The Moore County Land Use Plan Steering Committee (LUPSC) presented progress on land use plans (LUP) to commissioners and the planning board at a special meeting on March 18 at the Moore County Agricultural Center.
The small-town model preserves and protects rural agriculture and prevents urban sprawl.
LUPSC Project Leader Larry Best, former landscape architect, said small-town models preserve rural spaces between towns, which are important in creating a visual edge and will protect Moore County’s uniqueness.
With a visual on the projection screen of a large subdivision with open spaces in every home’s backyard and a working 300-acre farm, Best said the idea of suburban living and rural agriculture development is doable.
The county population will grow, and leaders need to prepare with LUPs with foresight into how the growth will affect towns, culture, infrastructure, and future generations.
“Currently, we lack the infrastructure to accommodate an intensive, industrial development,” LUPSC Project Leader Rober Hayter said about not wanting a Bragg Boulevard in the county.
“Public and private sectors can no longer be treated as separate individuals. We’re all in this together,” Best said about the committee being inclusive during its first nine months of work.
With a base of 30 members, the LUPSC met for two hours once a month for nine months to form recommendations and said it would be premature to forecast the final LUP.
“No private property will be rezoned. It is the owner’s right to ask for their property to be rezoned,” Hayter said about the progress report, which prioritized preserving agriculture and the rural lifestyle.
Key Recommendations:
Preserve agriculture.
Prevent medium- and higher-density residential subdivisions and isolated commercial uses in rural agriculture areas not needed to accommodate the county’s growth over the next 20 years.
Create new districts for small-town models.
Continue conservation of farmlands.
Preserve agritourism.
Preserve food crops.
Preserve history.
Maintain, develop, and coordinate with historical preservation organizations to preserve history.
Encourage local agriculture and manufactured products.
Discourage unattractive land uses: highways and gateways appearance, signage, and industry.
Consider the effects of land use at the Moore County Airport.
Conserve easements in nonprofit conservation organizations.
Implement zoning policies for forested buffers in new subdivisions to prevent clear-cutting.
Promote preservation of existing trees in major developments.
Implement zoning policies for 40% open space of a development parcel, with 10% for green space.
The public may share input with an online form here.
The LUPSC will receive questions from commissioners and the planning board, discuss strategies and announce the next meeting date.
Feature photo: Moore County Planning Director Debra Ensminger introduces the Moore County Land Use Steering Committee on March 18, 2025, at the Moore County Agricultural Center.
~Article and photos by Sandhills Sentinel journalist Stephanie M. Sellers. Stephanie is also an English instructor at Central Carolina Community College. Her fictional work includes When the Yellow Slugs Sing and Sky’s River Stone, and a suspense, GUTTERSNIPE: Shakespearean English Stage Play with Translation, and a March 21, 2025, release published by Golden Storyline Books, a science fiction, Amagi.
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