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Commissioners adopt UDO text amendment adding 15-foot side/rear setbacks for certain commercial districts
Summary
The board unanimously approved a text amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance adding 15-foot side and rear setbacks for several commercial zoning districts when those parcels abut other commercial properties; the planning board had recommended approval.
The Rockingham County Board of Commissioners voted to approve Case 20205-5, a text amendment to the county's Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) that adds a 15-foot side and rear setback requirement for certain commercial zoning districts when they abut other commercial districts.
Planning staff told the board the amendment clarifies existing ambiguity in the UDO. Planning Director Adam Barr said when the UDO was rewritten some commercial zoning categories had blank setback entries, creating uncertainty. "This is more for, just educating, the public," Commissioner Hall summarized during questions; Barr agreed the change makes requirements more uniform across the code.
The amendment formalizes a 15-foot setback for OI (Office/Institutional), Highway Commercial, Light Industrial and Heavy Industrial districts when abutting other commercial zoning, reflecting existing parcel-perimeter landscape buffers and practical constraints under fire-code requirements. Barr said the county's buffer and landscape requirements already act as a de facto setback in many cases, and the amendment aligns the text of the UDO with those provisions.
The county planning board reviewed the change at its March meeting and voted unanimously to recommend approval. No members of the public signed up to speak at the board's public hearing.
Commissioner Barrow moved to approve Case 20205-5; Commissioner Kellum seconded. The board voted unanimously in favor.
The amendment clarifies the ordinance where prior table entries were blank, reducing ambiguity for developers and staff. Any site-specific signage, landscaping or other development standards will still be examined during the planning and permitting process under existing UDO provisions.
