<<   Previous ProjectNext Project  >>

The North Carolina Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) regulations require that an update be made of land use plans every five years. The Town of Beaufort's previous land use plan was updated and certified in 1997. The update was designed to ensure that all current land development issues were reviewed and reflected in the land use plan. Also, the Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) recently adopted revised planning guidelines which include requirements not addressed in the town’s 1997 plan. The land use plan update also provided an opportunity to evaluate policy statements and to determine their effectiveness in implementing the land development objectives of the community.

The study area for this land use plan update is the Beaufort Planning Jurisdiction which includes the Town of Beaufort and its extraterritorial planning and zoning jurisdiction. The plan includes both a short term (5-10 year) and long term (20-year) evaluation of land use and land development. Implementation activities are based upon a five-year action plan.

The goals and objectives of the land use plan were to:

• Identify and analyze new and emerging land use issues and concerns.
• Reexamine existing land use policies to determine their effectiveness.
• Revise existing land use policies and develop new policies that address current land use and land development issues and concerns.
• Reexamine the existing land use maps to determine what revisions are necessary to address new land use issues and concerns as well as revised and newly developed policy statements.
• Further develop implementation strategies and an implementation schedule.
• Promote a better understanding of the land use planning process.
• Promote citizen involvement in the process of preparing the updated land use plan.

The preparation of this report was financed in part through a grant provided by the North Carolina Coastal Management Program, through funds provided by the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended, which is administered by the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The plan was adopted by the Town of Beaufort in December 2006, and was certified by the Coastal Resources Commission in January 2007.

The Wooten Company has also recently assisted other communities with updates to their CAMA Plan including Chowan County-Edenton, Pasquotank County-Elizabeth City, Cape Carteret, and Morehead City.