With the construction of a new county library underway, New Hanover County plans to rezone the Myrtle Grove Library site to a highway business district and then place it up for sale, according to a community information meeting notice.

The Myrtle Grove Library, 5155 S. College Road, is being replaced by Pine Valley Library, located near the intersection of 17th Street and S. College Road.

Rezoning the current site of the Myrtle Grove library from an R-15 residential district to a B-2 highway business district would accommodate the needs of businesses demanding high-volume traffic.

“The purpose of the rezoning is so the district aligns better with where the site is,” Ken Vafier, planning manager with the county, said Friday.

Because the site is located on a major commercial corridor in the county, including its proximity to Carolina Beach Road, a residential property will not likely go on the site, Vafier said, adding that the current site zoning is a holdover from a long time ago when the county’s population centers had not yet expanded.

Some of the potential uses listed in the conceptual plan for the 1.02-acre site include:

• Eating and drinking places
• General merchandise stores
• Miscellaneous retail, except for vape stores
• Banks, credit, saving and loans agencies
• Business services
• Personal services, except for tattoo establishments
• Offices for private business and professional activities

There will be a meeting for owners whose property is within 500 feet of the site boundary and anyone else interested before the county submits a conditional zoning district application. The meeting will be at the Myrtle Grove Library Feb. 5 at 6 p.m.

The Pine Valley Library, which had a groundbreaking ceremony in 2017, is expected to open in May, according to the library website.

Other county projects include the new Public Health and Social Services building, which started construction in December, and the new Ogden Fire Station at 7375 Market Street, expected to be completed in March.