The town council is holding a hearing on a special use permit application that would allow a small shopping center. The proposed site is on a major road and is adjacent to an existing residential neighborhood. At the hearing detailed … Read more

In a post describing the recently enacted legislation that (potentially) authorizes North Carolina local governments to establish revolving loan funds or impose special assessments in order to finance energy efficiency improvements and distributed generation renewable energy sources permanently affixed to private … Read more

The governing board of a small town believes that it would be advantageous to hire the mayor as a part-time town administrator. Is this legal? In some cases, it is. There are two main legal prohibitions that would generally bar … Read more

UPDATE November 2013: The Court of Appeals opinion discussed in this post was reversed by the Supreme Court.  See this Coates Canon post:  Holding Over After Your Term Ends (revisited).   North Carolina law permits officeholders to continue in office, … Read more