Granville County, NC Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

Granville County Code § 32-356 governs development inside the mapped water supply watersheds established under § 32-353 (the WS-II, WS-III and WS-IV critical and general watershed areas around Lake Rogers, Lake Butner, Lake Michie and Falls Lake). Table 05.230, incorporated into § 32-356, sets lot size, density and built-upon area (impervious surface) percentages by district and use. In the WS-II Critical Area, single-family lots must be at least 80,000 square feet and all other residential and nonresidential uses are capped at 6 percent built-upon area.

In the WS-III General Watershed Area the cap rises to 24 percent, with single-family cluster development capped at a density of 2.00 units per acre. Section 32-359 lets the board of commissioners grant a special intensity bonus of up to 70 percent built-upon area on nonresidential bonus tracts, but only after board approval and, in the Falls Watershed, only if the project achieves 85 percent total suspended solids removal. Section 32-355 assigns agricultural and silvicultural watershed enforcement to the Granville Soil and Water Conservation District and the state division of forest resources, while Development Services administers the built-upon standards for all other development. Existing development as of January 1, 1993 is grandfathered and its impervious area is excluded from the table 05.230 calculation for later expansions.