A proposed countywide zoning ordinance goes before the public in a hearing scheduled by the Moore County Board of Commissioners Monday.

If approved by the commissioners, the ordinance will provide a zoning district for all land in the county that is not already covered by municipalities within their boundaries and extraterritorial jurisdictions.

Also included are all areas previously zoned by the county.

The proposed ordinance has been the subject of several public meetings held by the planning board, but the Monday night hearing is expected to be the last time that the public will be invited to speak out on the subject prior to its adoption.

The commissioners will convene at 6 p.m. Monday in the historic courthouse in downtown Carthage.

The proposed ordinance is "a plan developed for the people," said Tim Lea, chair of the Moore County Planning Board. "It protects people’s rights but doesn’t take any rights away."

Lea predicted that the commissioners would approve the ordinance.

"We made a commitment to the people that we would zone their property the way they wanted it zoned," Lea said. "The county commissioners are still committed to that, and I don’t think we have sidestepped that responsibility."

From the onset of the land-use plan process, the commissioners and planning board members made it clear that countywide zoning would be the next step after adoption of a land-use plan, Lea continued.

Lea said the county planning staff and members of his board have received numerous inquiries from the public in recent weeks. Many of the inquiries were based on misinformation, he added.

He reported that everyone has tried to answer these questions as accurately and clearly as possible.

"Once they get a clear understanding of what we’re doing, I feel that the people went away satisfied," he said.

The zoning proposal is the work of the County Planning Department and was carried out under the supervision of a zoning oversight committee chaired by planning board member Jimmy Melton. It is the result of dozens of public meetings in communities across the county and numerous meetings of the oversight committee and the planning board.

In preparation for the Monday night public hearing, the planning department has run advertisements in The Pilot weekly, for four weeks, to explain the zoning proposals.

At the Aug. 5 meeting, County Planning Director Nancy Roy told the planning board that her office has mailed 850 notices to individual property owners who reside outside the newspaper distribution area. In addition, some 200 signs were posted in public places to advise people about the zoning proposal and the public hearing.

Roy reported that her office has received a rash of inquiries in recent weeks.

"We had a lot of inquiries, and we answered a lot of questions," she said. "About 90 percent of the calls were positive. People just wanted information."

In a telephone interview, Lea credited Roy for the success of the zoning effort.

"We would not be where we are today without the dedication she has given to the process. She’s a real asset to the county," Lea said.

He also expressed appreciation for the support his board has received from the county commissioners.

Lea told The Pilot that the planning staff and his board have tried hard to make property owners comfortable with the zoning ordinance. He said every effort was made to zone property the way the owners preferred that it be zoned.

For example, he pointed out, more than 90 pecent of the unzoned territory has been zoned Rural Agricultural, which means that there should be almost no change in the way the land is being used.

Changes were being proposed as late as the Aug. 5 planning board meeting, at which the board agreed to change the Rural Equestrian District at the request of residents not associated with horse farming and related occupations. The change allows for residential lots as small as 20,000 square feet.

Rural Equestrian is one of several new districts contained in the zoning proposal.

A district known as Rural Agricultural (RA) will replace the Residential Agricultural District, which has no minimum lot size. This is the most common district designated in the ordinance. It provides for single-family residences (manufactured homes included), churches, fire stations, cemeteries, minor subdivisions and home occupations, among other uses typical of such a setting.

One new district, the RA-Urban Services Boundary District, is being proposed as a concept. This district would apply to areas outlying municipalities but currently unzoned. This district would represent the direction in which those municipalities would be most likely to expand.

The ordinance proposes an RA-40 district allowing for athletic fields, churches, day-care homes, libraries, home occupations, produce stands and horse farms as well as single-family dwellings.

Two gated communities, Seven Lakes and Woodlake, would be surrounded by special zoning districts designed to take the place of what would be extraterritorial jurisdiction if the communities were incorporated as municipalities. Zoning is not needed within these developments, because of deed restrictions and other built-in protections for property owners.

The new Rural Equestrian (RE) District applies to the area identified as "horse country" between Southern Pines and Vass. It is not the only district in which horse farms and related uses are allowed.

RE is one of three RA-40 Districts recommended for rezoning in the new ordinance. These are areas that were already zoned RA-40 under the existing ordinance.

The other communities affected are Jackson Springs and a dividing line established at Joel Road and Union Church Road.

Jackson Springs is recommended for the RA District. The zoning oversight committee explained that this was done to make the zoning less restrictive for typical rural activities, including home occupations, accessory buildings and secondary temporary dwellings. However, this change would provide protection from the encroachment of intrusive development, such as major subdivisions or industrial uses.

As with all zoning ordinances, this proposal is subject to change if property owners request legitimate changes. However, there is a rezoning process to be followed, and the request will be subject to scrutiny and comment by neighboring property owners. Appeals may be taken to the county commissioners, as is the case with the present ordinance.

If the commissioners vote to approve the ordinance during the Monday meeting, they can decide to implement it immediately or to make it effective Sept. 1, the target date for full implementation in keeping with the goals of the land-use plan that was approved in the spring.