low traffic generator, creates very little noise, and the lighting can be contained within the property,” applicant consultant Scott Anderson told the board, and he noted the rezoning area had been reduced from 31.9 acres in a 2022 proposal to 13.7 acres.

Neighbors and homeowners repeatedly opposed the request. Jerry McCroy, a Corey Ridge resident, recounted prior votes and city decisions that had rejected earlier Sawyer proposals and urged the board to “shut down the Sawyer's assault on our local community and put this puppy to bed,” saying residents do not want the property converted to the proposed commercial uses. Multiple residents raised concerns about traffic and children crossing Quarry/Corey Road, nighttime lighting, security and the potential for the commercial uses to expand later. Several speakers said the property was residential when they bought nearby homes and that the community expects it to remain so.

Planning staff had proposed a set of conditions intended to reduce impacts, including a 10-foot landscaped buffer along public roads and adjacent residences, perimeter fencing and landscaping, architectural standards for facades visible from Quarry Road, limits on outside contractor storage (limited to the office building only), signage and security-camera requirements, and compliance with erosion-control and stormwater ordinances.

After public comment the board member Priscilla Ellison moved to recommend denial, citing incompatibility with surrounding residential uses and the countys comprehensive plan; the motion passed. Planning staff reminded the public that the Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the matter and that mailed notice will be sent for that hearing.