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New state law prompts Southern Pines to pause character-district and landscaping changes
Summary
After the Legislature amended the downzoning definition in Senate Bill 382 (Session Law 2024-57), Southern Pines planning staff recommended and council agreed to continue several landscaping and character-district code changes to review legal implications and avoid creating widespread nonconformities.
Town planning staff told the Southern Pines Town Council Dec. 17 that a recent change to North Carolina law — enacted as part of Senate Bill 382 (Session Law 2024-57) and affecting revisions to N.C. Gen. Stat. 160D-601 — alters the statutory definition of "downzoning." The change, staff said, adds creation of many types of nonconformities (uses, lots, structures and site elements) to the definition, which could make design standards that add new site- or building-level requirements effectively create downzonings.
"This legislation... basically makes the vast majority of our character district work not able to be adopted, because the entire project is basically building and site design standards that if you go through it, one thing at a time, it will be a new requirement," Planning Director Grieve summarized to the council, and recommended a continuance to allow staff and legal counsel more time for review. Grieve said staff asked for caution because the new law is retroactive for 180 days and could capture recent UDO amendments.
Council members questioned who would be harmed by nonconformities and how changes could affect lending and conditional zoning. Grieve and a local government attorney in the meeting noted that the law narrows who can downzone (leaving the owner with that power) and makes the change retroactive; that, staff said, increases uncertainty for local design-based regulations.
The council voted to continue the landscaping and tree-protection amendments and related character-district items to the March meeting so staff can further study the law's practical effect and monitor whether the Legislature will revisit the provision.
Why it matters: the change could limit local governments' ability to adopt design standards intended to shape building fronts, parking placement, open-space or landscaping because those standards might render existing development nonconforming under the new statutory definition. Staff advised proceeding carefully to avoid unintended retroactive consequences.
