The Pitt County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the Land Use Plan for the Greenville Southwest Bypass, which is currently under construction.
Development of the Land Use Plan started in November 2017. Several public hearings were held to help make development and infrastructure decisions along the 12.6-mile corridor, which will take motorists from the west side of Ayden to the west side of Greenville. Eric Gooby, Senior Planner with Pitt County Planning Department said the Land Use Plan maintains agricultural lands west of the bypass and enhances industrial areas at the northern and southern end of the corridor.
“We’ve also got some new designations, particularly mixed use, at some of the interchanges and also some conservation design in some areas as well.”
Now that the Land Use Plan is approved, Gooby said the County will amend zoning ordinance requirements to more specific design standards for areas designated mixed use.
“These areas are going to be gateways, and so we want to make sure that the commercial land uses are not only appropriate for that area but also look nice and provide some aesthetics to those interchanges.”
Gooby said the County will likely add more protections for agricultural areas and requirements that would reduce light pollution. Construction on the $230 million Greenville Southwest Bypass project should be complete in June 2020.