The State Employees’ Credit Union plans to build a new office in Washington, not far from the existing office on West 15^th Street.

Plans submitted to the City of Washington call for the new facility to be located on Whispering Pines Road next to Care-O-World Enrichment Center. At its August meeting, the Washington Planning Board reviewed and approved the site plan for the new SECU office on 5.46 acres. The existing office opened in 1994.

The site plan shows the new office will be about 10,000 square feet. “The building plans for our … building are in the final design phase,” wrote Edward Hoffman Jr., SECU’s executive vice president for property management, in an email. “We anticipate that the building should start no later than the end of the first quarter of 2017.”

Because it is in the U.S. Highway 17 Bypass overlay zone, the new building must meet specific criteria related to design, building materials, building height, building orientation, signage and landscaping, according to John Rodman, the city’s director of community and cultural resources. “We had to make sure it met those requirements,” Rodman said.

The purpose of the interchange overlay district is to encourage managed, sensible interchange development by providing protective measures that promote safety, minimize the impact to the natural environment, and promote highway beautification, according to a city document. The district’s regulations apply to land within 3,000 feet of the bypass corridor.

As for what happens to the existing office when the new one opens, Rodman said, “We’ll have a good building available for another use.” He expects the existing building, once vacated, will be attractive to prospective developers or others looking for a site to locate a new business or relocated an existing business.

In a related matter, the Washington City Council set a public hearing on the proposed contiguous annexation of the proposed SECU office into the city limits for 6 p.m. Monday. That annexation, if approved, would provide the new office with city services such as water, sewer, sanitation and fire and police protection.

When the city receives an annexation petition, the City Council directs the city clerk to investigate the sufficiency of the petition. After making the investigation, the city clerk certifies the results to the City Council. After receiving the city clerk’s certificate, the City Council sets a date for a public hearing on the annexation request. Notice of the hearing must be published at least once in a newspaper at least 10 days before the scheduled hearing.