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Three public hearings conducted before Monday’s meeting of the Oakboro Town Council led to a pair of zoning changes and a text amendment to the town’s zoning ordinances.

Two parcels of property, one on Dorsett Street and the other on Alonzo Road, were both rezoned from R-15 to R-9m, which stands for multifamily, while the maximum building height was increased from 35 to 45 feet by the town council.

PGJT Properties owns the Dorsett property, which is between St. Martin and Alonzo roads. It plans to build townhouses a block away from the Food Lion shopping center.

During the council meeting, Commissioner Mike Efird, the town’s code enforcement officer, reminded fellow board members of what they can consider regarding rezoning requests.

“When you talk about rezoning a piece of property, we honestly have to consider the property for rezoning based on the qualifications of that piece of property. You can not consider what’s being put on the property,” Efird said.

Commissioner Bud Smith asked if more houses would be able to be built on the same amount of property. Efird said R-9m is typically a zoning area for duplexes, townhouses and apartments.

Commissioner Chris Huneycutt later moved to approve the request, seconded by Commissioner Lanny Hathcock. It passed 4-1, with Smith voting against the request.

The other property is owned by Love Construction Company. Former Stanly County Board of Commissioners Chairman Joseph Burleson, as part of Burleson Development, spoke in the hearing in favor of the request. He said a small portion of the 58-acre property was not zoned R-9m.

Efird moved to approve the second request, seconded by Huneycutt, which also passed 4-1, with Smith voting against it.

Regarding the height limit, Efird said the town’s zoning board recommended changing the maximum height in an R-9m district to 45 feet since it was “common” for the buildings in R-9m to be two or three stories high.

Huneycutt moved to amend the ordinance to 45 feet, seconded by Efird, which passed 4-1. Smith voted against the amendment.