A new bill filed by State Rep. Cody Huneycutt seeks to restore local governments’ authority to initiate zoning changes without requiring all property owners’ consent, according to the North Carolina State House.
The bill, filed as HB 25 on Jan. 29 during the 2025 regular session, was formally listed with the short title: ‘Restore Down-Zoning Auth./Stanly & Catawba.’
The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.
In essence, the bill restores the authority of local governments in Stanly and Catawba counties, North Carolina, to initiate down-zoning without requiring the written consent of all affected property owners. Down-zoning refers to zoning amendments that either decrease development density, reduce permitted land uses, or create nonconformities on nonresidential land. The act applies only to the specified counties and municipalities within them, with retroactive effect from Dec. 11, 2024, ensuring that ordinances adopted under the amended regulations remain valid as they were on that date.
Of the two sponsors of this bill, Huneycutt proposed the most bills (two) during the 2025 regular session.
Bills in North Carolina follow a multi-step process before becoming law. A lawmaker starts by filing a bill, which is assigned to a committee for review. The bill must be read three times in each chamber. If one chamber changes the bill after the other passes it, both must agree on the final version. Once both chambers approve the same bill, it goes to the governor, who has 10 days (or 30 if the legislature is not in session) to sign, veto, or let it become law without a signature.
You can read more about the bills and other measures here.
Huneycutt graduated from the University of North Carolina in 2014 with a BA.
Huneycutt, a Republican, was elected to the North Carolina State House in 2025 to represent the state’s 67th House district, replacing previous state representative Clayton Sasser.
| Legislative Session | Authors | Bill Number | Date Filed | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Cody Huneycutt and Mitchell S. Setzer | HB 25 | 01/29/2025 | Restore Down-Zoning Auth./Stanly & Catawba. |
| 2025 | Cody Huneycutt | HB 23 | 01/29/2025 | Various State and Local Gov’t Provisions. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 1056 | 05/02/2024 | PA Licensure Interstate Compact. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 948 | 05/01/2024 | Funding Vocational Rehabilitation. |
| 2023 | Kevin Crutchfield and Wayne Sasser | HB 971 | 05/01/2024 | Human Trafficking Changes. |
| 2023 | Kevin Crutchfield and Wayne Sasser | HB 939 | 04/30/2024 | Access to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 918 | 04/29/2024 | Mount Gilead Annex/Kannapolis Deannex. |
| 2023 | Kristin Baker, M.D. and Wayne Sasser | HB 855 | 04/25/2023 | Strengthening Care for Families and Children. |
| 2023 | John Autry and Wayne Sasser | HB 677 | 04/18/2023 | Improved Data on Involuntary Commitments. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 678 | 04/18/2023 | Excused Absences for 4-H Participation. |
| 2023 | Kristin Baker, M.D. and Wayne Sasser | HB 680 | 04/18/2023 | Improved Access to SMI Prescription Drugs. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 712 | 04/18/2023 | PREP Act/Pharmacists. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 723 | 04/18/2023 | DOA/DOI Auth. Clar. for State-Owned Build. |
| 2023 | John Autry and Wayne Sasser | HB 727 | 04/18/2023 | Breakthrough Therapies Research/Advisory Act. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 736 | 04/18/2023 | Joel H. Crisp SUDEP Awareness Law. |
| 2023 | Caleb Rudow and Wayne Sasser | HB 737 | 04/18/2023 | Preserving Competition in Health Care. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 739 | 04/18/2023 | Update Reqs./Advance Health Care Directives. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 745 | 04/18/2023 | Mandate Fentanyl Testing/Hospital ER Patients. |
| 2023 | Kristin Baker, M.D. and Wayne Sasser | HB 649 | 04/17/2023 | Ensure Timely/Clinically Sound Utiliz. Review. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 654 | 04/17/2023 | Pharmacists/Vaccine Admin./Test and Treat. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 621 | 04/13/2023 | 3-Year FDA Approval for New Childhood Vaxx. |
| 2023 | Diamond Staton-Williams, RN, BSN, MHA and Wayne Sasser | HB 623 | 04/13/2023 | The Kelly Spangler Study Bill. |
| 2023 | Kristin Baker, M.D. and Wayne Sasser | HB 587 | 04/06/2023 | NC Genetic Counselors Workforce Act. |
| 2023 | Kristin Baker, M.D. and Wayne Sasser | HB 573 | 04/05/2023 | Fair Medicaid ASC Reimbursements. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 563 | 04/04/2023 | Hemp-Derived Consumables/Con Sub Changes. |
| 2023 | Kevin Crutchfield, Kristin Baker, M.D., and Wayne Sasser | HB 484 | 03/27/2023 | Mental Health Confidential Info. Disclosure. |
| 2023 | John R. Bradford, III and Wayne Sasser | HB 440 | 03/22/2023 | Direct Care Work Wage Increases/Innov. Waiver. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 444 | 03/22/2023 | Substance Use Disorder/Update Language. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 450 | 03/22/2023 | Pharmacist Provided Health Care Services. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 425 | 03/21/2023 | Stop Counterfeit Pills Act. |
| 2023 | John R. Bradford, III, Kevin Crutchfield, and Wayne Sasser | HB 403 | 03/16/2023 | Funds/Prospera. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 349 | 03/13/2023 | Firefighter PFAS Management/Research. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 354 | 03/13/2023 | Chiropractic Assistant Modifications. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 340 | 03/09/2023 | Medicaid Children & Families Specialty Plan. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 316 | 03/08/2023 | Respiratory Care Modernization Act. |
| 2023 | Kristin Baker, M.D. and Wayne Sasser | HB 287 | 03/07/2023 | Health Care Omnibus. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 295 | 03/07/2023 | Promote North Carolina Sawmills. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 286 | 03/06/2023 | Permanency Innovation Initiative/SaySo/Funds. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 246 | 03/01/2023 | Revise Pharmacy Benefits Manager Provisions. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 258 | 03/01/2023 | Novel Opioid Control Act of 2023. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 218 | 02/28/2023 | The SAVE Act. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 224 | 02/28/2023 | Protect NC Opioid Settlement Payments. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 158 | 02/21/2023 | Stanly CC/Contract Date & MCC Status. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 108 | 02/13/2023 | Local Communicable Disease Programs/Funds. |
| 2023 | Kristin Baker, M.D. and Wayne Sasser | HB 75 | 02/08/2023 | PA Team-Based Practice. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 35 | 01/30/2023 | Expand Definition of Opioid Antagonist. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 12 | 01/25/2023 | Stanly Cty Airport Authority/Members & Leases. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 18 | 01/25/2023 | Elk Conservation Permit Auction/Raffle. |
| 2023 | Wayne Sasser | HB 7 | 01/25/2023 | Stanly Comm. Coll. Safety Funds. |
