Greensboro Council Creates New Land-Use Category Restricting Detention Facilities

Greensboro City Council voted unanimously Feb. 18, 2026, to add a new set of rules to the city’s Land Development Ordinance that tighten where and how secure detention or custodial facilities may operate inside Greensboro city limits. The council action creates a distinct land-use category aimed at regulating such facilities separately from other institutional uses.

The Land Development Ordinance amendment establishes the new land-use category for secure detention or custodial facilities within the city’s zoning framework and directs how those proposals will be reviewed under Greensboro rules. Council members approved the change as an LDO amendment, signaling a municipal-level decision on location and operational standards for secure custody operations within the city.

Council’s unanimous vote on Feb. 18 makes the changes part of the city’s regulatory code. Because the amendment modifies the Land Development Ordinance, any future applications to site or expand secure detention or custodial facilities in Greensboro will be subject to the new category and the standards the city has now written into its zoning ordinance.

The vote narrows the range of locations and conditions under which a secure detention or custodial facility could be built or operated inside Greensboro city limits. By creating a separate land-use category, the council has moved decisionmaking for these facilities into the LDO process rather than treating them as exceptions handled solely by conditional-use processes.

City departments that implement the Land Development Ordinance will now route proposals for secure detention or custodial facilities through the procedures established by the Feb. 18 amendment. Developers, operators, and any advocacy groups with an interest in facility siting within Greensboro will need to consult the revised Land Development Ordinance to understand permissible zones and review requirements.

The unanimous Feb. 18 vote marks a clear policy choice by Greensboro City Council to exercise city-level control over the placement and operation of secure detention and custodial facilities inside Greensboro. The amendment alters the legal framework for future proposals and places those proposals squarely under the new land-use category in the city’s Land Development Ordinance.