Commission approves package of zoning text edits including extended temporary RV housing rules and sidewalk/landscaping clarifications

MORGANTON — The Planning and Zoning Commission on March 13 approved a package of editorial and substantive amendments to the city zoning ordinance and will forward the edits to the City Council. The package included multiple clarifications and one substantive change to the city’s temporary-recreational-vehicle (RV) rules for extreme emergencies.

Planning staff said the RV provision was revised after recent storm responses revealed that a 60-day allowance is often insufficient during catastrophic events. The commission agreed to extend the period used in a similar Burke County ordinance (up to 18 months in the county text) and to add specific operational conditions for emergency temporary living quarters on private property.

Key conditions added and discussed in the meeting include: only persons who occupied the original damaged dwelling may occupy the temporary recreational vehicle; if the RV is used for residence it must be connected to electrical power and potable water; the RV must have an internal system for collection and proper disposal of human waste (pump-out or equivalent); the RV must remain in good repair and be capable of removal under motor-vehicle power; and measurable progress must be made to return the original dwelling to an inhabitable state or to obtain a certificate of occupancy. Staff said the director or zoning administrator will make case-by-case determinations consistent with the ordinance’s purpose and public-safety considerations.

Commissioners discussed enforcement details and the practical need to distinguish true emergency housing from non-emergency uses. Wendy, city planning staff, said the city will use the existing permitting and code-enforcement process: a development permit is required for temporary RV occupancy, and code enforcement will investigate complaints. "In the most recent case, we found out that those are the people that were somehow storm damaged," Wendy told commissioners, noting staff would require documentation and would condition permits to ensure the use is temporary and related to habitability loss.

The ordinance package also contains several editorial fixes and clarifications: correcting an earlier error that had limited HID building height to 35 feet back to the intended 65 feet; clarifying that required landscaping areas may be crossed by a perpendicular pedestrian path (with a planned illustration and language to require the path cross the landscaping rather than run parallel within it); and lowering the minimum clearance for certain downtown hanging signs from 8 feet to 7 feet to align with ADA and DOT standards. One proposed change related to federal legislation and nonconforming uses (a CBD provision) was removed from the package out of caution while state and federal actions remain unsettled.

The commission voted to accept the edited text amendments and will forward the package to the City Council for consideration. Staff said illustrations and final wordsmithing will be included in the council packet.