As discussed in this previous post, the NC state legislature eviscerated local control over zoning on December 11th by placing onerous restrictions on down zoning (any change that reduces density). This seems intended to lock in profits for developers, as higher density residential developments tend to be more profitable than those with lower density.
Not only was this change a massive attack on local governance, but it was so poorly written that it precipitated mass confusion – even the UNC School of Government found many parts of it to be difficult to understand. In their December 20th analysis, the words “it is not clear” appear many times.
Requests for Exemption
2025 began with requests for exemption by ten NC counties, and a bill to reverse the change statewide, sponsored by Representative Adams.
On January 21, County Commissioner Brian Helms introduced a resolution to exempt Union County, which was passed unanimously by the Board of County Commissioners. (video 1 below)
For the January 28th BOC meeting, Commissioner Daunt added an agenda item to support a similar resolution to exempt Waxhaw (video 2 below). The Waxhaw BOC majority (McMillon, Wesolek, Hall) voted this down. Next, they claimed it is not “within the purview” of our town attorney to do a presentation on the effect of the law at the January 30th board retreat. They clearly wanted to avoid the presentation altogether, but under pressure they agreed for the Planning Director to do it.
Suppression of Analysis
On January 30th, the Waxhaw BOC retreat began with unwelcome fireworks (video 3 below), as Commissioner Hall moved to remove the presentation about the effect of SB382 on Waxhaw, characterizing it as “misleading” and promoting a “perverted view” – quite a hyperbolic accusation, considering that the presentation is based on the UNC School of Government analysis.
The BOC majority seemed incredulous about the last-minute addition of the down zoning restriction, but Waxhaw’s lobbyist later confirmed that it was “kind of snuck in”, “not everything is above board”, “behind closed doors”, and “no lobbyist knows what’s going on” (video 4 below).
Commissioner Hall then dismissed concerns about local loss of control as a “scare tactic”, but staff later affirmed that work they did last year will be reversed due to the retroactive nature of the bill (video 5 below).
Sadly, the exchange ended with the board majority voting to remove the SB382 presentation/analysis from the retreat agenda.
The only thing that’s gotten perverted here is how government operates in North Carolina. It should be bottom-up, not top-down.
Videos
Video 1: Union County BOCC unanimously votes for resolution to support exemption (discussion watch time 8 minutes).
Video 2: Waxhaw BOC votes to support state restrictions (discussion watch time 15 minutes).
Video 3: Waxhaw BOC majority removes SB382 presentation from the agenda (watch time 14 minutes).
Video 4: Waxhaw lobbyist confirms the mysterious origins of the down zoning provision (watch time 2 minutes).
Video 5: Waxhaw staff confirm that their work has been invalidated (watch time 2 minutes).