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Currituck County planning board approves UDO text amendment to align with state law
Summary
The planning board approved PB 25-01, a staff-initiated text amendment aligning multiple Unified Development Ordinance provisions with recent North Carolina statute changes, including updates to the bona fide farm definition, manufactured-home rules, parking stall width (10 to 9 feet), and impervious-surface definitions.
The Currituck County Planning Board on Nov. 12 approved PB 25-01, a staff-initiated text amendment to multiple chapters of the Unified Development Ordinance intended to bring local rules into closer conformance with recent changes in North Carolina law. The motion carried by voice vote after a staff presentation and brief board questions.
Jenny, planning staff, told the board the amendment updates the county’s bona fide farm definition (moving it into Chapter 10) and clarifies that bona fide farmland is exempt from zoning for farm uses only. She also explained changes affecting manufactured homes: the county may not exclude manufactured homes based on a date of construction or age, and it cannot require masonry curtain-wall (skirting) when a manufactured home sits on land leased to the homeowner.
The amendment also revises parking standards to reflect state law by changing typical stall widths from 10 feet to 9 feet while leaving aisle-width minimums unchanged. Staff noted an agenda-packet formatting issue in the parking table and confirmed the intent is a uniform 9-foot stall width for those typical spaces.
Additional changes include striking local requirements for extra development entry points where those exceed the North Carolina Fire Code for one- and two-family dwellings, simplifying the county’s performance-guarantee wording to list acceptable forms (cash deposit, cashier’s check, letter of credit, or surety bond), and updating the county’s definition of impervious surface. The impervious-surface update incorporates state-specified exemptions and clarifications—examples cited by staff included slotted decks, the water area of swimming pools, certain stone surfaces placed over geotextile fabric, porous pavement, and artificial turf in specified circumstances.
Board members asked whether the impervious-surface changes could affect runoff or swale-sizing requirements. Jenny said the county’s revised counting of lot coverage may change when additional runoff storage or infiltration areas are required, and that pavers can still be eligible for impervious-area credit if properly installed but are not explicitly exempted by the amendment.
Speaker 5 moved to approve PB 25-01; Speaker 2 seconded. Chair (Speaker 1) called the voice vote and the motion passed. The board had four members present at the meeting.
The county will codify the approved language in the UDO; staff recommended approval as the amendment is consistent with the Imagine Currituck 2040 vision plan and brings local ordinance language into compliance with the North Carolina General Statutes.
