The Huntersville Town Board of Commissioners on Aug. 19 unanimously approved a rezoning petition for 12300 McCord Road and three text amendments to the Huntersville zoning ordinance after staff said the changes are consistent with the town's 2040 Community Plan.

The actions included approval of petition R25-06 to rezone 12300 McCord Road from General Residential (GR) to Transitional Residential (TR), and separate approvals of text amendments TA25-01, TA25-06 and TA25-08. Planning staff entered reports into the record and the planning board had recommended approval of the matters before the board voted.

The approvals matter because the changes alter permitted residential uses and clarify zoning definitions and buffer standards that guide future housing and development in Huntersville. Staff told the board the rezoning and text amendments align with policies in the Huntersville 2040 Community Plan and with state law cited in the staff reports.

Staff planner Lauren Spate told the board that the R25-06 application is a general rezoning for the property addressed as 12300 McCord Road and that the TR district allows a small range of uses not permitted in GR, notably "farmhouse clusters," a smaller subdivision type allowed in TR but not in GR. Spate said accessory uses are the same in both districts and that, overall, "staff do not see the highlighted uses significantly chosen to be developed in the TR zoning district" and that the petition was consistent with the 2040 plan. The planning board had recommended approval 7-1 for the rezoning.

On TA25-01 Spate said roughly half the proposed changes remove overlap among definitions of "multifamily home," "apartment" and "attached house," and the staff report noted the application does not propose downzoning and cited North Carolina General Statutes 160D-601(d). The planning board recommended approval of TA25-01 unanimously.

TA25-06, a staff-proposed text amendment, would establish and clarify buffer planting standards for an 80-foot buffer and other existing buffer requirements; the planning board recommended unanimous approval. TA25-08 collected several miscellaneous amendments, including changes tied to state legislation SB 166 and clarifications intended to reduce duplicative reviews and better protect sensitive areas; staff said the town's erosion control manager reported progress at two previously outstanding sites and that the amendments would help support required facility conversions.

Each item was moved and approved by voice vote; the board recorded the actions as carrying unanimously.

During the public comment period, resident Mike Carbo criticized the town's existing land-use pattern and urged the board to end single-family zoning, calling it "born from discrimination" and saying "single family zoning must die." Carbo argued the town's car-centric land use and tax structure make housing ownership unaffordable for many local graduates and urged rezoning to allow more mixed-use development by right.

Discussion on the agenda items focused on staff presentations, planning board recommendations, and consistency with the 2040 plan; no board member proposed delaying any of the zoning actions. The staff reports and planning board votes were the basis for the board's decisions.

The board also approved related consent items and procedural motions earlier in the meeting.