SALISBURY — The Rowan County Planning Department has set the schedule for the community meetings on the new land use development plan that county officials have been working on for the past year.

The meetings will allow for the public to receive information on the drafts of the land use plans and give feedback through public comments.

Jason Epley, president of Benchmark Planning, said that after the public meetings, planning staff and planning board members would take the second round of public feedback and finalize the draft of the land-use plan. The finalized draft would then be showcased at a final public meeting before being officially recommended by the planning board and put to the Rowan County Board of Commissioners for approval.

All of the meetings are drop-in meetings held from 4 to 7 p.m.

The first meeting will be the southern meeting on Tuesday, March 25, at the Rowan Public Library South branch, 920 Kimball Road, China Grove.

The second meeting will be the eastern meeting on Thursday, March 27, at the upper level of the Rockwell American Legion Building, 8580 U.S. Highway 52, Rockwell.

The third meeting will be the western meeting on Tuesday, April 1, at the Rowan Public Library West branch, 201 School St., Cleveland.

The final meeting will be the central meeting on Thursday, April 3, at the Rowan County Event Center Room A in the Rowan Community Center, formerly known as the West End Plaza, 1965 Jake Alexander Blvd. W., Salisbury.

The new land use plan is the result of a year-long process attempting to combine all of the county’s land use plan into one document and make any necessary updates.

The Areas West of I-85 land use plan was created in 2009, the east in 2012, and the south in 2017. The plans are one of the main factors taken into consideration when zoning, planning and development decisions are made.