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Mooresville staff to add 'cat café' use to zoning code; board signals preference for conditional permit
Summary
Planning staff introduced a text amendment to add a 'cat café' use to the Unified Development Ordinance; staff, planning board and commissioners discussed allowing the use by right in some commercial districts versus requiring conditional review to limit proliferation.
Veronica Bateson, planner 2 with Planning and Community Development, presented a proposed text amendment (TA-2025-05) to add a defined "cat café" use to Mooresville’s Unified Development Ordinance so businesses that combine a lounge of resident or adoptable cats with a separate compliant food-service area can operate under local zoning.
Bateson said the proposal would allow cat cafés in a range of commercial and mixed-use districts by right in some zones and by conditional zoning in others. "The Unified Development Ordinance does not currently have an applicable use for cat cafes and therefore the applicant is unable to do, this request due to a lack of regulations," Bateson said when introducing the amendment. The applicants are Amy Dowton and Ronnie LaBarbara of Cat About Town; Planning staff and the planning board prepared alternate draughts for the board’s consideration.
Why it matters: without a defined use, applicants cannot obtain permits that match their business model. The change would create a specific definition and list of permitted zoning districts for cat cafés and, depending on the board’s choice, could require conditional-use review to limit where they may open.
Staff and the planning board proposed several options: the applicant’s preferred text (by-right in multiple districts), a staff-simplified version (with conditional zoning in certain residentially scaled districts), and a planning-board recommendation. Planning Board unanimously recommended the staff simplified text while also suggesting cat cafés be allowed by right in some traditional districts.
Several board members expressed concern about creating a precedent that might allow many similar niche animal-focused businesses. One commissioner asked that the use be a conditional use so the town can review site- and location-specific impacts before multiple approvals are granted. Another commissioner and staff said a conditional approach would allow the town to limit unintended proliferation of novel animal-based venues.
No final ordinance vote was taken; staff said the board will be presented with a revised statement of reasonableness to reflect the multiple options and a revised slide set at the public hearing.
