The Planning & Land Use Department works with residents, stakeholders, and elected officials to identify and evaluate policies guiding the development and use of land in the unincorporated areas of New Hanover County; implements programs and regulations to advance these goals; and administers the county’s development regulations through project review and analysis of development applications.
Our department provides a variety of services relating to land use activities and property development. This includes rezonings, site plan review, zoning verification letters, addressing, and long-range projects.
We try to help as best we can with all questions and requests, however some things fall under other departments.
Permits: All permits must be completed through our COAST portal. For questions regarding your permit, please contact the COAST helpline at (910) 798-7308, option 1 or visit the Building Safety webpage.
Surveying: New Hanover County does not provide this service, so if you need a survey please contact a local surveyor for your needs.
Parcel IDs: Our Tax Department issues all parcel IDs and parcel descriptions.City of Wilmington Projects: NHC Planning and Land Use only handles unincorporated areas. City of Wilmington Planning & Development website.
Road Maintenance: All roads in the unincorporated areas are maintained by private organizations or individuals, or by the NCDOT. NHC Roads
Utilities: If you need to set up utilities please contact the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA).
Street Signs: For street sign maintenance on public streets, please contact Facilities Management. For privately owned streets, the installation and maintenance of signage is the responsibility of the road owner.
To find what your property is zoned as, please visit the Zoning District Map.
If you know the zoning district of your property, please visit the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) for the setback requirement in that district. For more specific questions please give us a call at (910) 798-7165.
Please visit our rezoning page to view a table of all recent rezoning cases. The webpage is updated semi-monthly and includes links to the application documents. For a map view of all our recent cases, please visit the development activity page.
Need an address?
Property addresses are required for all permit submittals. If your property does not have an address or you need multiple addresses for a large project, please contact Katherine May at kmay@nhcgov.com.
Address records don't match?
If your recorded address differs from our address map, please contact Katherine May for assistance. Katherine May: kmay@nhcgov.com.
Issues with mail delivery?
Please verify your address with our address map. If your address is correct, please contact your local USPS office for assistance.
Incorrect address on Google maps?
We do not directly inform Google or other private mapping services of address updates. If your new address isn't appearing on Google maps, please contact Google to update their address records.