Planning and Zoning Law Bulletin #21

The 2011 and 2012 sessions of the North Carolina General Assembly enacted a number of provisions affecting the planning community. Among the more notable are new exemptions from municipal development regulations for agricultural uses located within municipal extra-territorial planning areas, limits on use of development moratoria when applied to residential land uses, and new standards for when inspections can be made of residential properties. There were major changes to state policy on municipal annexation that now require support of residents of areas proposed to be annexed. Other laws set new standards for political signs in public rights of way; cover selective removal of vegetation in rights of way to improve billboard visibility; address recovery of natural gas from deep shale formations; and are directed at restructuring of state agencies and programs dealing with environmental protection.