Shelby City Council passes resolution opposing state bill
- Chuck Thompson
- Jul 1, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 2, 2025
SB 205 would strip local governments of zoning authority
The Shelby City Council approved a resolution opposing N.C. Senate Bill 205 Monday night. The controversial bill, if passed, would strip local governments of their planning and zoning authority.
The bill was originally known as House Bill 765 (HB 765) before it was absorbed and restructured into its current form, known as SB 205.
City of Shelby Manager Rick Howell told city council Monday night the bill doesn’t seem to be an issue at the moment, but to be prepared for any changes that might bring it back to life.
“It doesn’t look like this bill is going to move forward but we should be cautious about this,” Howell noted. “I would say we have made progress to communicate concerns across the state. I think they have heard their mayors and city councils, but we should be vigilant about what is happening.”
The bill is designed to prevent certain measure that local municipalities require for builders.
What started as a bill for swimming pools on single family private dwelling residents, being regulated by the board of health and not local laws, morphed into a much more complex bill.
Section 4 of the bill eliminates the ability of property owners to voluntarily consent to prohibited regulations related to building design elements, and would prohibit zoning and development regulations from doing any of the following:
Setting a minimum width or length of structures regulated under the North Carolina Residential Code.
Requiring or specifying the size, configuration, allocation, or number of parking spaces beyond the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Setting a minimum width, length, or square footage for driveways within a development unless the driveway abuts a public road.
Setting design standards for public roads within a development in excess of those required by the Department of Transportation, except that a city could set such design standards if the city is financially responsible for the cost of the excess design standards and accepts ownership and maintenance of the public road.
“That’s a bad bill," Howell added. "It strips authority from local authorities. It does a lot of bad things in the name of helping with affordable housing. I’m sure there is a lot of good intent, but it is bad. It screams 'we want one size fits all and we don’t trust our local officials' in my opinion.”
The Shelby City Council will meet again on July 21, at 6 p.m., in The Don Gibson Theater.
This SB205 is a bad bill. It should be trashed and a billl that speaks to safety and common sence should replace it. Note: trailer in the city or conuty shouod be eight feet from the space of any other structure. All water discharge shell be filtered, clean, and sanatize before being put into a water way. There shall not be a grandfather clause and violator have one year to bring up to standard or there is a one thousand doller fine of each unit/structure. Said fine shall go to the local govement inforcing the law.