Frequently Asked Questions

View street names. (If you are trying to locate a street on a map, go to GIS Data Viewer)

A Review Officer, designated by County Commissioners, is someone who reviews most surveys before recordation. The Review Officer shall review expeditiously each map or plat required to be submitted to the Officer before the map or plat is presented to the Register of Deeds for recording. The Review Officer shall certify the map or plat if it complies with all statutory requirements for recording. If the surveyor certifies that the plat is of an existing parcel or is in an unregulated area then the plat may be recorded without Review Officer acknowledgement.

Yes, we do have our aerial photography online. We have several flight years available. You may view this photography at GIS Online. We also have these images available for sale in our office.

Tax maps, aerial photography, and topography are available in some areas. We also have other maps available including but not limited to, zoning, fire insurance districts, fire fee districts and city limits. Please contact our office for a complete list and prices.

As of January 2006, the county no longer requires any instrument to have a parcel number affixed to the face of that instrument before it can be recorded.

If your property is located within the jurisdiction of a town, you need to contact the town hall. Otherwise, you need to contact the Brunswick County Planning Department.

A recorded survey is a map drawn by a professional surveyor and recorded in the Register of Deeds office and assigned a book and page number. A tax map is a compilation of recorded deeds and surveys drawn as a representation for tax and other county purposes.

This information may be found in recorded deeds or surveys. The tax maps may show calculated or estimated dimensions and acreage. You may also use our GIS Online for dimensions on properties less than 5 acres.

View the survey online. Enter the parcel number, address, owner name, or legal description and the tax information should come up. (If you have trouble retrieving this information, contact the Tax Department.) If a survey has been recorded for this property you will obtain the survey reference in the legal description.

Next, go to the Register of Deeds Online Records Search. If you have not used this website before you will need to fill out the online application form. Once you have received your log-in information you can proceed into the program. After you have entered the login information, a list of search categories will appear. Since you already have the map book and page of the survey you wish to see, select "book page direct." At this screen, scroll down to "map" and then enter your book and page. The image should appear through Acrobat Reader. (If you have trouble retrieving this information, contact the Register of Deeds).

Depending on the situation, this may be possible. Please contact our office and we will be happy to assist you.

Please contact the Brunswick County Tax Department for this information.

No, telephone numbers are considered private information.

No, Brunswick County roads are either public or private. Public roads are owned and maintained by either a municipality or the North Carolina Department of Transportation. (State roads have been assigned a state road number, such as NC Highway 179 or SR 1300.) Private roads are owned and maintained by property owners, developers, or property owner's associations. If you have questions concerning the maintenance of public roads, please contact NCDOT at 754-4540, 429 Mulberry Road, Shallotte.

Public roads are owned by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (or, in some cases, a municipality) and no one can block passage. For questions on private roads, please consult an attorney.

To name a road you must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• The road services 3 or more homes or businesses
• The home or business must be 600 feet or more from a named road

The applicant must have 3 to 5 name choices since no name may be duplicated within the county. All property owners must sign a Street Naming Form giving approval of said name and return it to the Brunswick County GIS Department. A street sign will be installed shortly after all paperwork has been processed by the GIS Department. All street names must be approved by the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners.

In February of 1993, the Board of Commissioners adopted a policy instituting a non-refundable filing fee of $50 for road name change petitions, plus a $30 per sign fee. If the petition is denied the sign fee is refunded. The majority of the property owners affected by this change must sign the petition. The new street name cannot duplicate or sound like any other street name within the county. Applicants should have more than one choice available and call before selecting a name for the petition. Download the petition (PDF).

House numbers are assigned every 20 feet to 25 feet to allow for growth. Even though subdivisions may be controlled by covenants and restrictions, these numbering rules were applied county-wide.

No, you must contact the town in which the property is located for an address.

Please contact the Brunswick County Planning Department for this information.

View the map showing soil data with septic tank suitability. Additionally, one of the layers of our GIS data is soil information. This data was designed to overlay with the parcel layer; the information can be viewed at GIS Online and, depending on the size of the area, can be printed with your printer.

Yes, if you are within the county's zoning jurisdiction. This information can be viewed in the zoning map and is maintained on the tax maps as well as a layer to our GIS data. Our GIS data also contains the zoning for the nineteen municipalities located within Brunswick County. All information should be verified by the applicable governing body, whether it be the Brunswick County Planning Department or one of the municipalities.

Yes! You may use our Central Permitting program to not only retrieve ownership information but to also see assigned addresses and permits issued. You may also use GIS Online for ownership information.