Planning Procedures

The Dare County Board of Commissioners has adopted procedures and standards for the development of all land under the jurisdiction of Dare County. The Subdivision Ordinance, adopted in 1983, is administered by the Planning Department to ensure the orderly development of the County by providing regulations for the construction of all streets, utilities, and building sites.

Subdivision Procedures

The definition of a subdivision is any division of a tract or parcel of land divided into two or more lots, building sites, or other divisions, for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of sale or building development including the division of land involving the dedication of a new street or changes in existing streets.

All subdivision plats must be prepared by a North Carolina registered surveyor. The Dare County Subdivision Ordinance requires preliminary approval before the submission of a final plat for recordation. Procedures for preparing subdivision plats are outlined in detail in the Subdivision Ordinance.

Sketch Plan – a subdivider may submit a sketch plan to the Planning Board for its review and suggestions at least fifteen (15) working days before a regularly scheduled Planning Board meeting. Fifteen (15) copies of a sketch plan containing the following information must be submitted.

A sketch map of the vicinity showing its location in relation to neighboring tracts, subdivisions, roads, and waterways;
The boundaries of the entire tract in common ownership and the portion of the tract to be subdivided;
The total acreage to be subdivided;
The existing and proposed uses of the land and the existing uses of the adjoining lands;
The proposed street layout with approximate pavement and right-of-way widths, lot layout, and size of lots;
The name, address and telephone number of the land owner, and if applicable, a written and acknowledged statement of the owner designating the subdivider or other person to act as his/her agent for the submission of plats;
The name, if any, of the proposed subdivision and streets;
Streets and lots of adjacent developed or platted properties;
If applicable, the zoning classification of the tract.

Review: The Planning Board shall review the sketch plan for general compliance with the requirements of the Subdivision and Zoning Ordinance, and shall advise the subdivider of the policies applicable to the proposed plat and procedures to be followed in preparation and submission of the preliminary plat.

Preliminary Plat – A subdivider must submit to the Planning Department fifteen (15) copies of a preliminary plat, prepared in detail in accordance with the general requirements and minimum standards of design set out in the Subdivision Ordinance. After staff has checked the plan, it is submitted to the Planning Board for review at one of its regularly scheduled meetings. One of the following actions will be taken by the Planning Board:

Recommendation of approval to the Dare County Board of Commissioners.
Recommendation of conditional approval to the Dare County Board of Commissioners with the conditions stated.
Require major changes to the plan prior to approval. The plat would then have to be changed and re-submitted through the Planning Department.
Recommendation of disapproval to the Dare County Board of Commissioners with the reasons stated.
Approval of a preliminary plat by the Dare County Board of Commissioners will also establish tentative approval of the final subdivision plat. To be valid, the final plat must be submitted with twelve (12) months.

Final Plat – After approval of the preliminary plat, the subdivider must submit to the Planning Board, fifteen (15) copies of the final subdivision plat along with one (1) originals drawn on white opaque mylar drafting, together with a check made payable to the Dare County Office of Register Deeds to cover the recording fees, which are $21.00 for each page (subject to change). Installation of improvements and utilities or a surety as provided in the Subdivision Ordinance is necessary before the plat is eligible for final approval. The Planning Board will review the final subdivision plat to ensure that it meets all of the requirements of the Ordinance. In addition, where applicable, other agencies will be requested for their approval as follows:

Environmental Health Department for septic system approval.
NC Department of Transportation, Division of Highways, for road system approval, only if dedicated for public use.

Recording the final plat – when the final reviews are completed, the staff will be responsible for obtaining signatures for the following certifications:

Dare County Planning Board approval, Chairman
Dare County Board of Commissioners approval, Chairman

Road signs must also be purchased before the final plat is recorded.

Minimum Lot Size

All new lots in Dare County must meet the minimum lot size guidelines established by the Dare County Board of Commissioners. These standards are as follows:

For lots served by private wells and on-site septic systems: 20,000 square feet of area.
For lots served by central water and on-site septic systems: 15,000 square feet of area.
For lots served by central water and central wastewater treatment: 15,000 square feet of area.

Subdivision Exemptions

Under certain circumstances, subdivision plats may be exempt from Planning Board review and Board of Commissioner approval. Exemption plats are reviewed by the Planning Director and Review Officer, and if determined to meet the exemption criteria, recorded by the Planning Board Clerk. The criteria for exemption plats is as follows:

The combination or recombination of portions of previously subdivided and recorded lots, if the total number of lots is not increased and the resultant lots are equal to or exceed the standards of the County as established by the Subdivision Ordinance.

The division of land into parcels greater than ten acres, if no street right-of-way dedication is involved.

The public acquisition by purchase of strips of land for the widening or opening of streets.

