ROCKINGHAM — The City Council this month approved two amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance that could help two properties on the south side of town bring in more people to stay — both temporarily and long term.
One amendment was for a density bonus for the former Woods Warehouse on the corner of Hancock Street and Mill Road, which is planned to be renovated for a multi-family residential building.
Under the previous ordinance, the developer would have only been allowed to create seven or eight units in the building — which would not be economically viable, according to Assistant City Manager John Massey.
In conversations with the developer, Massey said 35-40 units would make the project feasible.
Massey said the amendment also applies to other properties, including the former county administration building, and will serve as a “financial incentive to encourage redevelopment” in the city.
The second amendment now allows bed and breakfast inns as a permitted use in the Highway Business zone.
Massey said that when the ordinance was first written, bed and breakfasts were typically in residential zones.
The amendment was recently proposed with the potential of the H.C. Watson House on Caroline Street being renovated for a bed and breakfast.
The city changed the zoning for the property in 2005 from High Density Residential to Highway Business so the current owner could operate an antique store from the home, according to Massey.
The historic house is now for sale and Massey said a prospective buyer would like to turn it into a B&B.
There are currently two bed and breakfast inns in Richmond County — Ellerbe Springs Inn in Ellerbe and Longleaf Lodge in Hoffman — as well as several Airbnb locations.
Each amendment was passed following a public hearing — with no public input.
Later in the meeting, the council passed demolition ordinances for two homes in the city limits.
The first, located at 1320 E. Washington St., burned about a year ago, according to Massey, who added that the city has had no contact with the property owner — listed as Aretha Patterson-Mosfatt — since beginning the abandoned structures process.
This makes the ninth demolition ordinance approved for houses in the area in the past two years. The most recent was in June 2023.
The second demolition ordinance was for a home on Copeland Street, off of Midway Road in the southwestern corner of the city.
Massey said several of the owners — named as Jeffery Lynn Probst, William Matthew Probst, Amanda P. Guenthner, and Mary Williams Board — did meet with the code enforcement officer, but he added that had no ability or intent to do anything with the property, which had fallen into a state of disrepair including a hole in the roof.
restThe process for the city involves several legal hurdles, including a title search and advertising notices in the local print newspaper, and can take up to 10 months. The price tag on a demolition can range from $4,000-15,000, Massey previously told the RO. Sometimes, the fire department is able to use an abandoned house for training.
“It’s not an easy process,” said Mayor John Hutchinson, but “makes a big impact in the neighborhood.”
Councilman Bennett Deane said that it’s a “tremendous commitment” on behalf of the city.
“Just think if you had all these houses sitting around in these states,” Deane said, adding that abandoned homes attract vagrancy and can be “very dangerous.”
In another property-related vote, the council approved the conveyance of the former Food King building to local developers.
Click here to read more on the Food King decision.
