A Local Government Perspective on Land Use Planning

Rapid growth in coastal North Carolina poses tremendous challenges for local governments. Even though we are growing quickly we are still in general small, rural and often economically disadvantaged communities. As people move to the coast to enjoy a lifestyle that often includes golf and water access, they are migrating to communities that have insufficient infrastructure to support increasing numbers and additional demands for higher-level government services. Even with the influx of new residents, our tax bases are not large, our regional population remains politically insignificant and many government services taken for granted in larger communities remain unaffordable