Gastonia adopts 2050 comprehensive plan to guide long‑range growth

Gastonia City Council unanimously adopted the city’s 2050 comprehensive plan on Oct. 21 after a year‑long public process and multiple rounds of community and stakeholder engagement.

Consultant Dimitri Batches and city planning staff described the document as a “comp plan light” that establishes place‑based guidance — from low‑density neighborhoods through mixed‑use centers and employment areas — and a consolidated land‑use map that staff will use to guide a future Unified Development Ordinance rewrite and more targeted small‑area planning.

Batches told the council the plan is intended to be a high‑level guide — “30,000 feet” — that helps the city make consistent decisions about growth, housing mix and infrastructure as Gastonia’s population and job market evolve. He emphasized that the plan is required by state rules and will make day‑to‑day development decisions easier by giving staff and council a shared policy framework.

The adopted plan maps preferred place types across the city and planning area, calls for a connected parks and greenways system, and recommends strategies to address housing affordability, economic development and infrastructure. The plan also lays out priorities for future work, including a UDO rewrite, small area plans and policies to explore housing affordability and neighborhood design.

Council members asked clarifying questions about how the plan interfaces with zoning, mobility and stormwater improvements. The consultant and staff said the plan does not itself change zoning but will inform a step‑by‑step zoning rewrite and future, site‑specific plans and policy work.

The council voted unanimously to close the public hearing and adopt the plan.

Ending: Adoption provides a policy framework for future zoning and capital decisions; staff and the consultant said more detailed work — including UDO revisions and implementation programs — will follow.