The North Carolina Department of Commerce is asking for input from the community regarding compatibility planning related to military operations in the northeast region of the state.

The state agency will host an informational workshop in Washington on Wednesday as part of the ongoing development of the Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) to address planning between Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, the Dare County Range and the communities in the flight path between them.

County manager Brian Alligood said the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners, in general, has no issue with military flying over Beaufort County, but there was some concern that this was a step toward making Beaufort County consent to some planning commissioners weren’t comfortable with, particularly related to zoning.

The Department of Commerce is essentially looking at all the issues related to flight paths in communities so, if they so choose to, they can make adjustments to their planning rules and growth patterns so that the two don’t conflict with each other, according to Alligood.

“The JLUS study is supposed to help communities recognize that this is a use with the air traffic and think about what would be compatible uses in that area,” Alligood said. “If you know that airplanes are going to be flying here, in your land use plans, this is not a good area for development. It’s just a document that helps people understand what’s going on around them. They’re asking for input, and it’s something folks need to understand and be aware of. They always have and will continue to fly jets in the area and just understanding all the ins and outs and how it impacts different things is a good thing to understand.”

Will Best, project coordinator for the JLUS, said the agency is assessing 25 compatibility factors. There were approximately 48 issues within 16 of those 25 compatibility factors. For example, one issue is vertical obstructions, such as windmills, related to energy development. Other factors include coordination and communication, land use, noise from over-flight, safety zones, environmental impacts and roadway capacity.

“In addition to that, we would have coordination as far as land use,” Best said. “The workshop is to receive public input so we can coordinate and communicate regarding compatibility issues for the study area.”

Best said the JLUS stakeholders are the residents of all communities in the study area. Leadership from each community interested in participating has formed a policy committee, which is steering the study. The study covers Wayne County and Goldsboro, as well as Bertie, Washington, Beaufort, Dare, Hyde and Tyrrell counties, according to Best.

“This is not a regulatory document,” Best said. “It’s not zoning. It will be up to the policy committee and the counties and the local units of government to adopt the study or components of the study. The policy committee is in charge of this study.”

Best said the study wouldn’t apply any restrictions on the communities involved, but it would provide planning tools and allow a discussion of land use with military operations.

“The goal would be to sustain the economic health of the study area, and at the same time, accommodate community growth,” Best said.

Officially, there are no representatives from Beaufort County on the JLUS policy committee. The Beaufort County Board of Commissioners have taken a hands-off approach to the study, opting to not be involved in the policy side of it, but have stayed in touch with planning, according to Alligood.

The workshop is set for Wednesday, from 5-7 p.m. at the Washington Civic Center. Similar workshops are being held this week in Goldsboro and Manteo, according to the release.

The Washington Civic Center is located at 110 Gladden St. in downtown Washington.