Smart Growth in Wilmington?

This is something I had been curious about for a long time, but this is the first concrete info I found about it.

John Locke Institute:

Homebuyers in Wilmington pay thousands of dollars in extra costs, thanks to the city’s aggressive growth management rules. That’s the key finding in a new Policy Report from the John Locke Foundation.

The extra costs or “planning penalty” total $21,675 for a four-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom home in Wilmington. That’s the highest planning penalty in the state. Asheville ranks second, with a penalty of $13,901 per home. Aggressive growth management or “smart growth” policies could raise home prices in other North Carolina cities in the future, according to the report.

[...][Randal O'Toole] estimates that planning restrictions overprice homes by more than 20 percent. In 2005 alone, the restrictions added at least $275 billion to the cost of owner-occupied homes across the country.

O’Toole says smart growth policies in Asheville have overpriced homes there by 25 percent. In Wilmington, the figure is 27 percent.

He found no significant planning penalty in other North Carolina cities. But researchers warn that cities such as Raleigh, Charlotte, and Greensboro are considering impact fees and other restrictions that would lead to a significant “planning penalty.”