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H281 • 2025

Restore Down-Zoning/Multiple Municipalities.

Restore Down-Zoning/Multiple Municipalities.

Land
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Cairns, Belk, Carney, Crawford, Dahle, Harrison, Hawkins, Quick
Last action
2025-03-05
Official status
Ref to the Com on Judiciary 3, if favorable, Housing and Development, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Restore Down-Zoning/Multiple Municipalities.

Restore Down-Zoning/Multiple Municipalities.

What This Bill Does

  • Restore Down-Zoning/Multiple Municipalities.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-03-05 House

    Ref to the Com on Judiciary 3, if favorable, Housing and Development, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

  2. 2025-03-05 House

    Passed 1st Reading

  3. 2025-03-04 House

    Filed

Official Summary Text

Restore Down-Zoning/Multiple Municipalities.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 281

Short Title: Restore Down-Zoning/Multiple Municipalities. (Local)
Sponsors: Representative Cairns.
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Judiciary 3, if favorable, Housing and Development, if favorable, Rules, Calendar,
and Operations of the House
March 5, 2025
*H281-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO RESTORE TH E AUTHORITY TO INITI ATE DOWN -ZONING IN 2
MOREHEAD CITY, THE T OWN OF BEAUFORT, THE TOWN OF BOGUE, THE 3
TOWN OF CAPE CARTERET, THE TOWN OF CEDAR POINT, AND THE TOWN OF 4
NEWPORT. 5
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 6
SECTION 1. G.S. 160D-601(d), as amended by Section 3K.1(a) of S.L. 2024 -57, 7
reads as rewritten: 8
"(d) Down-Zoning. – No amendment to zoning regulations or a zoning map that 9
down-zones property shall be initiated, enacted, or enforced initiated nor is it enforceable without 10
the written consent of all property owners whose property is the subject of the down -zoning 11
amendment. amendment, unless the down -zoning amendment is initiated by the local 12
government. For purposes of this section, "down-zoning" means a zoning ordinance that affects 13
an area of land in one of the following ways: 14
(1) By decreasing the development density of the land to be less dense than was 15
allowed under its previous usage. 16
(2) By reducing the permitted uses of the land that are spe cified in a zoning 17
ordinance or land development regulation to fewer uses than were allowed 18
under its previous usage. 19
(3) By creating any type of nonconformity on land not in a residential zoning 20
district, including a nonconforming use, nonconforming lot, nonconforming 21
structure, nonconforming improvement, or nonconforming site element." 22
SECTION 2.(a) This act applies only to the municipality of Morehead City and the 23
Towns of Beaufort, Bogue, Cape Carteret, Cedar Point, and Newport. 24
SECTION 2.(b) This act is effective when it becomes law and applies retroactively 25
to December 11, 2024. Any adopted ordinance affected by Section 3K.1 of S.L. 2024 -57 shall 26
be in effect as it was on or before December 11, 2024. 27