This is part of a continuing series of columns on Rowan County government services. The Planning and Development Department was created in November 2006 following a reorganization of the Environmental Services Department. Planning and Codes Enforcement was compartmentalized into this new department and the Landfill and Recycling operations were renamed, Environmental Management.
Planning and Development consists of three divisions: Codes Enforcement, Planning and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Each of these divisions is housed on the second floor of the Rowan County Offices located at 402 N. Main St.
Division overviews
Codes EnforcementNCGS 153A-351 requires all counties with a population greater than 75,000 to enforce the state’s standards related to permitting and inspections of building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing trades by July 1, 1979. Rowan County adopted enforcement of these codes Oct. 3, 1977. Jurisdiction of the Codes Enforcement (commonly referred to as Building Inspections) division applies to all unincorporated areas of Rowan County and its municipalities except within Kannapolis city limits.
With a few exceptions for square footage or estimated value, all building and construction activities require permits and inspections for each trade conducted. Property owners may act as their own contractor for such activities provided they own the property and reside where the permitted activity is occurring and perform the work. Similarly, use of a licensed general (building) contractor is not required for permitted activities with an estimated project value of less than $30,000; however, work performed by any subcontractors (electrical, mechanical or plumbing) on that particular job must be licensed and be code compliant.
In addition to inspections of new construction and renovations, this division provides safety/occupancy inspections for daycare facilities, group homes, minimum housing complaints and establishments that sell alcohol.
PlanningPrior to 1982, the county’s “planning functions” were administered by the city of Salisbury. During the late ’80s, the possible location of a hazardous waste incinerator in western Rowan County and a low-level radioactive disposal site in eastern Rowan County prompted the county to form a planning division within the former Environmental Services Department. Regulations administered by this division apply to the areas of Rowan County not located in a municipality or its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ); nine of the county’s 10 municipalities have an ETJ that extends up to one mile beyond the city limits. In general, the same zoning and development standards applicable within the municipality are effective within their ETJ.
Residential development, increased population and public concern for the type, quality and location of growth prompted the Board of Commissioners to enact ordinances regulating the subdivision of land in 1994 and use of land (zoning) in 1998.
Although there are statutory exceptions, current subdivision standards require that any division of land comply with minimum standards for size, setbacks and access. Unless in a family conveyance of property, lots must have access and frontage on a road that conforms to NC DOT’s minimum construction standards. Planning staff reviews each of these land divisions on plats prepared by professional land surveyors.
The current zoning standards consist of five residential districts and four nonresidential districts designed to promote compatibility among land uses and ensure proper locations for certain business/industrial uses. Enforcement of other land use based regulations administered by the planning division include addressing and road naming; soil erosion and sedimentation control; and flood damage prevention.
Supervision of the county’s three housing programs is also responsibility of the division. The programs are currently structured to offer rehabilitation assistance or urgent repairs to homeowners, down payment assistance to first time homebuyers and in partnership with Prosperity Unlimited for construction of one new single-family home in East Spencer for the next three years. Geographic Information Systems (GIS)The GIS division was created in 1998 to coordinate the collection, distribution and maintenance of digital data among county departments, including 911 addressing and transition from paper tax maps to digital cadastral. The importance of digital data developed and maintained by this division has increased significantly due to its availability via Internet applications. The GIS division is currently working to revise the online application to offer new data layers such as Flood Insurance Rate Maps and 2009 aerial images. Visit the county’s GIS Web site at: http://arcims2.webgis.net/nc/Rowan/ to discover the data sets available for Rowan County.
Ed Muire is head of the Rowan County Planning and Development Department.