Cameron stalls new downtown business
The Town of Cameron delayed
Elizabeth Nhambure’s plans to install a metal building for hydroponic lettuce
farming in her secluded backyard Feb. 25 at its agenda meeting.
Nhambure’s property is the
home of the 1878 Bed & Breakfast at the Historic Muse House on Carthage
Street, in downtown Cameron. Her proposed new business is agricultural,
supporting the town’s heritage, does not require sewage (the town does not have
sewer service), is quiet, requires limited traffic, would not be visible from
the sidewalk or road and would increase the town’s property tax revenue.
According to the North
Carolina State Treasurer Audit Report, the town collected $118,206 in property
taxes in 2023, and it collected $167,145 in property taxes in 2024.
With more revenue the town
would be able to attract a qualified police officer with its part-time job
offering.
The board said it wanted her
proposed 80 by 90 feet building scaled down to half that size or even better,
erected inside the existing barn. They wanted to know more operating details
and see a sketch.
In a phone call with Nhambure,
she said she is willing to reduce the size of the building, and she has
sketches available.
“The back of my 1.74 acres is
170 feet wide and 90 feet deep where the building is proposed. Of which, I am
willing to work with the town on the size. The troughs for a Nutrient Film
Technique hydroponics system are six feet wide by 12 feet long. That's the
reason for the size,” Nhambure wrote in an email to Sandhills Sentinel.
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Conflicts of interest with
members of the board who are friends with Nhambure’s neighbor is a concern in
attaining the town’s approval.
The business and its structure
are not prohibited in the area, according to a letter to Nhambure from Aberdeen
Town Planning Director Kathy Liles, stating that farmer’s markets and accessory
buildings are allowed in Level 1 R-NR zones, and Cameron does not have a
farmer’s market definition coded.
The town board said it stalled
on approval because it means adding a zoning modification, such as 1R-NR, to
Nhambure’s property, which is a matter of discussion and paperwork.
Nhambure already has produce
contracts in place to ensure success in the hydroponic lettuce farming business.
Her qualifications include:
- Operation Enduring Freedom
and Operation Iraqi Freedom campaign
- (Former) Math and Science
teacher at Crossroads Academy Charter School
- (Former) Instructor at North
Carolina A&T State University (including Elon, High Point, Greensboro
Technical Community College, UNC Greensboro)
- Bachelor's Degree in
Agriculture (Florida A&M University), MA in Information Technology
Management, Doctor of Information Technology with a specialty in Project Risk
Management
- 10 years working with
Thoroughbreds and Welsh ponies at The Woodlands (Brodnax Virginia)
- Grew up farming on a
fifth-generation family farm
- 24 years of honorable
service
- Retired and 100% disabled
Veteran
- Like most veterans in
agriculture, we use farming
Historically, Cameron is an
agricultural town and allows farming.
In July 2022, the town hosted Moore Family Farms to assist in how to preserve the agricultural downtown community.
Several new businesses are
responsible for helping sustain the town with property tax increases and
tourism.
In Sept. 2022, the renovated
Railroad House Depot was purchased by Bob Chamberlain, and it is now an event venue.
In Oct. 2022, (former) Member David Seiberling said “There must be a forward-thinking plan to accommodate the future needs. While larger cities have professional planning directors, smaller municipalities do not and cannot,” about the rising costs of goods and services.
In June 2023, the town wanted to attract more downtown businesses, and Town Board Member (now Mayor Pro Tempore and Planning Board Director) Joey Frutchey said, “We will lure more businesses if we look alive,” concerning town improvements.
The Old Hardware Store and its
basement business, The Dewberry Café opened in June 2024 and has been present
in support of her business proposal.
Rhizome, a plant, comic book,
and coffee shop opened in Jan. 2025.
“I am deeply in support of
Elizabeth Nhambure's hydroponic lettuce farm project for many
reasons. Nationally, there is a transformational trend towards urban
farming and organic food production. Despite Moore County's links to
traditional farming, every year, we see more precious farmland in the county
being replaced by housing development. Elizabeth shows a path forward that
embraces small business and urban agricultural development that is not only
good for Cameron, but the larger community as a whole. Her business model
engages the community and would bring agrotourism as well as food literacy
to the area while providing local restaurants with more farm-to-table options
for healthier food choices. The ability of such a business to reach out to
schools and have students learn onsite about where food comes from in a culture
so screen-heavy is of infinite value…The small businesses in Cameron and
Elizabeth's, in particular, reject the current trend of corporate
culture destroying small communities with dollar stores, vape shops, and fast
food dominating and harming local towns for decades. It's an
inspirational and aspirational project that the town of Cameron should be
able to take pride in,” Rhizome business owner Chelsea Fields said in an email
to Sandhills Sentinel.
Father Vincent Capodanno High
School’s service program on Wednesdays includes students volunteering at
Nhambure’s property and wants to help on her proposed hydroponics farm.
On March 11 at 7 p.m. at Town
Hall, the planning board will learn more details on Nhambure’s proposed hydroponics
business in the historically agricultural downtown area in the historic
district.
Stephanie M. Sellers
Written by Sandhills Sentinel journalist Stephanie M. Sellers. Stephanie is also an English instructor at Central Carolina Community College. Visit StephsScribble (dot) blogspot (dot) com to learn about her young adult fiction, including When the Yellow Slugs Sing and Sky’s River Stone, and a suspense, GUTTERSNIPE: Shakespearean English Stage Play with Translation, and a new international upcoming release published by Golden Storyline Books, a science fiction, Amagi, available March 28.
The End.
Reference
NC State Treasurer Audit
Report. See page 10.
file:///C:/Users/New%20User/Downloads/_Cameron%202024%20Audit%20-%20Stamped.pdf
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