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One further hurdle to the relocation of a pipe foundry to Stanly County was cleared at Monday’s meeting of the Board of Commissioners.

The board approved unanimously the rezoning of a 16.88-acre tract of land on 8504 Swift Road in Oakboro to the M-2 heavy manufacturing zone.

A request for the rezoning change was presented by Bailey Emrich, a planner with the county.

The parcel of land partly lies in the Oakboro jurisdiction, which is still zoned as residential/agricultural by the town. The portion of the land under Stanly’s jurisdiction was the portion rezoned into heavy manufacturing.

Oakmont Acquisition LLC made the rezoning request which was previously passed by the county’s Planning and Zoning Board.

According to attorney Charles Brown, speaking on behalf of Oakmont during the hearing, the parent company of the LLC is Charlotte Pope and Foundry.

He added no announcement for the moving forward of construction was to be made at that time.

Brown also said Oakmont owned 33 parcels of land in the Oakboro area, with three parcels connected to the land in question. He said Oakmont has 11 pending rezoning applications with the town. Those applications, Brown said, will be addressed at the next meeting of the Oakboro Town Council in two weeks.

During the hearing, a number of Stanly residents who were employees with Charlotte Pipe expressed their approval of the rezoning, including two senior vice presidents. Mike Hall, senior VP of cast iron, said the rezoning was “very crucial,” while Trent Tucker, plastics senior VP, also said he approved.

Wayne Coble, of 8485 Swift Road, was the only person in the meeting who spoke against the rezoning request. Coble owns 57.49 acres across the road from the parcel owned by Oakmont.

Coble said he received no notification of the rezoning of another property across the road from his property. He has concerns about the types of businesses associated with the M-2 zoning. He mentioned concerns about hazardous waste, increased traffic and possible groundwater contamination.

Vice Chairman Ashley Morgan made the motion to approve the request and was seconded by Commissioner Bill Lawhon. The bill passed 7-0, including Commissioner Zack Almond, who was unable to attend but was participating in the meeting via cellphone.