North Carolina Experience with Municipal Extraterritorial Planning Jurisdiction

North Carolina statutes allow cities to conduct planning and apply zoning, subdivision, and other development regulations to an adjacent area outside the city limits. This report examines the law related to this extension of municipal jurisdiction. It reviews the authority for this power and the process that must be followed in order to exercise it. The publication also reports on a comprehensive survey of North Carolina cities and counties regarding how this power has been exercised. Topics addressed in the survey report include the frequency of use of municipal extraterritorial jurisdiction, which city powers are applied there, how extraterritorial residents are represented on city boards, and how cities and counties are interacting on this issue.