COURTLAND—A Chesapeake couple has requested rezoning two acres off Highway 35 from residential to industrial for operating a trucking terminal.

James and Valerie Prosise will have a public hearing on their request at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14, before the Southampton County Planning Commission. The hearing will be held in the Board Room of the County Office Center at 26022 Administration Center Drive in Courtland.

The Prosises could not be reached for comment, and their attorney, R. Edward Railey III, did not return a call from The Tidewater News.

The property they want to rezone is the location of the former Chemical Leaman trucking terminal, which is boarded up and had been listed for sale. The application for the rezoning request shows the Prosises as the property owner, said county Community Development Director Beth Lewis.

The property lies about 1,800 feet northeast of where Route 35 meets Highway 58, according to a legal advertisement for the hearing.

Although the property was formerly used for a trucking terminal, the rezoning is necessary because this type of business no longer operates from that location, Lewis said.

“Once a business closes, then they need to go through the zoning process,” she said.

The Prosises indicated in their rezoning application that they will use the same building, which they plan to improve. They own two trucks and five trailers and would not have more than 10 trucks on the property, Lewis said.

Assuming the Planning Commission recommends rezoning the property, the Board of Supervisors would have the final say.