Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Nash County amends zoning rule so parcels separated by road can meet 10‑acre minimum for event venues
Summary
The Board of Commissioners approved a text amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance allowing multiple adjacent parcels in common ownership that are separated only by a road right‑of‑way to be counted together to meet the 10‑acre minimum for event and conference venues. The change does not alter setback, screening or separation requirements.
Nash County commissioners on April 7 voted to amend the county’s Unified Development Ordinance so multiple adjacent parcels in the same ownership that are separated only by a road right‑of‑way may be counted together to meet the 10‑acre minimum required for an event and conference venue conditional rezoning.
Planning Director Adam Tyson told the board the change would only make some sites eligible to apply; it would not approve any specific project. “We are simply considering a change to the regulations that would make the applicant eligible to apply,” Tyson said during the public hearing.
The amendment revises UDO Section 11‑4.28(b) to add language allowing the property used for an event and conference venue to consist of multiple adjacent and contiguous parcels in the same ownership that may be separated by a road right‑of‑way, provided the area used for the venue is not later subdivided to include less than 10 total acres. The county’s existing development standards — including the 200‑foot minimum setback from agriculturally or residentially used or zoned adjacent lots, a 50‑foot setback from adjacent nonresidential lots, and screening requirements for features within 100 feet of such lots (section 11‑3.3) — remain unchanged.
Tyson used a specific site as an example during his presentation: two parcels near 4981 Old Bailey Highway (the former tortilla plant) that are separated by Rose Loop Road. The parcel north of the road is about 8 acres and the parcel south of the road, which includes an existing building, is about 5 acres. Individually neither parcel meets the 10‑acre minimum; the amendment would allow them to be considered together for a conditional rezoning application.
The county’s technical review committee recommended approval on Feb. 27, noting the revision would still require an event venue to be located on a total of at least 10 acres in common ownership and would not change separation or screening measures. The planning board heard from Robert Bartlett of Bartlett Engineering and Surveying and unanimously recommended approval on March 17.
Commissioner Davis moved to adopt the staff’s statement of plan consistency and approve UDO text amendment request 8250301; Commissioner Howell seconded. The motion passed.
Tyson told commissioners that broader issues raised at the planning board — for example, pedestrian safety where an event site would be on both sides of a road — would be handled at the subsequent conditional rezoning and site‑plan stage, with NCDOT involved where appropriate. He also said the county’s comprehensive land‑use plan does not specify a minimum area for event venues, so staff determined the amendment was neither clearly consistent nor inconsistent with that plan.
The amendment applies countywide: if adopted, other applicants proposing event and conference venues anywhere in the unincorporated county could rely on the new definition when they pursue the required conditional rezoning and site review.
Planning staff, the technical review committee and the planning board will review any future, site‑specific conditional rezoning application that relies on the amended language. That future process will include a public hearing focused on the specific site, layout and mitigation measures.
