What type of property may be included in a county project development district?

G.S. 158-7.3 authorizes a county to create a project development district and fund public improvements that are part of a development project within the district.

A development project is a capital project that includes capital expenditures by both private entities and one or more units of local government and that increases net employment opportunities for residents of the development district or within a two-mile radius of the project, whichever is larger, and increases the local government’s tax base.

The project development district is comprised of property that meets at least one of the following criteria:

• Blighted, deteriorated, deteriorating, undeveloped, or inappropriately developed from the standpoint of sound community development and growth;
• Appropriate for rehabilitation or conservation activities; or
• Appropriate for the economic development of the community.

A county may not include any land that is inside the limits of a municipality in a development district unless it enters into an interlocal agreement with the municipality to allow a multi-unit undertaking. An additional limitation applies to a plan for a project development district established pursuant to G.S. 158-7.3 and located outside a municipality’s central business district. A maximum of 20 percent of the plan’s estimated square footage of floor space of private development forecast may be proposed for use in retail sales, hotels, banking, and financial services offered directly to consumers, and other commercial uses other than office space. The 20 percent limitation does not apply to a project development district located in a development tier one area that is created primarily for tourism-related economic development.