This ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the Town of Cape Carteret Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), and contains all land development regulations including zoning, subdivisions, waterways, signage and flood damage prevention. This ordinance may be referred to as "the Unified Development Ordinance" or "the UDO" and is referenced throughout as "this UDO" or "this ordinance."

This ordinance is adopted pursuant to the authority contained in G.S. 153A-121 which states that a municipality may, by ordinance, define, prohibit, regulate, or abate acts, omissions, or conditions detrimental to the health, safety, or welfare of its citizens and the peace and dignity of the city, and may define and abate nuisances.

Zoning provisions enacted herein are under the authority granted to the Town by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, which extends to localities the authority to enact regulations which promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the community.

Subdivision provisions enacted herein are under the authority of G.S. 160D-801 which provide for the coordination of streets within proposed subdivisions with existing or planned street and with other public facilities, the dedication or reservation of recreation areas serving residents of the immediate neighborhood within the subdivision, or alternatively, for the provision of funds to be used to acquire recreation areas serving residents of more than one neighborhood in the immediate area, and for the distribution of population and traffic in a manner that will avoid congestion and overcrowding.

This UDO, which combines zoning and subdivision authority, is further enacted under the authority of G.S. 160D-103.

Whenever any provision of this ordinance refers to or cites a section of the North Carolina General Statutes and that section is later amended or superseded, this ordinance shall be deemed amended to refer to the amended section or the section that most nearly corresponds to the superseded section.

This Unified Development Ordinance is created to protect the health, safety and general welfare of the residents of Cape Carteret; to protect the natural environment in the vicinity of the Town; and to create a single source of regulations concerning development in the Town.

The regulations are made with reasonable consideration as to the character of the Town, its suitability for particular uses, and with a desire to conserve the value of buildings and quality of life while encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout the Town. This UDO is the primary instrument for the implementation of the Town's Comprehensive Plan.

The existing land development regulations of the Town relating to use of land, waterways, structures and buildings, zoning, flood damage prevention, stormwater management, and general development standards, are replaced by this UDO, effective September 13, 2021. The adoption of this UDO shall not affect nor prevent any pending or future prosecution of, or action to abate, violations of the previous land development ordinances of the Town which occurred prior to the adoption of this UDO.

The provisions of this ordinance shall apply to the development of land within the planning jurisdiction of the Town of Cape Carteret, comprised of all the land within the Town's corporate limits and its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), unless the development is expressly exempted by a specific section or subsection of this ordinance.

Pursuant to G.S. 160D-202, the Town may exercise jurisdiction over defined geographical areas extending not more than one mile beyond its contiguous corporate limits. These areas shall be known as extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJs). The Town will not exercise any power in the ETJs that it is not exercising within its corporate limits. The Town shall provide proportional representation, based on updated decennial census population estimates, by appointing at least one resident of the entire extraterritorial planning area to the Planning Board and Board of Adjustment (G.S. 160D-307). For extension of extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), the Town will provide mailed notice to all owners of all parcels of land proposed for addition to the area of extraterritorial jurisdiction, as shown on the county tax records. The notice shall be sent by first-class mail to the last addresses listed for affected property owners in the county tax records. The notice shall inform the landowner of the effect of the extension of extraterritorial jurisdiction, of the landowners' right to participate in a legislative hearing prior to adoption of any ordinance extending the area of extraterritorial jurisdiction, as provided in G.S. 160D-303. The notice shall be mailed at least 30 days prior to the date of the hearing. The person or persons mailing the notices shall certify to the Board of Commissioners that the notices were sent by first-class mail, and the certificate shall be deemed conclusive in the absence of fraud (G.S. 160D-202(d)).

No land shall be developed without full compliance with the provisions of this ordinance and all other applicable Town, County, State and Federal regulations.

It is hereby declared to be the intention of the Board of Commissioners that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and if any such section, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase is declared unconstitutional or otherwise invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction in a valid judgment or decree, such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect any of the remaining sections, paragraphs, sentence, clauses, or phrases of this ordinance since the same would have been enacted without the incorporation into this ordinance of such unconstitutional or invalid section, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase.

This UDO was adopted on September 13, 2021, and became effective on at the time of adoption.