John Powell, Jr. NC House of Representatives District 55 Paid For By POWELL FOR NC
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Serve our community - work tirelessly to make Anson County, Union County, and North Carolina a better place to live and work.
I want to be your voice, present your collective opinions and concerns in committees and on the floor of the North Carolina House of Representatives, and fight for what you believe in.
Help me prevent government overreach and promote transparency in governance, while utilizing a combination of checks and balances, public engagement, and legal and ethical safeguards.
SB382
North Carolina Senate Bill 382 began as a disaster relief bill, a worthy bill to help our State recover from Hurricane Helene. Unfortunately, a last-minute provision was quietly slipped in to strip local governments of their zoning authority. This "sleight of hand", hidden inside an emergency relief bill, is a textbook example of legislative manipulation. It’s a disgraceful move by politicians more interested in serving powerful special interests than the people they were elected to represent.
HB765
House Bill 765, titled “Save the American Dream Act,” is a classic example of legislative branding used to obscure intent. It is a massive overhaul of local planning and zoning rules. Under the guise of altruism, it slashes the ability of towns and counties to control how their communities grow. Local representatives, who understand their communities best, are being pushed aside so that developers can operate with fewer restrictions and more profit, regardless of the long-term impact on residents, infrastructure, or the environment.
HB765, in the context of North Carolina, is a bill focused on local government development regulations, often referred to as the "Save the American Dream Act". It aims to encourage homebuilding by limiting local authority over development projects, including zoning issues. The bill has generated controversy, with some arguing it usurps local control and others supporting it as a way to address housing affordability.
House Bill 661
House Bill 661 also contains provisions that would further strip zoning authority from municipalities, continuing this disturbing trend. Every time the public pushes back, these provisions are shifted into new bills like a political "sleight of hand" maneuver.
This is not governance. It’s a betrayal; it's selling public policy to the highest bidder.
Let's remember your NC House Representative is elected to serve and protect you and probably your largest investment - your home. These politicians are not serving their constituents; they’re serving developers, lobbyists, and donors who see community land as a commodity, not a home.
SB205
When HB 765 sparked strong backlash from citizens, local officials, and planning experts across North Carolina, many assumed the fight was won. However, "nothing is dead in Raleigh". Legislators revived some of the most harmful provisions of HB765 and inserted them into Senate Bill 205, a bill that originally dealt with nothing more than swimming pools. What started as a simple two-page bill was hijacked and inflated, and used as a vehicle to quietly slip controversial zoning rollbacks past the public eye.
SB 205 doesn’t just tweak pool rules. It amends Chapter 160D — the same statutes HB 765 targeted — to prohibit local governments from adopting zoning, subdivision, and building regulations unless explicitly allowed by state law.
This crackdown attacks:
Tree protection, buffers, and design standards
Fee authority and stormwater control
Infrastructure requirements, historic preservation, and more
Local governments are effectively reduced to doing only what the General Assembly says — no more, no less.
Now, SB205 is a power-grabbing bill infused by the harmful elements of HB765, centralizing sprawling authority in Raleigh and dragging local control behind it.
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And What About HB24??
House Bill 24
A very disturbing note - HB24 was filed on January 29, 2025. Since June 5, 2025, it’s "parked" in the House Rules Committee. It is a simple, clean single-line bill that would repeal the last paragraph of a 131-page Hurricane Helene relief bill that took away downzoning authority from local governing bodies.
This direct bill would serve to reverse this ridiculous overreach on local government. It remains sitting in Rules.
ALLOW ME TO PROTECT YOU!
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Christian Conservative Republican views
in the North Carolina General Assembly.
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POWELL FOR NC
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P.O. Box 1350, Norwood, NC 28128
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