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Council amends zoning rules to allow Gaston County jail expansion
Summary
Gastonia City Council approved a text amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance to let Gaston County’s correctional facility be treated as a conforming use in the O1 district and to shorten the residential buffer from 500 to 300 feet; expansion of a facility’s footprint will still require a public special-use permit.
Gastonia City Council on Oct. 21 approved a text amendment to the city’s Unified Development Ordinance designed to clear a zoning mismatch and allow Gaston County to pursue vertical expansion and other work at the existing county jail adjacent to city limits.
The ordinance change updates Table 7.1 and Section 8.4.6 of the UDO so “correctional facility class 1” is explicitly allowed in the O1 district where the county jail sits and reduces the required separation between a correctional facility and residential uses from 500 feet to 300 feet. The amendment also clarifies measurement points for the buffer, requires a special-use permit for any footprint expansion, and permits certain vertical construction to be reviewed administratively when it complies with height and other local rules.
Planning staff said the first part of the amendment “is gonna correct a nonconformity” so the…
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