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Planning board recommends broad UDO text amendments to align local rules with 2024 state changes
Summary
The Moore County Planning Board voted to recommend multiple amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance to conform local rules to recent North Carolina legislative changes affecting childcare home definitions, performance guarantees, signage, built-upon area definitions and farm uses including boarding horses.
The Moore County Planning Board voted to recommend approval of a package of text amendments to the county Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) designed to align local rules with statutory changes adopted by the North Carolina General Assembly in the 2024 session.
Planner Danielle presented the package and said the amendments respond to multiple state actions. "What started this is we had an applicant come in with a permit and she had a request for a specific number of children within a home care facility and when we were doing the research, we came across a discrepancy even at the state level ... so that's what brought about the text amendment," Danielle said, explaining that the proposed language would reference the relevant North Carolina statutes instead of repeating numeric limits so future state changes do not require repeated local amendments.
Key changes recommended by the planning board include: - Childcare home facility definitions (Chapter 8): replace numeric limits in the local definition with references to North Carolina General Statutes 110-86.3(b) and 110-91.7(b), so permit reviews will use current state statutory limits. - Performance guarantees for major subdivisions (Chapter 19, §19.14): require the county to inspect improvements within 30 days of a developer's request and to return or release a performance guarantee within 30 days of acknowledging completion or receiving engineer certification; allow developers to submit a sealed certification from a licensed professional engineer when the county and developer disagree about completion. - Maintenance and stormwater (Chapter 19): update maintenance provisions to reflect state law changes prohibiting local governments from collecting funds for maintenance of private stormwater facilities and related reimbursement rules. - Nonconforming signs (Chapter 9, §§9.5, 9.7, 9.8 and Chapter 7, §7.15): add language from session law (Senate Bill 607) that allows lawfully erected on-premises signs to be relocated or reconstructed on the same parcel without increasing total advertising area, sets a 24-month limit for reconstruction after removal, and requires compensation if the county requires removal of a lawfully erected on-premises sign. - Built-upon area definition (Chapter 20, §20.2): amend the built-upon area definition to clarify that artificial turf designed to allow water drainage through the backing and installed to manufacturer specifications is included in the statute's exemptions (session law / S.B.166 references). - Bona fide farm definition (Chapter 8, §8.2): add "boarding of horses" to the list of recognized agricultural uses, reflecting changes in the 2024 Farm Act (Senate Bill 355). - Land development regulation definition (Chapter 20, §20.2): add North Carolina State Building Code enforcement to the list of development regulations as updated in state law effective Jan. 1, 2025.
A member of the public, Terry Bryant, commented during the hearing about impervious-surface definitions, saying the UDO currently treats decks and pools inconsistently. "It stated next to that that the surface of a swimming pool was not an impervious surface. But it actually is, because the water cannot go through the liner of a swimming pool," Bryant said, asking the board to note the point as staff finalizes language.
After the public hearing the planning board moved, amended and voted to recommend the package of text amendments to the Moore County Board of Commissioners. The board also adopted planning-board consistency statements required by North Carolina General Statute 160D-604 as part of the motions. The motion to recommend approval was seconded and carried by voice vote.
Staff pointed the board to the staff report and packet exhibits that cite the relevant session laws and UDO pages for each change. The planning department said the amendments will be forwarded to the Board of Commissioners for decision and that the county will update the UDO to reflect the statutory changes once the commission acts.
