Land Use Plan – 2002 - Stanly County, North Carolina

Surface Waters
STANLY COUNTY
A significant part of the character of Stanly County is defined by manmade lakes (Tuckertown
Reservoir, Narrows Reservoir, Falls Reservoir, and Tillery Reservoir) which together outline
much of the eastern boundary of the county. The reservoirs also occupy a large amount of land
area. Together the lakes cover 10,350 acres of land in Stanly County and adjoining Montgomery
County including 6,638 acres within Stanly County. This represents 3.8 percent of Stanly
County’s land area.
Existing Land Use Distribution
Table 3-3 provides a summary of the distribution of the land use categories identified in Figure
3-6. The analysis of the land use distribution is limited to the study area identified in Figures 1-2
and 3-6 and excludes 42,600 acres of land either within incorporated areas of the county or
those areas within ETJs.
Table 3-3. Existing Land Use Summary.
Land Use Category 1
Acres Percent of Study Area
Agriculture 63,542 36.4
Wooded Areas 89,048 50.8
Commercial 32 Less than 0.1
Industrial 1,285 0.7
Parks and Recreation 4,597 2.6
Public/Semi-Public Areas 384 0.2
Residential 8,834 5.1
Surface Waters 6,638 3.8
Total 174,360 99.7
1
Corresponds to land use categories identified in Figure 3-6.
2
Excludes 41,583 acres within municipal boundaries and ETJs outside Land Use Plan study
area.
Source: Stanly County GIS Aerial Photography (completed in April 2000) and Woolpert,
2001.
Existing Land Use Summary
Despite the growth pressures presented to Stanly County, the county retains much of the rural
character that has defined its appeal for so many for so long. Stanly County presents an
interesting cross-section of development trends: in the west, Locust and Stanfield are
experiencing the first effects of a tide of development rippling from the Charlotte metropolitan
area just to their west. In eastern Stanly County, the shorelines of Narrows Reservoir and Tillery
Reservoir are increasingly becoming year-round communities amongst the cabins and vacation
homes of the recent past. Albemarle remains the population center of the county and its
foremost commercial and cultural center. Other areas of the county, although growing, still retain
the rural atmosphere of central North Carolina.
Because of the county’s location relative to Charlotte, good roads and public services, and large
amount of agricultural and other open spaces, there will be continued pressure in certain areas
of the county. Other factors—such as the widening of NC 24/27 to four lanes and the completion
of the eastern leg of Interstate 485—will place additional development pressure on certain parts
of the county. This will have some predictable impacts on the way land is used in the future.
There will be continued pressure to develop farm areas of in western Stanly County and the
shorelines of Narrows Reservoir and Tillery Reservoir in the near term, and the remainder of the
county in the long-term. This will have potentially the unavoidable impact of removing land
permanently from agricultural production and the inventories of wooded area and open space.
Land Use Plan 3-16 6/02