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Aberdeen board adopts UDO changes, creates NC 5 Priority Corridor Overlay
Summary
The Aberdeen Town Board on June 23 approved UDO Text Amendment TA-25-02, which reinstates a Priority Corridor Overlay for NC 5 with 50-foot building and parking setbacks and other design standards, recategorizes funeral homes/crematoriums, and clarifies review procedures to align the ordinance with state law.
The Aberdeen Town Board voted June 23 to adopt Unified Development Ordinance Text Amendment TA-25-02, a package of procedural clarifications and land-use changes that includes a new NC 5 Priority Corridor Overlay District designed to improve the appearance and functionality of development along that highway.
Planning Director Pam Graham told the board that “most of the amendments to be presented are simple procedural changes” intended to align Aberdeen’s ordinance with state law and to reflect town-specific needs. Graham said the amendment set is the staff’s “Priority 1” list and noted the Planning Board recommended approval with minor changes.
The NC 5 Priority Corridor Overlay (NC 5-PCO) establishes a 50-foot minimum setback for buildings and parking areas measured from the NC 5 right-of-way for new development and requires enhanced buffer landscaping and access-management measures. The amendment also requires sidewalks or multi-use paths along the full street frontage of proposed development, encourages side-street access instead of direct driveway access to NC 5, and calls for circulation and access plans showing cross-access and inter-parcel connections where feasible.
The amendment recategorizes funeral homes and crematoriums into distinct use types with limits on where crematories and funeral services are allowed, and corrects earlier UDO provisions to ensure residential building design standards comply with statutory limits and are reviewed at the appropriate approval stage. The ordinance clarifies that building-design compliance shall be checked during site plan or certificate-of-appropriateness review so that final permit-stage decisions do not circumvent UDO standards.
Commissioner Teressa Beavers asked for examples of the overlay’s effects; Graham said the overlay would limit points of ingress and egress along NC 5, require screening and buffers, and generally reduce unnecessary site disturbance. The board first found the amendment consistent with adopted plans and then adopted TA-25-02 by unanimous vote.
The ordinance includes language to avoid creating new nonconformities for existing development and preserves watershed and environmental protections where applicable. The Planning Board had reviewed the amendment on May 15, 2025 and recommended approval.
What’s next: The UDO text amendment is effective upon adoption; the board’s action directs planning staff to apply the new NC 5-PCO standards for applicable development proposals and to proceed with follow-up standards for other corridors as needed.
