Gastonia City Council Meeting - December 16, 2025

The Gastonia City Council met on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, in the Gaston County Courthouse Public Forum Room (agenda start time 6:00 PM). The agenda included recognitions, the FY2025 audit presentation, a Safe Parking pilot program, committee reports, two public hearings, consent agenda items, and appointments to the Gastonia Sports and Entertainment Commission. Minutes from December 1 and December 2, 2025 were approved; the source package did not include minutes text.

Consent Calendar

• The council agreed to table the Ashbrook High School football recognition to a future meeting and added the CrowdStrike anti-virus renewal (I.8) to the consent agenda.
• The December 1, 2025 Sine Die meeting minutes and December 2, 2025 regular meeting minutes were approved unanimously.
• The eight-item consent agenda was approved unanimously. It included the Martin Starnes & Associates audit contract extension; TEMA Services transformer inventory contract for $272,425; Wesco Distribution transformer inventory contract for $238,833; Byrne JAG mental health funds of $210,000; federal and state asset forfeiture proceeds of $41,746 and $13,248; McMillan-Pazdan-Smith facility assessment contract for $360,500; KCI Associates STAG-funded water project engineering for $86,000; the new Compensation and Classification Plan with budget amendment; and the CrowdStrike software extension for $100,810.20.

Presentations & Recognitions

• The Gastonia Police Department SWAT team was recognized for winning first place overall at the 2025 North Carolina Tactical Officers Association SWAT competition in November, defeating seven part-time and full-time SWAT teams from across the state. This was their third competition in the past year and third time reaching the podium.
• Councilwoman Stepp led a moment of silence for city employees and retirees who died in 2025.
• The Alliance for Community Enrichment (A.C.E.) program recognized Heatherloch HOA and Forest Creek Community. Heatherloch is a Ward 5 community with about 100 homes dating to the 1970s; Jenna Williams accepted for Forest Creek. The program pairs the city with neighborhoods to improve communication, services, and quality of life.
• City Manager Michael Peoples presented the Safe Parking Pilot Program with Mount Zion Restoration Church, Gaston Together, Pastor Dr. Rodney Freeman, and Leslie Lee. The pilot would allow people living in vehicles to park at the church; the county trailer could provide bathroom/laundry/shower services, with Porta Johns and winterization as backup. The council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the city manager and city attorney to finalize an agreement not to exceed $25,000, with a later budget amendment expected.
• Crystal Certain, Director of Financial Services, and Kelly Gooderham of Martin Starnes & Associates presented the FY2025 audit. The city is expected to receive a clean, unmodified opinion, although submission to the Local Government Commission had been delayed by the federal government shutdown. The audit reported that general fund revenues rose about $4.6 million and expenditures rose about $5.7 million from the prior year; property taxes were 53% of general fund revenues and public safety was 53% of general fund expenditures. Total general fund fund balance ended at $70.4 million, with $46.9 million available after required reservations, an increase of $5.8 million; available fund balance was 48.48% of expenditures and transfers, just below the statewide average of 49.13%. The audit also reported a significant deficiency: one Parks and Recreation employee was overpaid after time was incorrectly keyed as overtime. Finance said controls were corrected and a corrective action plan would be submitted.

Public Comments & Testimony

• During the Stablegate Subdivision public hearing, neighboring resident Mr. Gossett said his property is near the proposed emergency access and expressed concerns about flooding, stormwater runoff from upstream development, retention-pond safety, fire/life safety access, and flood insurance costs. He asked that the proposal be studied further and said he did not want to see future homes underwater.
• Council members also asked about flood risk and traffic on Davis Park Road. Staff and the applicant's engineer stated the lots are outside the 100-year floodplain, the project will use two detention ponds designed for the 100-year storm, and stormwater will be released at a slower, two-year pre-development rate.

Discussion Items

• The Finance/Benefits Committee accepted the audit presentation for information and took no action.
• The Central City Revitalization & Housing/Community Engagement Committee reported on a joint meeting with Gastonia East Rotary Club about the 2025 concert series. The club reported an estimated 2,500 people attended the Monster Mash concert and said it would return more than $10,000 of unused city funds. The committee also prepared for the 2026 series.
• The council approved three staffing-credit resolutions: $2,000 for the Gaston County Highland Festival, $830 for the Walk to End Alzheimer's, and $340 for Special Olympics Gaston County Run for the Gold, based on a $2,000 or 50% cap on city in-kind staffing services.
• The council approved a resolution authorizing negotiations with Towne, Inc. for acquisition and development of a non-congregate shelter using $2.4 million in HOME-American Rescue Plan (HOME-ARP) funds. Towne CEO Jeff Perriano described a proposed campus with seven four-bedroom homes, about 28 bedrooms for 50-56 people, on Gaston County-donated land in Highland Business Park, with behavioral health services, Medicaid enrollment, veteran involvement through Purple Heart Homes, and a future job-training phase.

