Jason Dunovant - The Roanoke Times
Aug 3, 2025
ROCKY MOUNT — Rocky Mount is moving forward with plans to pursue a text amendment in the town code to allow for a career and technical education center at the former Mod-U-Kraf property, just two weeks after the town’s planning commission voted to recommended rezoning the property to allow for the use.
Mayor Holland Perdue announced on his Facebook page on Friday that he requested town staff to draft a text amendment which would be discussed in a public hearing at the town planning commission’s next meeting, Sept. 2.
Just last month the planning commission voted 5-2 to rezone the former Mod-U-Kraf property from M1 Industrial to C2 Commercial Office General to allow for the CTE center.
“This is just streamlining the process,” Perdue said of the request to draft a text amendment.
Perdue said he expects the Rocky Mount Town Council to discuss the text amendment at its next meeting, in September. He said no date has been set for when the town council will discuss the rezone recommended by the planning commission.
Franklin County purchased the former Mod-U-Kraf building, located within town limits, for $5 million in May with plans to convert the building into a career and technical education center as well as a 911 dispatch center and public safety headquarters. Those new uses for the manufacturing space require approval from the Rocky Mount Town Council.
Rocky Mount Town Manager Robert Wood said the reasoning for the text amendment is to give the town more assurances if or when the CTE center is constructed. Some of those assurances included stipulating the county would be required to provide any upgrades to safety at the facility or road improvements along State Street. Those improvements could put the town on the hook for millions of dollars, he added.
“We can place conditions on permits to assure that things are done properly,” Wood said. Following the approval of a text amendment, the county would then have to apply for special use permits for the facility that would allow for the CTE center as well as their proposal to house a 911 dispatch center and their public safety headquarters at the location.
Perdue said the town has also agreed to a meeting with the county to discuss the CTE center. Last week, Perdue said they had been attempting to set up a meeting with the county for several weeks.
A meeting between the town and county is set for Aug. 21 to discuss the Mod-U-Kraf building and the proposed text amendment to the town code. Perdue said that he and Wood, joined by town staff, would be attending the meeting for the town and that Franklin County Board of Supervisors Chairman Ronnie Thompson would be attending for the county along with county staff.
If both sides are able to come to an agreement, Perdue said, the details could be worked out in a matter of weeks. Once in place, construction could begin on the county’s long-discussed CTE center.
“If everyone gets on the same page, we can get this thing done in 30 days,” Perdue said.