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Garner council adopts major zoning text amendment to implement comprehensive plan
Summary
The Town Council unanimously adopted ordinance 20265380 (ZTA‑24001), a package of zoning code changes aimed at aligning the UDO with Garner’s comprehensive plan, including new mid‑rise standards, clarified residential forms, R‑8 density rules and live‑work provisions.
Garner’s Town Council voted unanimously March 17 to adopt a zoning text amendment package intended to align the town’s unified development ordinance with the comprehensive plan. The ordinance, numbered 20265380 and described in staff materials as ZTA‑24001, bundles changes across seven subgroups addressing residential forms, density bonuses, mid‑rise districts and other technical clarifications.
Planning Director Jeff Kriesenberg told the council staff had “been chipping away at it” for more than a year and grouped the package to make the changes clearer. The amendments redefine several housing forms (duplex, triplex, quadplex), add clearer distinctions between R‑4 and R‑8 districts (including a requirement that rezones to R‑8 achieve at least four units per acre), and create an MFB district intended to accommodate mid‑rise buildings (roughly six to 10 stories) in targeted locations.
Kriesenberg also described updates to density‑bonus allocation (shifting bonuses toward higher‑density districts), the introduction of live‑work unit language, and fence and site‑triangle clarifications intended to reduce nonconformities and safety issues. He told the council the package removes or reuses parts of a prior 2024 ordinance that conflict with a state down‑zoning statute and that the planning commission recommended approval after considering those constraints.
Council members asked detailed questions about how the changes would affect projects already in the pipeline. Kriesenberg said projects already in review in CMX or other districts may use permit‑choice provisions to continue under prior standards, while projects entering the review cycle after the ordinance takes effect would be held to the new rules. He stated that accessory dwelling units remain allowed where state law requires and that trip‑generation is commonly used as one indicator of project 'intensity.'
After discussion, a motion was made to find the proposed amendment consistent with Garner’s adopted land‑use plans and to adopt ordinance 20265380. The council approved the ordinance by voice vote; the record reflects a unanimous vote.
The council president said the work to implement the comprehensive plan will continue and staff will begin the next round of revisions immediately.