Public Hearing: Stablegate Subdivision

• Staff presented the request to annex and rezone approximately 28.264 acres west of Stagecoach Road, with connection to Clover Valley Drive, from Gaston County R-1 to PD-RRDD. The owner is Gandy Properties, LLC.
• The proposal is for 73 single-family detached lots, about 2.58 units per acre, with 56-foot and 60-foot lots. Conditions included a 25-foot buffer/fence, gated emergency access to Stablegate Drive, a 10-foot public greenway, HOA-maintained landscaping easements, Flock license plate reader cameras, and 100-year stormwater detention.
• The Planning Commission recommended approval 4-2 on November 19, and staff recommended approval. The council approved the annexation and rezoning after adding a condition that HOA documents restrict ownership by any single person or entity to no more than 25% of lots after the developer control period.

Public Hearing: Unified Development Ordinance Amendment

• The council considered amendments to Chapters 2, 5, 7, 9, and 13 of the Unified Development Ordinance. Staff organized the changes into four areas: accessory dwelling units (ADUs), administrative final plat approval, urban design standards, and a state-law-required repeal of the four-month rezoning waiting period.
• The ADU changes would replace "private residential quarters" with "accessory dwelling units," allow units to be rented, require single ownership and owner-occupancy, cap the unit at 800 square feet or 50% of principal ground-floor area (whichever is less), and set rear setback at 10 feet. Final plat approval would become an administrative act while infrastructure dedication would remain a council action. Urban design changes included maximum 15-foot setbacks from public right-of-way in office/commercial districts, building orientation and parking placement rules, a 50% addition threshold for building-material upgrades, and a two-story minimum for new Central Business District buildings.
• Council debate focused on ADUs. Some members said ADUs create affordable housing and support aging parents or adult children; other members said for-profit rentals would change single-family neighborhoods, add density, traffic, and enforcement problems. The ordinance passed 5-1, with the sole no vote coming from a council member who wanted more study and stronger protections for older single-family neighborhoods.

Appointments to Gastonia Sports and Entertainment Commission

• Council members selected at-large appointees and unanimously amended the ordinance to add an eighth at-large seat for Dave Curlin. The approved commission members included James Slag, Robert Bryant, Deanna Murphree, Tarek Crank, Elizabeth Jarman, Ash Smith, Neil Orridge, and Dave Curlin.

City Attorney, City Manager, and Council Reports

• City Attorney Eric Edgerton reported on the Metro Mayor's Coalition meeting and discussions about Southeast Gastonia transportation; a staff strategic planning meeting was scheduled later in the week.
• City Manager Peoples announced a Helene Recovery grant of $2,177,532.73 for Linwood Park pond and stream bank restoration and $241,000 for the Highland Greenway, for a combined nearly $2.2 million. He also reported a depot bid opening that week, a joint council/planning commission meeting being planned for early February, progress on the AMI meter project toward alpha testing, and the city receiving best drinking water recognition for 2024 and 2025.
• Council reports included kudos for the Christmas parade and Christmas Village, a new Joint Legislative Priority Support Coalition with the Charlotte Regional Transportation Organization, the warming center at Unity Baptist, the GO Foundation's roughly $800,000 toy giveaway, Shop with a Cop, and upcoming holiday and 2026 meeting dates.

Key Outcomes

• Approved the Safe Parking pilot agreement cap of $25,000 with Mount Zion Restoration Church.
• Received the FY2025 audit report and noted the clean unmodified opinion and payroll-related significant deficiency.
• Approved consent agenda, minutes, staffing credits, and recognition items unanimously where votes were recorded.
• Approved Stablegate Subdivision annexation/rezoning with the 25% ownership cap condition.
• Approved the UDO amendments 5-1.
• Authorized continued negotiations with Towne, Inc. for the HOME-ARP non-congregate shelter.
• Appointed the Gastonia Sports and Entertainment Commission and added an at-large seat.
• The next regular meeting was announced for January 6, 2026, at 6:00 PM in City Hall.