If the residents who attended the planning board work session were hoping that this meeting would be the beginning of blocking the proposed Titan Cement plant.

Those hopes would have been quickly dashed by planning board members who said they didn't even know if they were the ones who should grapple with the future of heavy industrial zoning inside the county.

The sticking point for most members was how do you shape the future of New Hanover County without keeping existing companies like GE from expanding.

Planning Board Member Jay Williams says someone besides board members needs to figure that out.

"I think that the citizenry can always come forth with a proposal themselves and they're experts in the community and that's an option for those who would like to see change."

County planning staff say they're concerned about the steady pace of residential development that's moving closer to the nearly 25,000 acres zoned heavy industrial.

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