New Hanover County officials review progress on comprehensive plan update

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — New Hanover County Commissioners and the Planning Board received an update regarding the county’s comprehensive plan.

Thursday’s joint session was the first opportunity for officials to see how phase 1 of updating the county’s 2016 comprehensive plan is going.

Called Destination 2050, the comprehensive plan will help guide both current and future development in New Hanover County.

Phase 1 included contacting residents through surveys, open houses, and meetings to learn what issues are important to them.

Rebekah Roth is the county’s director of planning and land use.

She said the next phase will help determine what areas, from stormwater to green space, will be focused on.

“We know that there are a lot of trade offs,” Roth said. “We know that there are lot of competing interests around housing, in terms of the environment, in terms of transportation and other types of infrastructure. So these analyses will really help understand what the need is and if we decide to move in different directions, if we decide to develop in different ways, what are the impacts on the community going to be?”

Roth said a finalized version of the plan should be in place by the end of next year.