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Cherryville, NC (WNN) - Coming up on August 10, 2026, at 6 PM during its regular city council meeting, Cherryville will hold a public hearing for upcoming ordinance changes. These changes are limited to Main Street and the Central Business District (CBD) of the city, meaning they won’t affect further areas. As stated in the cover letter given to downtown businesses, the change will be implemented over a two-year period. Next Monday’s meeting will be the time to support or go against these changes.
The ordinance is meant to keep downtown Cherryville retaining its historical value while keeping the area visually pleasing. This will see the city’s code enforcement officer and downtown director monitor to make sure that codes are upheld. Structures that violate ordinances will be presented via letter to business owners with a set date to complete needed changes. Below are the updated ordinance suggestions:
Standards for awnings, roofs, and surfaces in the CBD
Two items here require approval from the Architectural Review Board (ARB). These are changes to paint colors and awnings. These items prohibit chipped, faded, and peeling paint as well as worn or tattered awnings. Awnings must fire repellant, and be constructed with durable material. Colors must match the building in accordance with ARB decisions. If this is found to be the case, then front-of-building issues will have a six-month grace period, and rear issues will have a year before a fee schedule is enacted. One note from the code here is that brick surfaces that lack paint are not allowed to be painted.
An awning located at Art Works on Main Street - Cherryville, NC - August 4, 2026
Mason Beam (WNN)
The other items here deal with disrepair. Exterior walls should appear clean and graffiti-free. All cases of graffiti, no matter the surface, have a 14-day removal window before fees are incurred. Leaking roofs are also not permitted and have a 3-month grace period. Lastly, metal and vinyl siding are completely prohibited within the CBD.
Standards Regarding Exterior Grounds in the CBD
This section deals with the spaces publicly used within the CBD by business owners. Firstly abandoned flower pots are to be removed. It is encouraged that seasonal plants and blooming flowers are used, with dead plants being prohibited. While pots may be placed without review, other standard items must be looked at by the ARB. This includes benches, tables, and trash cans, with some ambiguity about other sidewalk furnishings. These issues all have a 1-month grace period to be brought into compliance.
Exterior storage is also reviewed here. Existing trailers used for storage will be allowed to remain, but if they have damaged paint and are visible from the roadway, they must be repaired with a 12-month grace period. Additional tractor cargo trailers will not be allowed. Both temporary and permanent storage buildings are prohibited in this district. The last item here is refuse/ trash, whether in front of or behind a business, which is not allowed and has a 1-month grace period.
Standards Regarding Window Interiors in the CBD
This section tackles how signage, displays, and window covers must appear in the CBD. All windows, including currently vacant ones, must contain merchandise, works of art, or a seasonal display. Signs must not exceed 50% of the window's surface and must appear professional. This means that it cannot appear hand-painted or like graffiti. All of the issues here will be given a 1-month grace period.
Other items here included regulations on tinted glass. Extant tinted glass may remain, but new glass must follow code 8-156a1. This includes a minimum visible light transmission of 35% and a reflectance factor of 20%. Barred windows are strictly prohibited unless required by law; however, no NC law requires these for businesses. These notably do not have an associated grace period.
The last two items here deal with the visibility of certain objects. Opaque covers are only allowed during construction periods and cannot remain past this. Otherwise, the change notes that interior storage cannot be visible from the front of the building. If visible, it may only be visible from the rear and is limited to existing in the rear 50% of the space in the building.
Standards Regarding Doors and Windows in the CBD
These items deal with exterior damage and code to windows and doors. In short, broken and dilapidated windows and doors are not allowed. This includes rust, chips, and rotted frames. Broken windows and doors must be boarded up within 30 days, with the period to fix them varying by item. Structures on building fronts will have a 9-month grace period, with rear structures receiving a 1-year grace period.
If a business or property owner is in violation of any of the items above for longer than the grace period, then the fee schedule begins. The penalty starts off rather small but can accrue to a large amount if ignored. The first citation will only incur a $25 fee. This will have a 10-day period to be brought into compliance. The second citation will be $50 and will have a 3-day period to be brought into compliance. The third and all following citations will accrue $50 daily and be issued every 3 days until the structure is in compliance.
The packet then goes on to information from the Cherryville Downtown Director, Emily Dellinger, outlining how to apply for incentive grants. Projects will be discussed with Dellinger, then put forth to the ARB. If approved, work must be completed within 4 months, funds may only be used for the outlined project, and work completed before the grant is approved will not be funded. Each grant requires at least 3 bids to be submitted before work begins. All receipts must be submitted to Dellinger, and inspection must occur within 30 days of completion.
The document continues to describe eligibility periods and what can be covered by these grants. The areas it can cover are the building front, the side or rear facade, upper, side, and rear windows, interior improvements, roof repair, and HVAC repair. The caps for each item are either $1500, $3000, or $5000, with the exception being up to $6000 for windows, with a $400 per window allotment. Tenants may apply for building front, side, or rear facade, and interior grants once every five years, under the guarantee that they will remain in the location for a minimum of 2 years, or repay the city. No such restriction applies to building owners, but application eligibility for grants only occurs once every 10 or 20 years, depending on the grant.
The public hearing for these items will occur on August 10, 2026, at Cherryville’s community center for those who wish to speak and will then be voted on for approval. The grace periods are considered generous by the city, and will focus on front-of-building issues in year one, with side and rear issues being addressed in year two.
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