Planning commission endorses broad zoning and subdivision changes, including smoke-shop restrictions, larger accessory buildings and updated sign rules

The Hendersonville Planning Commission unanimously recommended comprehensive revisions to the city's zoning ordinance and later approved proposed updates to subdivision regulations, including a staff-supported amendment to raise lot-compatibility thresholds to 100%.

Planning staff described a wide-ranging package of draft zoning changes intended to clarify language, close loopholes and add new rules for modern issues such as electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and vape/smoke shops. Staff also proposed modest increases in allowable sizes for residential accessory buildings and adjustments to design standards for the Dockside neighborhood.

Key changes described by staff

Planning Director Keith Free and staff walked commissioners through the principal amendments. Among the items highlighted: - Smoke and vape shops: Defined as a distinct use and made subject to conditional-use permit requirements in specified commercial zones; new separation rules prohibit locating such shops within 1,000 feet (measured property-line to property-line along the street) of schools, day-care centers, parks, churches or other places where children gather. Existing businesses are grandfathered. - Accessory structures: Increased maximum square footage allowances for detached accessory buildings based on lot size (for example, from 800 to 1,000 square feet on smaller lots and proportionally higher for larger lots) to reduce the number of variances previously requested to the board of zoning appeals. - EV charging stations: Added placement and dimensional standards that generally push larger charging installations away from street-front parking and toward areas closer to or beside buildings; small out-lot installations (six ports or fewer) are allowed if they meet setback requirements and design standards. - Signs: Reorganized and tightened the sign chapter, added rules to prevent long-term "blank" nonconforming signs and clarified that nonconforming signs discontinued for 90 days lose their nonconforming status and must be removed unless brought into conformity. Staff also adjusted allowances for Dockside neighborhood signage and increased required brick/stone percentages for that district's buildings.

Commissioner and public questions focused on implementation details, including how the 1,000-foot separation for smoke shops would be measured, how the sign-abandonment rule would affect multi-tenant centers and how EV chargers would be sited relative to storefronts. Staff said many of the changes codify current practice or respond to recent permit cases, and they noted that larger charging facilities would still require site-plan review.

Subdivision regulation revisions and an amendment

Planning staff also presented changes to the subdivision regulations intended to clarify vesting rules, tighten construction-plan timelines and refine lot-compatibility procedures. During debate, one commissioner proposed and secured an amendment to change the lot compatibility calculation thresholds from the existing practice to a 100% standard (the planning commission voted to adopt the subdivision revision package including that amendment). Planning staff explained that lot compatibility applies at the phase/section level to avoid anomalous results on short phases (staff proposals exclude very small phases from the compatibility calculation).

Vote and next steps

The planning commission passed the zoning ordinance recommendations unanimously and later approved the subdivision-regulation changes, including the 100% lot-compatibility amendment, by voice/electronic vote (recorded as unanimous in the transcript). These forward to BOMA for final consideration and ordinance adoption; staff said additional public-notice, review and administrative steps remain before final codification.

Why it matters

The package updates several elements of the land‑use code that city staff and commissioners said had become unclear or inconsistent with current practice. The smoke-shop separation and sign-abandonment rules are likely to affect new retail applicants; the accessory-building increases will reduce variance requests; and the EV-charging standards aim to guide where and how public-facing chargers are sited in commercial developments. The subdivision changes set clearer time limits for construction-plan approvals and change the metric used to keep new lot configurations compatible with existing neighborhood patterns.

Ending

The recommendations will be forwarded to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen for public hearings and final action; staff said they will include the proposed amendments, the add-ons discussed at the planning commission meeting and the commission's 100% lot-compatibility amendment in materials sent to the board.