Our department aims to provide excellent public service every day by creating and regulating policies that encourage planned growth and economic development and ensuring safety of citizens by enforcement of the North Carolina Building Code.
Our department provides the following services for the unincorporated areas of Gaston County and the following municipalities:
Belmont, Bessemer City, Cherryville, Cramerton, Delview, Dallas, Gastonia, High Shoals, Lowell, McAdenville, Mount Holly, Ranlo, Stanley, and Spencer Mountain
Belmont, Cherryville, Dallas, High Shoals, Lowell, McAdenville, Stanley, and Spencer Mountain
All municipalities within Gaston County
Surveys and Plat Review
Planners will not start reviewing surveys and plats until all associated fees have been paid. Once a plat is submitted for review through the Citizen Self-Service Portal, the appropriate fees will be added, and an invoice will be generated. Once that invoice is paid, the planner assigned to the case will have ten (10) business days to send out initial comments. A new set of plat review fees was approved with the FY 25 budget. Re-review fees will be added and invoiced as needed. Re-review fees must be paid before the review process starts.
Fee Name FY 24 FY 25 (Effective July 1, 2024)*The exempt plat review fee was removed. All plat reviews are $300.00*
Requirements for Signatures on Final Plats
The County Review Officers will not sign off on final plats that do not have a wet signature for the surveyor. This process came from the review officer's training and the NC Secretary of State Land Records Office. Gaston County is not an e-record county for plats, so signatures for the surveyor and the review officers cannot be digital. All other signatures do not have criteria. Staff encourages sending out approved final plats for electronic signatures to owners, subdivision administrators, engineers, and watershed/floodplain administrators prior to printing out the final copy and brining it to the Administration Building for a Review Officer's signatures. The County has five review officers available.
Requiring Foundation Survey Approval Letters
Starting January 1, 2023, a foundation survey approval letter (a copy of the foundation survey itself is not required) will need to be uploaded to the framing inspection requested via the Customer Self-Service Portal. This will apply to the following:
This new process will apply to projects that apply for a building permit after January 1, 2023. If a project has already started and a building permit has been issued, you are not required to upload a foundation survey approval letter.
This will apply to all projects within Gaston County, with the exception of those within the City of Cherryville zoning district.
If a project is within the County's zoning jurisdiction, you will be required to upload a foundation survey on CSS using the link below.