The Stanfield Town Council has approved motions to amend the town’s zoning and subdivision ordinances to include updates mandated by the state.

These required updates, which include adding new definitions and changing certain language in the ordinances, have to be implemented by every municipality in the state by July 1.

The goal is to modernize land use regulation in North Carolina with the new Chapter 160D of the North Carolina General Statutes. Chapter 160D consolidates the current statutes for development regulations (now 153A and 160A for counties and cities) into a single, unified chapter.

“Their intent is to standardize a lot of language and terms so that every municipality is looking at things the same way,” said Commissioner James Kluttz, who presented the changes to Council.

Some of the changes include replacing “conditional use permit” with “special use permit” and replacing “conditional district” with “conditional zoning” while certain definitions in the ordinance, like building, developer and site plan, also have to be amended to comply with 160D. There also will be a new section in the zoning ordinance dedicated to development agreements.

Stanfield’s Planning and Zoning Board was presented last month with the comprehensive update to the town’s zoning ordinance.

Kluttz told Council about the changes last month and a public hearing was set for the June 3 meeting. No one in the community spoke during the public hearing.

The commissioners unanimously approved amending the ordinances.

In other news, the commissioners:

• Appointed James Kluttz as Mayor Pro-Tem. Former commissioner James Griffin, who moved out of town earlier this year, previously held the position.

• Were informed that the Stanfield Police hired a new full-time officer, Hunter Furr. Officer Brian Cornett is set to retire after 28 years of service at the end of the month. A drop-in retirement party for Cornett will be 12:30-1:30 p.m. June 28 at the West Stanly Christian Ministries, 211 W. Stanly St., Stanfield.

• Adopted a proclamation in honor of Stanly Community College’s 50th anniversary.

The next meeting will be 7 p.m. June 24.