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ABOUT RE-NEW BERN

The Re-New Bern project is an initiative being undertaken by the City to update and modernize its current Land Use Ordinance.  A Land Use Ordinance (or “LUO”) is the basic set of laws used by the City to foster redevelopment, support employment growth, ensure a wide range of housing options, protect the environment, and help ensure a prosperous future for City residents.  It includes the zoning provisions, the subdivision requirements, development application review requirements, and the zoning enforcement standards.

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The updated New Bern LUO will establish basic rules for how land may be used, what kinds of land uses may be permitted in what locations, the process for gaining approval of a proposed land use or development activity, and how the City will handle violations or complaints about potential violations of the development rules.

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In October of 2023, the City issued a request for proposals in search of a consulting firm to assist the City with a comprehensive update of the current LUO.  The City’s goal for the project is to create an ordinance that addresses current growth trends and challenges, regulatory updates, and provides a framework for future development with an emphasis on connectivity. In addition, the RFP includes a list of other objectives, including:

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  • A user-friendly format that is clear, concise, and easy to navigate;

  • Ensuring consistency in the text, terms, definitions, and procedures;

  • Incorporating processes into the text of the ordinance;

  • Consistency with state and federal statutes regarding zoning, historic preservation, stormwater, land use, subdivision, environmental protection, permitting, administration, appeals, variances, flood, enforcement, etc.; and

  • Modern and innovative solutions for multiple layers of planning.

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The City’s request for proposals is available under the Documents tab of this website.

New Bern is a coastal community and like all other coastal communities in North Carolina, the State requires the preparation of a CAMA land use plan to guide future growth and development in order to protect public safety and protect environmental quality. New Bern adopted a Regional CAMA plan in 2010 in cooperation with the nearby towns of River Bend and Trent Woods.

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Basic CAMA plan contents are established by the State, and include an analysis of emerging conditions, natural systems, community facilities, and land suitability, as well as a detailed examination of existing land use and development patterns.  The Plan also includes a series of goals and policies New Bern and the other communities will pursue through ordinance provisions like the LUO.  Policies and goals fall into one of the following six categories: 

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PUBLIC ACCESS

LAND USE COMPATIBILITY

INFRASTRUCTURE CARRYING CAPACITY

NATURAL HAZARD POLICIES

WATER QUALITY POLICIES

OTHER AREAS OF CONCERN

In 2022 New Bern adopted an update to the 2010 Regional CAMA plan that focused on three corridors/focus areas  indicated for future growth and development located outside the central core of three City.  These areas include:

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  • The 660-acre Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (MLK) Focus Area;

  • The 2,660-acre NC-43 Focus Area; and

  • The 4,700-acre US-70 Focus Area.

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Growth Areas Map

These are more suburban, single-use, non-historic portions of the City’s future growth area that require more location-specific policy goals and regulatory approaches, including the following:

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The LUO is the primary means by which the City will achieve many of the goals and objectives identified in the Regional CAMA Plan and updated Land Use Plan, including broadening the range of housing options, preserving historic areas, encouraging development of activity centers in designated locations, and protection rural character and environmentally-sensitive areas.

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In addition to implementing the City’s adopted policy guidance, the updated LUO prepared as a part of Re-New Bern will utilize a new user-friendly page layout and numbering system, be highly illustrated, and include numerous navigational aids to make the document easier to use.  In addition to structural improvements, the new LUO will focus on greater predictability through simple language, inclusion of more detail on purpose and intent, and clear descriptions of decision-making criteria.  The new LUO will also promote a greater level of flexibility in pursuit of beneficial forms of development and redevelopment (in the Downtown, along designated corridors, and in suburban commerce centers).  There will be incentives for preferred development forms, menu-based approaches to development standards that allow applicants to choose from among a range of options for meeting some development requirements, and various methods of alternative compliance.  

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Finally, the new LUO will be consistent with applicable State law, federal law, recent court precedent, and national best practices in land use regulation as a means of reducing legal exposure, protecting private property rights, and ensuring greater harmony between the natural and built environments.

  • Building a diverse mix of housing types closer to employment

  • Strategically relax regulations to encourage so-called “missing middle” housing and multifamily near commercial areas

  • Add regulatory flexibility to encourage compatible infill development

  • Encourage low impact, sustainable development

  • Protect designated scenic views and view corridors

  • Foster pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular movement along with shared or connected parking and access

  • Encourage more landscaping in commercial and office developments

  • Pursue better signage design and compatibility

  • Minimize and mitigate flood risks

  • Discourage extension of municipal services areas that are not annexed

  • Encourage mixed and commercial uses that promote sustainability and variable densities within vacant areas

  • Ensure new development respects and is compatible to its surrounding context

  • Consider non-site-specific traffic and stormwater runoff concerns

  • Support multi-modal transportation networks

  • Protect community character along commercial corridors and in Focus Areas

  • Incorporate innovative development configurations like open space subdivisions, clustering, planned developments, and low impact development

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2022 Land Use Plan

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