Planning board approves UDO text amendment setting 15-foot side/rear minimum setbacks for nonresidential parcels

The Rockingham County Planning Board on March 10 unanimously approved a text amendment to the county Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) that establishes a 15-foot minimum side and rear setback for nonresidential zoning districts that abut other nonresidential districts.

A planning staff presenter explained the amendment was intended to formalize a de facto practice: the UDO already requires a 15-foot-wide landscape buffer for nonresidential parcels, and the county attorney asked staff to clarify dimensional standards so that setbacks and buffers align. The presenter said the change would set a uniform 15-foot minimum side and rear setback between nonresidential parcels and leave front setbacks as currently varied in the table (typically 30 to 50 feet depending on district).

The staff presentation also noted the state fire code's minimum separation rules for industrial structures, explaining that the fire code allows structures to be closer than 15 feet only if additional fire protections are provided and that a 15-foot standard "keeps it cleaner" in terms of safety and administration.

The amendment text in the packet showed the dimensional-standards table with the new 15-foot side and rear minimums for nonresidential districts when they abut other nonresidential districts. The presenter reminded the board that the existing landscape-buffer requirement is defined in the UDO as primarily evergreen plantings with minimum installation height and screening standards.

A motion to approve the text amendment was made and seconded on the basis of the consistency determination statements in the staff packet. The motion passed with no opposition.

The board also used the meeting to introduce Adam Barr as the county’s new senior planner; Ben Curry was identified as the interim community development director.