Restore Down-Zoning/Farmland Preservation.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 137

Short Title: Restore Down-Zoning/Farmland Preservation. (Local)
Sponsors: Senator Moffitt (Primary Sponsor).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
February 25, 2025
*S137-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO RESTORE TH E AUTHORITY TO INITI ATE DOWN -ZONING IN 2
HENDERSON COUNTY. 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 property is the subject of the down -zoning 9
amendment. amendment, unless the down -zoning amendment is initiated by the local 10
government and is for the purpose of farmland preservation . For purposes of this section, 11
"down-zoning" means a zoning ordinance that affects an area of land in one of the following 12
ways: 13
(1) By decreasing the development density of the land to be less dense than was 14
allowed under its previous usage. 15
(2) By reducing the permitted uses of the land that are specified in a zoning 16
ordinance or land development regulation to fewe r uses than were allowed 17
under its previous usage. 18
(3) By creating any type of nonconformity on land not in a residential zoning 19
district, including a nonconforming use, nonconforming lot, nonconforming 20
structure, nonconforming improvement, or nonconforming site element." 21
SECTION 2.(a) This act applies only to Henderson County and the portions of the 22
Town of Fletcher, the Town of Mills River, the Village of Flat Rock, the Town of Laurel Park, 23
and the City of Saluda that are located in Henderson County. 24
SECTION 2.(b) This act is effective when it becomes law and applies retroactively 25
to January 31, 2025. 26