Another local government is starting to refresh the documents used to guide a community's growth.
Pender County officials will kick off the process of updating the county's Comprehensive Land Use Plan, known as Pender 2.0, with the first meeting of the Commissioners' Advisory Committee (CAC) at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Pender County Administrative Building, 805 S. Walker St., Burgaw.
“Recently designated as the second-fastest growing coastal county in the state, we are seeing significant investment and development throughout Pender County," said Kyle Breuer, director of Pender County Planning and Community Development, in the release. "The policies we put in place today will have an impact for the lifetime of these developments and need to reflect the desires of the community as they continue to change and evolve.”
The CAC is comprised of resident representatives from six planning areas in Pender County to provide input and guidance during the development of the plan, the release said. More CAC meetings and public input sessions in each of the six areas will follow.
Pender 2.0 will provide a framework for managing growth, land use and economic development, according to a news release from the county's planning department.
The release said that over the next year, county staff members, along with consultants from the Cape Fear Council of Governments, will work with members of the community on developing a plan that will be implemented in the years to come.
Additional information can be found at the county's
Pender 2.0 website or by calling the Planning and Community Development office at 259-1202.
Pender County first adopted a Comprehensive Land Use Plan in 2010.
Last year, the governing boards of the city of Wilmington and New Hanover County each adopted comprehensive plans, the first contemporary comprehensive plans for those communities. The documents are being used to guide the revamping or updating of development ordinances. Also last year, officials in the town of Leland in Brunswick County adopted an updated master plan.
Brunswick County's land use plan was originally adopted in 2007 and has been updated and recertified several times since then, with the last update and recertification in 2012. The county's Unified Development Ordinance was last revised in 2015, with some refinements since then.