Planning and Economic Development

Planning & Economic Development

Within Easy Reach

Selma is located within easy reach of the State Capital and the highly-developed and widely-renowned Research Triangle Park (RTP) region. Selma provides quality, small-town living with quick access to urban amenities.

Achieving a Diversified Economy

Selma’s pro-business attitude and climate has fostered success in the retail industrial development arena. The excellent transportation network and close proximity to the largest planned research park in the United States, has helped attract some of the best-known corporate names in the country to the Selma area. A recent addition to the local list of large corporate locations is Sysco Foods, whose $52 million, 400,000 square foot distribution facility brought hundreds of jobs to the town.

Low operating costs, a productive workforce, and a business-friendly environment offer companies an exceptional opportunity to locate, operate and prosper. Companies appreciate the many amenities and excellent quality of life that the area offers their workers. They quickly come to realize that they could not find a better place for their corporate family to experience hometown living at its best.

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Code Enforcement

Responsible property ownership and maintenance is a key component of neighborhood stability. While most property owners meet their obligations – maintaining their properties and complying with codes so they do not cause harm to their occupants, their neighbors and/or their communities – some do not. In those cases, the Town of Selma has the task of encouraging negligent owners to carry out their responsibilities. If they do not, then the town will take action to minimize the harm to the community. This is the role of code enforcement.

The Codes Administrator is responsible for ensuring that public nuisances, tall grass ,and/or blighted properties become compliant with the Code of Ordinance. The Code Enforcement Officer has a very visible role in the community from the perspective that the decisions that are made and how effectively the Code Enforcement Officer performs his/her duties can have a major impact on the property values and image of the community. The Code Enforcement Officer enhances property values through effective enforcement of property standards, while working to keep aging buildings, homes, and properties from deteriorating and becoming “eyesores” to the community.

Code Administrator

Code Enforcement Officer

114 N. Raiford Street
Selma, NC 27576
(919) 965-9841
Fax: (919) 965-4637

Triangle East Collaborative

On Exit 97 from I-95, you’ll find 750 hotel rooms, national chain restaurants, JR Tobacco, and DeWayne’s Home and Garden Center, one of the largest statuary and landscape dealers along the I-95 corridor.

A variety of antique dealers and merchants have made Selma the new antique center of the South. A unique plan to encourage development of antique and art shops in the Uptown area has resulted in over 100,000 square feet of merchandise clustered in a picturesque 1950’s streetscape.

A walking tour of Downtown Selma offers visitors and shoppers well-stocked antique shops, specially stores, restaurants and an old-fashioned drug store complete with soda fountain, all located within a short distance of ample parking, the Rudy Theatre, and restored and operational train station.

The historic Selma Union Depot, built in 1924 by the Atlantic Coast Line and Southern Railroads to serve their passengers, was restored and renovated in 2002. It now serves two daily Amtrak passenger trains as well as rail services offered by CSX, Norfolk Southern and the State of North Carolina.

The historic Rudy Theatre hosts the American Music Jubilee, a Branson-style variety show that entertains visitors and motor coach groups from New York to Miami with musical delights from 1950s rock and roll to classic and contemporary country and spectacular gospel.

Selma’s Railroad Days Celebration takes place on the first weekend in October. This festival is a celebration of the town’s railroad heritage and includes numerous railroad displays and activities at the newly renovated depot. It also features arts and crafts, entertainment, club-sponsored meals, a parade, road races, an antiques show and sale, and beauty pageants.