The division of a tract of land in single ownership, the entire area of which is no greater than two acres, into not more than three lots, where no street right-of-way dedication is involved, and if the resultant lots are equal to or exceed the standards of the County as established in the Subdivision Ordinance.

Mobile Home Regulations

The construction of mobile home parks is regulated by the Dare County Mobile Home Park Ordinance. Under the terms of the MHPO, up to 10 mobile home sites are considered a minor mobile home park and may be reviewed and approved administratively according to the standards for minor parks. Eleven or more mobile home sites are considered a major mobile home park. All major mobile home parks must be reviewed and approved by the Dare County Planning Board and constructed according to the standards of the MHPO.

The minimum size requirements for minor mobile home parks is as follows:

For minor mobile home parks that include off-site wastewater treatment and a central water supply, the minimum area for each mobile home shall be 12,500 square feet of soils not classified as wetlands, coastal marsh, or US Army Corps of Engineers 404 jurisdictional soils.

For minor mobile home parks that include individual septic tank systems and a central water supply, 15,000 square feet of soils not classified as wetlands, coastal marsh or US Army Corps of Engineers 404 jurisdictional soils.

The minimum lot size requirements for major mobile home parks in the zoned areas of unincorporated Dare County shall conform to the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance for a single family home in the district in which the mobile home park is located. In unzoned areas, all lots located in a major mobile home park and served by an approved central water supply system shall have an area of not less than 15,000 square feet; all lots served by individual well sources shall have an area not less than 20,000 square feet.

There is a variation in the standards for mobile home "sites" in a minor mobile home park and mobile home "lots" in a major mobile home park. The basis for this variation is a trade-off between the need for moderate priced housing and a desire to limit the proliferation of mobile homes in the floodprone areas of unincorporated Dare County. The flexibility in the dimensional requirements is afforded only to minor mobile home parks that accommodate less than 10 sites. On the other hand, the dimensional requirements for major mobile home parks are not unlike those for a residential subdivision. Given the return on investment potential, the dimensional standards for the major parks serve as a disincentive for the large-scale development of mobile home parks.

Travel Trailer Parks/Campgrounds

The construction of travel trailer parks and campgrounds in unincorporated Dare County is regulated by the standards of the Dare County Travel Trailer Park Ordinance. All proposed travel trailer parks must be reviewed and approved by the Dare County Planning Board. The submission procedures are similar to the procedures for subdivision plat approval. The purpose of the TTPO is to ensure that all new campgrounds in unincorporated Dare County are constructed to provide proper utility service, bathhouses, and maintained roads. The minimum campsite is 1500 square feet.

Travel trailers are permitted to remain in established campgrounds on a year-round basis provided they comply with any applicable FEMA regulations and building code requirements for tie-downs. No attachments greater than a 1,000 square foot entrance landing may be added to travel trailers.

Under the provisions of the Coastal Area Management Act, all coastal counties must prepare guidelines and policies for land use development within their jurisdictions. These documents, commonly called land use plans, provide local elected officials with guidelines for development patterns and other pertinent issues. Each land use plan must be adopted by the elected board and then certified by the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission. Local governments must update these plans on a five-year cycle.

2003 Dare County Land Use Plan

Under the provisions of the NC Coastal Area Management Act, all coastal counties must prepare and update guidelines and policies for land use development within their jurisdictions. Such documents, commonly known as Land Use Plans, provide local elected officials with a set of guidelines for development patterns and other land use issues that are important to the community. Policies on various topics and implementation activities for the policies are included in the Land Use Plan. Typically, LUPs include policies on such issues as water quality, residential and commercial development patterns, beach access, oceanfront and estuarine development, stormwater management, wastewater, and transportation. Once adopted, LUPs must be updated every five years or so under the CAMA regulations. The latest version of the Dare County Land Use Plan Use was certified by the NC Coastal Resources Commission in July 2003. A copy of the document is available for viewing from this website or by contacting the Dare County Planning Department at 252-475-5873. This LUP applies to the unincorporated portions of Dare County. Each of the municipalities in Dare County adopts their own LUPs for their respective planning jurisdictions.

Click here for Land Use Plan (pdf file)

Appendix E
Maps Existing Use Maps (pdf file)
Avon • Buxton • Colington • Duck • Frisco • Hatteras • Mainland • Martin’s Point • Roanoke Island • Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo • Storm Surge • Land Classification • Primary Nursery Area • Outstanding Resource Waters

Purchase of Ordinances

The Dare County Land Use Plan, Dare County Zoning Ordinance, Dare County Subdivision Ordinance, and the Dare County Mobile Home/Travel Trailer Park Ordinance are available on the Dare County Planning Department web page in the “Code of Ordinances” section.

Copies of any of the zoning maps are available by contacting the Dare County Tax Mapping Department at 252-475-5960.