Back to North Carolina

H323 • 2025

Down-Zoning/Cornelius/Davidson/Huntersville.

Down-Zoning/Cornelius/Davidson/Huntersville.

Land
Enacted

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

Sponsor
Helfrich, Ager, Belk, Greenfield, Harrison, Hawkins, F. Jackson, Logan
Last action
2025-03-10
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.

Down-Zoning/Cornelius/Davidson/Huntersville.

Down-Zoning/Cornelius/Davidson/Huntersville.

What This Bill Does

  • Down-Zoning/Cornelius/Davidson/Huntersville.

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. 2025-03-10 House

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

  2. 2025-03-10 House

    Passed 1st Reading

  3. 2025-03-06 House

    Filed

Official Summary Text

Down-Zoning/Cornelius/Davidson/Huntersville.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 323

Short Title: Down-Zoning/Cornelius/Davidson/Huntersville. (Local)
Sponsors: Representative Helfrich.
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 10, 2025
*H323-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO RESTORE TH E AUTHORITY TO INITI ATE DOWN -ZONING IN T HE 2
TOWNS OF CORNELIUS, DAVIDSON, AND HUNTERSVILLE. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1. G.S. 160D-601(d), as amended by Section 3K.1(a) of S.L. 2024 -57, 5
reads as rewritten: 6
"(d) Down-Zoning. – No amendment to zoning regulations or a zoning map that 7
down-zones property shall be initiated, enacted, or enforced initiated nor is it enforceable without 8
the written consent of all property owners whose proper ty is the subject of the down -zoning 9
amendment. amendment, unless the down -zoning amendment is initiated by the local 10
government. For purposes of this section, "down-zoning" means a zoning ordinance that affects 11
an area of land in one of the following ways: 12
(1) By decreasing the development density of the land to be less dense than was 13
allowed under its previous usage. 14
(2) By reducing the permitted uses of the land that are specified in a zoning 15
ordinance or land development regulation to fewer uses than we re allowed 16
under its previous usage. 17
(3) By creating any type of nonconformity on land not in a residential zoning 18
district, including a nonconforming use, nonconforming lot, nonconforming 19
structure, nonconforming improvement, or nonconforming site element." 20
SECTION 2.(a) This act applies only to the Town of Cornelius, the Town of 21
Davidson, and the Town of Huntersville and includes the extraterritorial jurisdiction exercised 22
by those municipalities as established pursuant to G.S. 160D-201. 23
SECTION 2.(b) This act is effective when it becomes law and applies retroactively 24
to December 11, 2024. Any adopted ordinance affected by Section 3K.1 of S.L. 2024 -57 shall 25
be in effect as it was on or before December 11, 2024. 26