NEWTON — Catawba County’s Planning Board will hold public hearings Monday, Oct. 26, on three requests to rezone land in unincorporated parts of the county: a proposed fitness center and accounting office in Terrell, mini-storage buildings near Conover and a planned-development case on N.C. 150, also in the Terrell area.
The Planning Board makes a recommendation on each request. The county’s 2026 planning schedule lists a Board of Commissioners public hearing on the same three cases for Monday, Nov. 16, when commissioners would decide them. The county’s planning page lists all three as pending.
As of Wednesday, Oct. 7, the county had not posted the Oct. 26 agenda or staff reports, so no staff recommendation or Planning Board vote exists yet on any of the three. The details below come from the applications and written narratives the applicants filed with the county, along with county parcel mapping.
RZ2026-06: Fitness center and CPA office on Sherrills Ford Road
Petram Properties LLC is asking to rezone a 1.51-acre parcel at 9173 Sherrills Ford Road in Terrell (parcel 4617-0916-3151) from R-20 Residential to Highway Commercial (HC). Matt Coffey signed the application Sept. 11 as the company’s member/manager.
In a letter to county planning staff, Coffey wrote that he owns Pure Fitness Inc. and Coffey & Johnson, CPA-PLLC. He said the plan is a building of about 12,000 square feet, finished within two to three years, with about 2,000 square feet of office space for the accounting firm and the rest for the gym. The letter also describes outdoor green space for workouts and a running track. If HC zoning is not an option, the letter asks for the county’s O-I district instead.
According to the letter, the property has about 180 feet of frontage, and the Catawba County Library sits across the road. Pure Fitness 24/7 opened in Terrell in 2008 and has about 900 members, the letter says.
RZ2026-07: Mini-storage on St. Peters Church Road
Herman Wilson Sigmon Jr. is asking the county to amend the Planned Development (PD) zoning on his property at 5851 St. Peters Church Road. The property has a Conover mailing address but sits outside city limits. The county lists the case as PD to PD. The application is dated Sept. 8.
A letter filed on Sigmon’s behalf by Jason Lawing of Innovative Construction of NC LLC says Sigmon wants to build about four mini-storage buildings with 83 units on pasture next to his business, Sig’s Tire and Auto. The letter cites demand for storage driven by new housing in the area. The application does not say how many acres would be affected.
RZ2026-08: ‘The Farm South’ on N.C. 150
Afshin Ghazi of Charlotte filed the third request, listed by the county as “Farm South,” for property at 7921 E. NC 150 Highway in Terrell. The application lists Michael and Dianne Roth as property owners and names the subdivision “The Farm South.” It seeks to rezone land now zoned R-20 Residential and Planned Development-Conditional District (PD-CD) to PD-CD. The application is stamped received March 20, 2026.
The one-page application posted by the county does not describe a proposed use, number of units or total acreage, and it lists no parcel number. Catawba First News will report those details if staff reports or plans are posted.
County planning documents list Ghazi as the applicant on a 2024 planned-development amendment (RZ2024-05) in the Terrell Town Center area. The county lists that case as approved by commissioners in December 2024.
How to take part
The Planning Board meets at 7 p.m. Oct. 26 in the Board of Commissioners meeting room on the second floor of the Justice Center, 100 Government Drive, Newton, according to the county’s 2026 schedule. The schedule says any change in date, time or place will appear on the posted agenda. The commissioners’ hearing is set for 7 p.m. Nov. 16 in the same room.
Residents who want to speak on a case can attend either hearing. Applications and narratives for each case are posted on the county Planning Department’s Board Agendas and Projects page. The Planning office, at 25 Government Drive in Newton, can be reached at 828-465-8380. Anyone needing disability accommodations should call that number before the meeting, according to the schedule.
Catawba First News will update this story when the agenda and staff reports are posted and will report the Planning Board’s recommendations.
Source note
As of publication, these facts are drawn from Catawba County documents: the Planning Department’s Board Agendas and Projects case table and the applications and narratives posted there for RZ2026-06, RZ2026-07 and RZ2026-08 (https://www.catawbacountync.gov/county-services/planning-and-parks/board-agendas-and-projects/); the 2026 Planning Board meeting schedule; the Board of Commissioners’ 2026 meeting schedule; and county GIS parcel, zoning and city-limit layers. The Oct. 26 Planning Board agenda, staff reports and any published hearing notice had not been posted when this story was prepared on Oct. 7, 2026.
