Zoning
Wake County regulates land development within those areas of the County located outside the planning jurisdictions of its 12 municipalities (and those of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority and City of Durham). It does so principally through its Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Ordinance, which are developed, amended and administered under the guidance provided by the Wake County Land Use Plan.
On April 17, 2006, the Wake County Board of Commissioners approved the new Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). All commercial permit applications, zoning site plans or Land Use Permits in the approval process prior to 4/17/06 will fall under the design standards of the Wake County Zoning Ordinance found in the Adobe Acrobat Reader window in the top right-hand corner of this Web page. Any commercial permit application, zoning site plan or Land Use Permit applications submitted on or after 4/17/06 must meet the design criteria under the newly adopted Wake County Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), also found under the Adobe Acrobat Reader window in the top right-hand corner of this Web page.
The Zoning Ordinance designates all land within the County's planning jurisdiction as within one of a number of general use zoning districts or one of a number of individualized conditional use zoning districts. It also designates some of this land as within one or more of several overlay zoning districts. For each general use zoning district, the Zoning Ordinance specifies permitted land uses and contains regulations controlling the intensity and design of new development.
Common Zoning Forms for General Use Permits, and requests:
General Use Commercial Permit Application
Commercial Sign Permit
Home Occupations
Zoning Violations
Conditional use zoning districts are created only on request of landowners who are willing to subject future development of their land to more restrictive standards than would be applicable in the corresponding general use district – standards the landowner defines through volunteered conditions or plans. The Ordinance also contains a number of general design standards that apply to new development in all districts.
Most development of existing parcels of land in Wake County involves the relatively simple administrative procedure of obtaining a building permit from the County's Inspections/Development Plans/Permits Division, after obtaining a zoning permit (certifying compliance with zoning regulations) from the Planning Department's Zoning and Subdivision Administration (ZSA) Division. [Creation of new parcels as sites for development involves subdivisions, which occur in accord with procedures and standards set forth in the County's Subdivision Ordinance – see right.] Development of certain land uses may first require a Special Use Permit approved by the Board of Adjustment after finding that the evidence and testimony presented at a formal hearing demonstrate compliance with a set of general criteria. The Zoning Ordinance also establishes similar formal, trial-like procedures whereby the Board of Adjustment can hear and decide appeals from staff decisions, or grant hardship variances from zoning regulations (other than basic use and intensity regulations) where evidence demonstrates that strict compliance with the regulation to create unnecessary hardship because of extraordinary conditions peculiar to the land.
Where necessary to implement current County policy or reflect changing County policy, the Board of Commissioners may, after review by the Planning Board, change the Zoning Ordinance itself, either by amending the text of the Ordinance (see link on right-hand side of your screen), or by amending its map of zoning district boundaries (rezonings). The Zoning Ordinance sets forth two criteria for approving either a text amendment or a rezoning: (1) Is it consistent with the Wake County Land Use Plan?; and (2) Would it otherwise advance the public health, safety and general welfare?
Wake County Zoning Maps