On Thursday night, one of our reporters was present at the Southampton County Planning Commission’s meeting, where she was thoroughly impressed with the behavior she saw.

In the profession that we have, we often hear people’s opinions and see actions of people that don’t always represent them in the best light.

However, last night, she said nearly every person that gave their opinion on the Camp Parkway rezoning project presented themselves in a mature manner that allowed the public hearing to flow like it should.

Throughout the day on Friday, several other people relayed to us how they were also impressed with the behavior that took place.

The planning commission was able to listen to each person’s thoughts and feelings without being distracted by name calling or vulgarness that some were expecting to see.

Both sides of the arguments brought up valid points that the planning commission needs to consider and we support them in not taking a vote last night, and instead waiting until the meeting in May to make a decision.

It is our hope between now and then, that each member carefully consider each point and each comment that was brought up.

Think about Southampton County as whole. Think about what is best for the county. Think about the kind of future you want for not only yourself, but your children and your children’s children.

The public hearing proved that almost every single person wants to see Southampton County develop and grow, but how the county grows is where the difference comes in.

This is not a decision that should be taken lightly, and we hope that come May, the right decision will be made.