AN ACT to allow a municipality to use project development financing for tourism‑related development projects located in an Enterprise tier one area.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 158‑7.3(a)(1) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Definitions. – The following definitions apply in this section:
(1)	Development project. – A capital project that includes capital expenditures by both private persons 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 tax base.
If the district in which such a project will occur is outside a city's central business district (as that district is defined by resolution of the city council, which definition is binding and conclusive), then, of the private development forecast for a development project by the development financing plan for the district in which the project will occur, a maximum of twenty percent (20%) of the plan's estimated square footage of floor space 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 twenty percent (20%) limitation in the preceding sentence does not apply to development financing districts located in an enterprise tier one area, as defined in G.S. 105‑129.3, and created primarily for tourism‑related economic development, such as developments featuring facilities for exhibitions, athletic and cultural events, show and public gatherings, racing facilities, parks and recreation facilities, art galleries, museums, and art centers."

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 24th day of August, 2005.

	s/	 Beverly E. Perdue
	 President of the Senate

	s/	 James B. Black
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	s/	 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved 1:15 p.m. this 20th day of September, 2005