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Sunday, June 16, 2024

CITY OF WHITEVILLE: Council approves $44,000 grant to begin downtown streetscape plan

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City of Whiteville recently issued the following announcement.

Council also unanimously approved a staff recommendation to enter a $44,200 contract with WithersRavenel, Inc. to develop a downtown streetscape master plan to assess existing conditions and needs (both current and future) and provide a plan to guide the improvements of a new downtown streetscape as well as help in pursuing future funding opportunities and implementation strategies.

WithersRavenel will seek input from downtown property owners, merchants and others in the community, then put together a plan that would greatly improve the streetscape and other features downtown if funding can be found.

Whiteville City Council Tuesday night approved two conditional use permits, one to allow the establishment of a day care center and the other to permit a fire substation. They also approved an update to the existing business starter packet given to potential new businesses, approved new career development program for the police department, received an annual report from the local Bee City USA affiliate and authorized entering a contract with a consultant for a downtown streetscape master plan.

The zoning decisions were unanimous and came after public hearings.on the requests.

Daisy Brooks was on hand to answer any questions council had about her request that buildings at 506 N. Lee St. and 501 N. Madison St. be granted a conditional use permit to allow child care to take place at the property, which is zoned residential (R-12). The planning board reviewed and recommended approval of the request in July.The property currently is in use as a church. The 501 N. Madison St. portion of the property will only be used for recreational activities associated with the day care.

Chief Greg Spivey appeared to advocate for the Brunswick Volunteer Fire Department’s request for a conditional use permit to allow construction of a fire department substation at 600 Sunset Terrace Ave. Construction of the substation will allow faster response times within a significant portion of the department’s coverage area and eventually will result in reduction of fire insurance rates for some property owners. The property is zoned residential (RA-20).

Council also received and accepted a report from NCGrowth containing recommendations for distributing the city’s updated business starter packet via social media, working with The News Reporter, outreach via public forums and placement on the city’s website, and streamlining the city’s planning and permitting process, including moving all forms and applications to the Cognito Forms software package, adjusting the organization of the website, using flow charts to illustrate internal workflow, establishing upfront timeline expectations and implementing electronic planning and permitting platforms.

A revision was unanimously approved to the police department’s Career Development Program which adds three new levels of officer development – Master Officer I, Master Officer II and Master Officer III – to the career development ladder. Those levels will be between the initial level – Police Officer – and the next advanced level – Sergeant.

Original source: https://whitevillenc.gov/news/2020/8/28/council-approves-44000-grant-to-begin-downtown-streetscape-plan

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