CUMBERLAND – The County's Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Monday evening to consider amending Cumberland's zoning ordinance to allow grocery stores as a by-right use in the B-3, business- zoned, district.

According to the information provided in the Commission's packet, “Getting a grocery store has been listed by citizens as the single most important issue in the county today.”

And so, in response to Cumberland's citizens, the Planning Commission has been working with the Planning and Zoning Office to make Cumberland more attractive to any grocery store looking to locate in the county.

The public hearing's purpose is to solicit citizen input related to adding grocery stores to the list of by-right uses in the business-zoning, B-3, areas of the county.

Currently, grocery stores, retail food stores and supermarkets are only permitted in B-1 and B-2 business zoned area in Cumberland as by-right uses.

According to the information being presented to the Planning Commission, a grocery store interested in opening in the county would not need to go through the standard public hearing process if locating on already-business-zoned property.

Properties in Cumberland that are already zoned B-3 include the area near the old True Value building at the corner of Routes 13 and 45 and near property near Plank Road in the Farmville area of Cumberland.

The public hearing is not part of any grocery store application at this time, but is an effort to make the County more attractive to any grocery looking to locate here, according to information provided from the Planning Department.

The Planning Commission's meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. on Monday in Room C-8 of the Cumberland County Community Center.