Several years ago the Town Council approved The Green as a 400 acre development with phases to include apartments, townhouses, and large single-family homes, as well as modest retail and office fronting the major thoroughfare. After a couple of good … Read more

A contemporary zoning ordinance can be a complicated proposition.  A small town or rural county’s ordinance often runs over 100 pages.  Some of the zoning ordinances in our larger cities approach (and if a few instances pass) 1,000 pages.  All … Read more

UPDATE August 2013: The Court of Appeals reaffirmed this new interpretation in May 2013. Click here for more details. In July 2008, the Jones County Department of Social Services (JCDSS) entered into an oral services contract with a medical transportation … Read more

This guy is a bad employee.  His work is poor.  His conduct around other people is objectionable.  You (that is, the city or the county or other public employer) would be better off without him. You could just fire him.  … Read more

When animal control officials seize animals, local governments and animal welfare organizations can end up spending a lot of money to shelter, feed, and otherwise care for the animals. In 2005, the General Assembly enacted G.S. 19A-70, which allows animal … Read more

In a recent post, I discussed two ways through which a local government may save money over time to fund capital projects. The first is through fund balance and the second is by establishing a capital reserve fund. I received … Read more

North Carolina is often described as a “Dillon’s Rule” state. What does that mean? Is it the opposite of home rule? Does it mean our courts apply Dillon’s Rule in interpreting the scope of local government authority? Or does it … Read more

Last summer, the United States Secretary of Homeland Security announced a new program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Under this program, some unauthorized immigrants who entered the United States before the age of 16 may qualify to have immigration … Read more

In areas experiencing urban growth and development, two questions often arise for local governments.  Do we have the capacity to provide necessary public facilities to serve this development?  If not, how are we going to pay for the needed additional … Read more

How many times have you been to a public hearing and heard opponents to a particular zoning proposal say that it will cause the values of their property to decline? The impact on property values is a theme that runs … Read more

UPDATE August 2013: For more information on capital reserve funds, click here. Blight City has fallen on hard times. Its population has declined significantly since the 1990s, due in large part to the shuttering of two large manufacturing plants. Emblematic … Read more

Here’s an idea that many people in local government in North Carolina cling to:  the names of applicants for governmental jobs are confidential.  It’s a very handy idea.  It allows a manager in a small county to apply for the … Read more

We here at the School of Government are really good at pumping out 400+-page tomes that examine every possible legal detail of tax collection, zoning, public records and other topics near and dear to the hearts of local government employees. … Read more

UPDATE September 2013: For more recent information on this topic, click here. Once H438 (S.L. 2012-126) became law on June 29, 2012, counties had some new options available for organizing and governing their human services agencies (see earlier posts here … Read more

Al Czervik is a real estate developer who has invested in several shopping malls and mixed-use developments across the Tar Heel state. He is planning a mixed use development called “Gopher Commons” in your community, but “in order to make … Read more

When property owners stop paying their property taxes, it’s a good bet that they’ve been ignoring other obligations concerning those properties as well.  Weeds grow chest-high, houses slowly crumble, and neighbors begin to use the lots as informal trash dumps. … Read more

In a prior blog post I wrote about the patchwork of local and general laws that collectively define local government authority. I noted that it can be difficult to determine when a general law does or does not override an … Read more

A rezoning petition is pending before the city council.  The parcel involved is zoned for single-family residential use.  The landowner wants to build a retail store on the site, so she is seeking a change in the zoning to a … Read more

As discussed in a previous post, local governments have broad authority to appropriate monies to private entities (including nonprofits, corporations, associations, and individuals). The monies, however, must be expended by the private entities only on projects, services, or activities that … Read more

UPDATE November 2013: The 2013 General Assembly enacted new voter identification requirements, including the requirement that voters to show photo identification, beginning in 2016.  See this Coates Canon post:  2013—A Year of Election Law Changes. UPDATE February 2017:  In July … Read more