Commissioners approve conditional rezoning for Union New Hope Road property

The Gaston County Board of Commissioners on July 28 unanimously approved a conditional rezoning for parcels 190594 and 190596 at 1435 Union New Hope Road, allowing the sites to be designated C-3 (general commercial) with conditions intended to preserve screening and limit outside storage.

Planning staff said the request seeks to match zoning to an existing, long-standing use. Jamie Lizzie, planning and development staff, told commissioners the site contains two preexisting buildings — a 3,000-square-foot structure from 1972 and a roughly 5,200-square-foot building from 1981 — and sits amid mostly residential lots; the planning board recommended approval 7–0. The applicant and property owner is Jeffrey L. Smith, and attorney John Russell explained the rezoning would legalize a contractor’s office and equipment storage yard while allowing the parcels to be recombined and screened by existing vegetation.

The board discussed conditions that would limit material storage and ensure screening. When Commissioner Sheehan asked whether material storage would be allowed, Russell said a proposed condition allows “limited material storage for, like, landscaping materials not to exceed 30 days,” and staff added that the 30-day limit was a voluntary commitment unless the board expressly wrote it into the conditional district agreement. Russell also said larger trucks would be kept inside garages and that any future building would have to comply with UDO standards.

After discussion, Commissioner Hovis moved to approve the application with the proposed modifications; the motion passed unanimously. The approval follows staff findings that the request aligns with the county’s comprehensive land-use plan and the planning board’s unanimous recommendation to permit the existing and continuing contractor use under a conditional C-3 district.

The rezoning approval includes conditions noted by staff — recombining the two parcels by plat, adjusting property lines so landscape buffers sit on the subject parcel, and requiring environmental-health permits if the septic system remains in use. The applicant said no immediate new construction is planned and that any future expansion is likely years away.