Planning board approves Beaver Dam zoning text amendment to simplify standards and allow more housing types

The Buncombe County Planning Board voted to approve a text amendment to the Beaver Dam Zoning District’s permitted uses and dimensional table at its June 2025 meeting, a change staff said is intended to simplify standards and increase housing options in areas with existing infrastructure.

Planning staff told the board the amendment matches Beaver Dam setback measurements to other zoning districts, reformats the district's dimensional requirements to current county standards, adds a column limiting maximum disturbed area and impervious surface, eliminates several Beaver Dam-specific footnotes, and permits alternative-path and conservation subdivision options. Staff also clarified how the front setback is measured: from a road right of way, the maintenance line where a defined right of way does not exist, or the property line if neither a right of way nor a maintenance line is present.

Susan Bean, a staff member with MountainTrue's Neighbors WNC program, spoke during the public hearing in favor of the amendment. "We desperately need more small homes in places where infrastructure already exists and on relatively flat land that is not located within the flood plain," she said, adding that allowing more housing types could help neighbors who cannot afford local housing. "I strongly encourage you to vote in favor of this amendment today."

Board discussion noted that Beaver Dam's original standards predate Buncombe County's steep-slope, high-elevation and protected-ridge overlays. Staff said roughly three-quarters of the Beaver Dam district are covered by those overlays, which the county uses to limit development in sensitive areas. Staff also said debris-flow pathways that have been mapped and tied to past landslides will be considered for future regulation but were not part of this amendment.

A planning board member moved to accept the text amendment and to find it consistent with the county comprehensive plan, specifically referencing the plan's growth, equity and conservation directives; another member seconded. The motion passed by voice vote. The board did not record a roll-call tally in the meeting transcript.

The amendment will go next to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners for consideration; the meeting date was described in the hearing as not finalized (staff referenced the second meeting in July but also noted a possible shift to the first meeting in August). Staff said they would notify the planning board when the commissioners' hearing date is set.

The changes approved by the planning board are limited to the Beaver Dam Zoning District text and formatting described at the hearing. The board and staff emphasized that overlay protections covering slopes and ridgelines remain in effect and that additional targeted regulations (including for mapped debris-flow pathways) may be proposed in the future.