The Greenville Board of Adjustment met on August 28, 2025, at 6:00 PM in City Hall Council Chambers. The meeting included two public hearings: a request for a special use permit by Power Nation Church to operate a child daycare facility, and a request by Mark and Phoi Phillips to surrender a special use permit for a tobacco shop. Both items were approved unanimously after board discussion and public hearings.
Good evening. The meeting will now come to order. Welcome to the August 28th, 2025 meeting of the City of Greenville Board of Adjustment. Miss Clerk, can you give us a roll call, please? Here. David Newman. Here. Will you have more? Mr. Chairman, all members present tonight are voting members for tonight's meeting. All right. Certainly. Thank you. The following general instruction to quasi judicial hearings and disclosure statement applies to all evidentiary matters for consideration by the board tonight. To the board and to members of the public. Please note that for any variance hearing, a four-fifth vote of the board is required to grant a variance. For all other evidentiary hearings, the decision will be made by a simple majority vote of the board. State law sets specific procedures and rules concerning how this board must make its decision. These rules are different from other types of land use decisions like rezoning cases. Ultimately, the board will determine what evidence to consider and how much weight to assign to the evidence presented. Participation is limited. This meeting is open to the public. Everyone is welcome to watch. Parties with standing have rights to participate fully. Parties with standing may present evidence, call witnesses, object to testimony, cross-examine witnesses, and make legal arguments. Witnesses for a party may present competent material and substantial evidence that is not repetitive as allowed by the board. General witness testimony is limited to facts, not opinions. For certain topics, this board needs to hear opinion testimony from expert witnesses. These topics include projections about impacts on property values and projections about impacts of increased traffic. Individuals providing expert opinion testimony must be qualified as experts and provide the factual evidence upon which they base their expert opinion. In order to act as a party in any of the evidentiary hearings being heard tonight, an individual must have what's called legal standing. If you are not the applicant or the city of Greenville, you will be asked a series of questions for the board to determine if you are allowed to participate in the hearing as a party withstanding. In accordance with North Carolina General Statute 160 D four o six subsection D and North Carolina General Statute 160 D-1402 C, referred to tonight for expediency as the standing law. The following persons have standing to participate as a party in this evidentiary hearing. Number one, the City of Greenville. Number two, the applicant. Number three, a person who has a an ownership interest in the property that is the subject of the application. B. A leasehold interest in the property. C. An interest created by easement restriction or covenant in the property. D, an option or contract to purchase the property. Number four, an incorporated or unincorporated association to which the owners or lessees of property in a designated area belong by virtue of their owning or leasing property in that area or an association otherwise organized to protect and foster the interest of the particular neighborhood or local area, so long as at least one of the members of the association would have standing as an individual to challenge the board's decision and the association was not created in response to a particular development or issue that is subject of the appeal. 5. A person who will suffer special damages as a result of the board's decision. Evidence of standing for a person who will suffer special damages may include proximity to the subject property, damage to property values, and secondary impacts upon the requested development. Pursuant to North Carolina General Statute 160 D 109, 160 D 406, Section 4 of the Board of Adjustments Rules of Procedure and the meeting handout available to the public. The parties to these cases being heard tonight are entitled to an impartial board. The board member a board member may not participate in any hearing if he or she has a fixed opinion about the matter, a financial interest in the outcome of the matter, or a close relationship with an affected person. The parties to the cases tonight also have rights for any ex parte communications to be disclosed.