Onslow County, NC Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Table 8-1 (Residential District Dimensional Standards) sets the same maximum structure height, 45 feet, across all six residential base districts: RA, R-20, R-15, R-10, R-8M, and R-5. Non-residential districts allow more height under Table 8-4: 85 feet in HB, O-I, L-IN, and H-IN, but only 50 feet in CB and CON.

Section 8.1(A) layers an airport-driven limit on top of the district standards: "AIRPORT HEIGHT LIMITATIONS 1. All structures within 10,000 feet of the Albert J. Ellis Airport Property shall have a height restriction of 100 feet." Because that 100-foot ceiling sits above the 45-foot residential cap, it functions as a backstop rather than a relief; a house near the airport still has to meet the lower district limit unless a variance applies, but a taller non-residential building near the runway cannot exceed 100 feet even in a district that would otherwise allow more.

Section 8.6(B) carves out specific features from all height limits in Tables 8-1 and 8-4: church spires, belfries, cupolas, and domes not used for habitation or storage; chimneys, elevator shafts, ventilator shafts, skylights, parapet walls, and cornices; roof-mounted mechanical and solar equipment; wireless communication and broadcast antennas and support structures; wind turbines; and amateur radio antennas and their support structures. Those exempted features can rise above the 45-foot residential cap or the applicable non-residential cap without a variance, as long as they fall within one of the listed categories.