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WALLACE — A public hearing on a rezoning request for a Royal Farms gas station in Wallace has been postponed for the second time. The hearing was supposed to be held at the Wallace Town Council’s Sept. 12 meeting, but was rescheduled at the request of Royal Farms’ parent company, Two Farms, Inc.
The request is to rezone the 6.08 acres that remain on Two Farms’ property at the corner of Highways 11 and 41 in the Tin City area from RA-20 to HB-Highway Business. The rezoning would allow the gas station to be able to expand into what is now a field that sits between the former Tin City Express gas station and residential neighborhood Plantation Acres.
The hearing was originally planned for the council’s August meeting, but was rescheduled then due to Tropical Storm Debby. This time, Two Farms asked for more time, Town Manager Rob Taylor said.
The council voted unanimously to reschedule the public hearing for the next town council meeting, Oct. 10, after 6 p.m. The meeting will be moved to the Wallace Woman’s Club in order to better accommodate the public.
Prior to the meeting Thursday night, council members participated in a brief groundbreaking ceremony for the Maple Creek sewer extension project, which Taylor refers to as the 830 Project. “We’re connecting the back side of River Landing, going out to Highway 11 and then to the wastewater treatment plant,” Taylor explained. “It will take a lot of pressure off our sewer system.”
The project has been in the works for eight years, he added, and will take about 300 days to complete. Work started last week and workers have already laid a lot of pipe, Taylor said.
At last month’s meeting, the council accepted a loan from the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in the amount of $1,884,318.
In other business at the Sept. 12 meeting:
- The council voted to schedule a public hearing at the Oct. 10 meeting for a rezoning request from Wilmer Cruz of Maple Street. Cruz’s property is currently zoned Highway Business and he wishes to rezone a portion of his property to R-6 so that he can increase the size of his home, Planning Director Rod Fritz said.
- The council also adopted a resolution authorizing Town Clerk Jackie Nicholson to investigate the sufficiency of a petition for annexation. The petition is from Avery-Davis Investments, LLC of Knightdale to close in the south side of their property that is in Pender County along US Highway 117 to their existing 150-acre annexed property.
- Public Services Director Brent Dean gave an update on various public services projects, including the 830 Project. He said he will do a presentation on the town’s dyke project at the South Carolina Environmental Conference in March 2025. Mayor Jason Wells also told Dean about a sinkhole that has opened on East Boney Street.
- Taylor reported that Former Finance Director Joseph Trollinger had submitted his resignation, so there were no tax reports or financial reports. Taylor did say that the town is experiencing about 3.8% growth so far over the past fiscal year.
- During his report to the council, Taylor stated that plans for a new public safety center were entering the final stages, and he should have an update on that project at the next meeting.
The next Wallace Town Council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10, at the Wallace Woman’s Club.
