Description: This report summarizes North Carolina’s land use statutes that grant authority to local governments to regulate the use of private land. In addition, it briefly reviews underlying home rule and constitutional grants of power as well as judicial and statutory interpretations of the law. Hyperlinks connect the summary of each law to a separate document that contains its full text. Each of these documents contains a link to a state legislative website to find the current version of the document - to determine if it has been amended, repealed, or changed from the date of this report. In North Carolina, land use authority is centered in the municipal governing body. Unincorporated lands within the state are regulated by the county, while the state and state agencies retain selective influence over local environmental regulations. The principal laws underpinning the delegation of planning and zoning authority can be found in the state constitution and the North Carolina General Statutes. These enabling laws are the subject matter of this report.