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At the July 2024 meeting of the Stanly County Board of Commissioners, the board voted 6-1 to add nearly 4,000 parcels of land to the rural preservation area designation of the county’s land use plan.

By a 6-1 vote, with Peter Asciutto voting against the motion, commissioners added to the number Monday night. The new areas approved are adjacent to the jurisdictional borders surrounding the municipalities of Locust, Oakboro, Red Cross and Stanfield.

The additional request came originally from commissioners at the July meeting regarding the four most southwestern municipalities in the county. According to the agenda packet, the areas were moved into the rural area “based on the limited scope of utility services in the area, the character of the land and continuing to keep the growth focused within the municipalities or their respective ETJ (extra-territorial jurisdiction) as opposed to the more rural areas of the county.”

The new additions to the rural preservation area will have to comply with local minimum lot size restrictions in the R/A zone of three acres, or 60,000 square feet with the family exception. Anything smaller would have to be rezoned and reviewed by the county planning board and then come before commissioners for approval or denial.

At the July 15 planning board meeting, 11 residents spoke in favor of the additions to the rural area designation, while Chris Puckett of a local realtors association spoke against it.

Monday’s meeting had a public hearing on the changes, with several citizens speaking in favor of the additions to the rural area.

Asciutto said he voted against the motion and the one in July because he wanted a change in the land requirement.

“I would like to see it moved down to one and a half to two acres to be more realistic,” Asciutto said.