Citizens of New Bern will have a chance to weigh in on proposed changes to the “Land Use” appendix in the Code of Ordinances on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026.
City of New Bern Planning and Zoning Board will consider changing the Code of Ordinances to define Cryptocurrency Mining Facilities and Data Centers and add them to the Table of Permissible Uses within the Industrial 1 (I-1) and Industrial 2 (I-2) districts by right and the Commercial (C-3) district as a special use on Nov. 12, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. in the second-floor Courtroom at City Hall, 300 Pollock St. in New Bern, NC, according to the meeting agenda.
The P & Z Board will allow public comments prior to deciding whether or not to recommend the changes to the New Bern Board of Aldermen.
This comes at the same time as New Bern considers Weyerhaeuser NR Company request to rezone three tax parcels south of Highway 70 near the intersection of the NC Highway 43 Connector totalling1,245 acres of land from agricultural and low-density residential districts to high-intensity commercial and high-density residential districts in New Bern’s ETJ (extraterritorial jurisdiction), as reported here.
The three large parcels are identified as Craven County Tax Parcel IDs: 8-209-13000; 8-211-011; and 8-209-18000 near the Arcadia Village, Craeberne Forest, Greenbrier, and West New Bern communities, as noted in the meeting packet.
It looks like one of the parcels, 8-209-18000, borders a Federal Opportunity Zone.
Several residents of the Greenbrier community expressed concerns that the proposed development could negatively impact their quality of life and potentially devalue their properties during the P & Z Board meeting at City Hall on Sept. 17, and again on Nov. 10 during the Board of Aldermen meeting at Craven Community College’s Corporate Training Center. Aldermen Trey Ferguson (Ward 1), Sharon Bryant (Ward 2), Lainy White (Ward 4), Barbara Best (Ward 5), and Dana Outlaw (Ward 6) voted for a motion to postpone the decision on setting a public hearing until December because they didn’t receive updates to the development agreement until Tuesday. Bobby Aster (Ward 3) voted against the motion. Mayor Jeffrey Odham (Ward 6) also voted for the motion.
In 2025, city officials convinced voters to let them finance $25 million to pay for “potential” stormwater, roads and sidewalks, and parks and recreation projects. Taxpayers will repay the debt (principal and interest) over the next 20 years.
The City of New Bern is also working on plans to issue $150 million municipal utility revenue bonds to finance electric, water, and sewer improvements including committing public resources to partner with an unnamed company to build a 19-megawatt (or larger) liquified natural gas electric plant building a 19-megawatt (or larger) Liquified Natural Gas Electric Facility and a 5-MW battery storage unit.
What do you think?
Watch the Nov. 10 Board of Aldermen meeting here:
City of New Bern board and committee meeting agendas and packets can be found here. Meeting videos are available on City 3 TV and YouTube channel.
By Wendy Card, editor. Send an email with questions or comments.