If you own property or are thinking about building anything in the unincorporated parts of Catawba County, including Sherrills Ford, Terrell, Monbo, and Long Island, there’s a zoning update headed your way worth knowing about.
Catawba County is in the middle of rewriting its Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), the rulebook that covers zoning, subdivisions, development standards, and floodplain rules for county-regulated land. The county started this process back in 2025, working with planning staff and an outside consultant, Freese and Nichols, to line the rules up with the 2024 Catawba County Comprehensive Plan and recent changes to North Carolina law. Part of the goal is simplifying the permitting and development process itself, not just the rules on paper.
Public drop-in September 22
The county is holding an informal, drop-in style session on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, where residents can look over the key proposed changes and ask planning staff questions directly. It’s not a formal hearing, just a chance to see what’s changing before it moves further along.
After this round of public input, the draft amendments head to the Planning Board and then to the Catawba County Board of Commissioners for final review and adoption. Nothing is final yet, so this is the point in the process where local input actually has a chance to shape the outcome.
Where to learn more
The county has posted a flyer with drop-in details and background on the full UDO update on its Planning Department page. We’ll keep an eye on this one as it moves toward the Board of Commissioners.
Have a question about how this could affect a specific property or project? Send us a tip through the Contact page, we’re always glad to dig into a specific local question.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.