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Catawba County commissioners deny rezoning for proposed Sherrills Ford shopping center
Summary
The Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 to deny a rezoning request for a 17.22-acre shopping center at Sherrills Ford Road and Mt. Pleasant Road, citing inconsistency with the county Comprehensive Plan and watershed/septic concerns.
The Catawba County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Jan. 20 to deny a rezoning request that would have allowed a 75,000-square-foot shopping center at the intersection of Sherrills Ford Road and Mt. Pleasant Road.
County staff had asked the board to rezone three parcels totaling about 17.22 acres from R-20 Residential to a Planned Development–Conditional District (PD‑CD RZ 2025‑05) to permit a grocery-anchored shopping center, outdoor fenced garden supply sales, and two outparcels. The Planning Board held a public hearing in November 2025 and voted 9‑0 to recommend denial. On Jan. 20 the Board of Commissioners adopted a plan inconsistency and unreasonableness statement and denied the rezoning by a 5‑0 vote.
The staff presentation noted site constraints in the Lake Norman watershed (WS‑IV overlay), a built‑upon‑area (BUA) calculation of roughly 48.3% for the concept plan under the high‑density option, reliance on on‑site septic and repair area (public sewer is about 1.5 miles away), and required traffic improvements to be determined after a Traffic Impact Analysis to NCDOT standards. The county found the proposal inconsistent with the Catawba County Comprehensive Plan’s Future Land Use Map, which designates the parcels for medium‑density residential development and recommends concentrating larger commercial development at NC 150/NC 16 corridors and smaller rural commercial nodes at different intersections.
Members of the public and the applicant’s team spoke at the hearing. Supporters, including the property owner, said the project would serve local growth and provide commercial services; neighbors and Planning Board speakers raised concerns about traffic safety, site distance and a shift in development patterns. Chair Randy Isenhower moved to deny the rezoning and adopt the written inconsistency and unreasonableness findings; the motion carried unanimously.
What happens next: The denial closes the application for rezoning as submitted. Any future commercial proposal for these parcels would require either a different zoning request consistent with the Comprehensive Plan recommendations or a Comprehensive Plan amendment, a process that would require further public review and a board decision.
