A native of southeastern North Carolina, Rebekah Roth joined New Hanover County as senior planner in October 2016 and became the Planning and Land Use Director in February 2021. She has 15 years of progressive experience in plan development and implementation and has led New Hanover County’s implementation of the 2016 Comprehensive Plan and managed the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Project to update the county’s development regulations, which was completed in 2020. She has played a senior role in coordinating with community partners to plan for future infrastructure needs and led efforts to organize and kickoff the County/City Workforce Housing Advisory Committee after it was established.
Prior to work with New Hanover County, Roth served for more than eight years with the Town of Burgaw where she was planning administrator and responsible for comprehensive plan development, development review, and zoning compliance. And in 2014, she received the Outstanding Local Government Planner of 2014 Award from the Cape Fear Council of Governments.
Roth is a certified planner through the American Planning Association’s Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and is a certified zoning official through the North Carolina Association of Zoning Officials (NCAZO). She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Peace College and a Master of Public Administration and Master of Arts in English – both from UNCW.