Wake County’s Unified Development Ordinance, or UDO, contains most of the local policies governing the use and development of land and buildings (within Wake County's planning jurisdiction), including design, zoning, subdivision, stormwater, utilities and natural resource stewardship.

Wake County Planning is currently working to align policies and regulations with the comprehensive plan, PLANWake, adopted by the Wake County Board of Commissioners April 5, 2021. In accordance with PLANWake, changes to the UDO are being considered that may yield the following: 

1. Updated regulations on transitioning county jurisdiction to municipal jurisdiction in areas specified by PLANWake.
2. Updated regulations for minimum standards for development in the County jurisdiction.
3. Updated regulatory options for preserving agriculture and working lands as part of development, production or preservation.

What's Happening Now

Wake County Planning is currently considering possible changes to tree preservation standards and legislation.

At this time, the planning team is identifying issues and gathering ideas. The information collected through this discovery process will pave the way for proposed changes to regulations in the UDO in 2024. 

Completed Changes to the UDO

The following are completed text changes made as a part of the PLANWake UDO implementation process.