Chapel Hill, NC

In the Town of Chapel Hill, Code of Ordinances Chapter 4 makes it unlawful to break up a bird's nest or to kill or catch a young bird anywhere within the corporate limits. Section 4-13…

In the Town of Chapel Hill it is unlawful to keep wild and dangerous animals, defined in Section 4-1(j) as non-house-cat felines, nonhuman primates, bears, wolves, coyotes and…

The Chapel Hill Code caps backyard livestock and poultry by lot size and distance from neighbors. Section 4-10(c) bars keeping a cow, swine, goat, horse, sheep or cattle on any parcel…

Chapel Hill's animal control chapter caps dog ownership at the household level. Section 4-10(g) makes it unlawful to maintain more than four dogs over three months old in a single…

Chapel Hill bans letting a dog run loose off its owner's property. Section 4-14(5) makes any stray dog away from the custodian's premises, in a public place or on public property, a…

Chapel Hill does not regulate dogs by breed. Section 4-16(a) instead declares an animal vicious based on what it does: killing, biting, attempting to bite, injuring another pet or…

Chapel Hill treats cats the same as dogs for licensing and rabies control. Section 4-17 requires every cat over four months old housed in town to carry an Orange County license tag…

In the Town of Chapel Hill, a veterinary hospital or clinic cannot open as a matter of right: the Land Use Management Ordinance classifies it as a conditional zoning use and expressly…

North Carolina law protects backyard beekeeping statewide. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 106-645, no county may ban owning five or fewer hives, and any city ordinance must permit up to five…

The Town of Chapel Hill bars unreasonably loud noise 'particularly during nighttime' under Town Code § 11-39.1(a), with nighttime defined by § 11-39(d) as 11:01 p.m. to 6:59 a.m…

In the Town of Chapel Hill, sound amplification equipment, televisions and musical instruments are listed nuisance noises under Town Code § 11-39.1(a)(5) whenever they create…

In the Town of Chapel Hill, Town Code § 11-39.1(a)(7) bars operating a vehicle without a working manufacturer muffler, and § 11-39.1(b) makes it unlawful to run a vehicle sound system…

In the Town of Chapel Hill, Town Code § 11-40(b) exempts permitted construction operations from the noise article only between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. on weekdays and 8:00 a.m. and…

Chapel Hill's noise ordinance carves aircraft out of its own limits: Code of Ordinances Sec. 11-40(g) exempts all noise from the normal operation of properly equipped aircraft, unlike…

Chapel Hill's Sec. 11-40.1 sets clock and decibel limits for leaf blowers, lawn mowers and other motorized landscape equipment. In the town's residential zoning districts and within…

Chapel Hill declares a habitually noisy animal a public nuisance. Section 4-14(1) covers any animal that habitually and repeatedly makes noise sufficient to seriously interfere with a…

Chapel Hill's Noise Control Code sets numeric decibel ceilings at the property boundary: 50 dBA daytime and 45 dBA nighttime for residential property, up to 70 dBA daytime for shopping…

Chapel Hill does not require or regulate backyard composting: § 8-24.4(c) of the Code of Ordinances simply encourages residents to compost yard waste at home and directs them to the…

Chapel Hill property owners must trim or remove trees, shrubs or vegetation that overhang and obstruct a sidewalk or public street under Code of Ordinances Section 17-102, which…

No one may remove a tree or shrub from Chapel Hill public property or a street right-of-way without a town manager permit under Code of Ordinances Section 17-103. The Town itself may…

Chapel Hill's weed ordinance is notice-triggered rather than a fixed height limit. Section 11-25 bans letting noxious weeds, underbrush or piled rubbish remain on a lot once the health…

OWASA customers in the Town of Chapel Hill may run spray irrigation only three days a week, tied to whether the property's street address ends in an odd or even digit, and only between…

Chapel Hill's Land Use Management Ordinance lets homeowners install rain barrels or cisterns up to 6 feet tall in the first 2 feet of a required front setback, while the town's water…

Chapel Hill requires every owner of a rental residential dwelling unit built without smoke detectors to install one in the corridor or space leading to each bedroom, under Code of…

Chapel Hill makes it unlawful to burn refuse, yard waste, or construction debris such as trees, limbs, and stumps anywhere in town. Fire Prevention and Community Risk Reduction Code…

North Carolina bans nearly all consumer fireworks under N.C.G.S. §14-410 et seq. Only ground-based and hand-held sparkling devices, sparklers, fountains, snakes, smoke, and some ground…

North Carolina regulates propane storage statewide under G.S. Chapter 119, Article 5. The Board of Agriculture adopts a code of safety, NFPA 58 via 02 NCAC 38 .0700, governing the…

North Carolina vests statewide wildfire response and burn ban authority in the Commissioner of Agriculture and the State Forester, whose declared bans override local burn permits.

Chapel Hill's Code of Ordinances Sec. 21-6(c) bars parking any moving van, trailer truck, tractor-trailer, or truck over twenty feet long on a public street between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m…

In the Town of Chapel Hill, the Town Council designates specific residential streets where parking is banned to the public but allowed for permit holders. Chapel Hill Code of…

Chapel Hill's Code of Ordinances bars parking wherever a posted police 'No Parking' sign is displayed and treats parking that interferes with street, sidewalk, or alley traffic as…

Chapel Hill treats a vehicle left on town-owned property for more than twenty-four hours, or on any public street for more than seven days, as abandoned under Code of Ordinances Sec…

Chapel Hill's Land Use Management Ordinance caps how much of a single-family or two-family front yard can become parking or driveway. Every zoning lot may have at least two front-yard…

In the Town of Chapel Hill, delivery vehicles using designated loading zones inside the downtown parking meter zones do not have to pay at the meter while loading or unloading. Town…

Chapel Hill lets electric vehicle charging stations and their mechanical equipment encroach into an otherwise required yard setback, but only if the equipment still keeps at least a…

North Carolina's private-lot towing statute, G.S. 20-219.2, is not a statewide rule: it applies only in 13 named counties, including Wake, Mecklenburg, Guilford, Forsyth, and…

No person, firm, association or club may build a public or private swimming pool in Chapel Hill without first obtaining a permit from the building inspector under Code of Ordinances…

Every swimming pool in Chapel Hill, new or existing, must be enclosed by a fence at least four feet high under Code of Ordinances Section 5-42, with self-closing gates latched on the…

Building a shed, garage, or other accessory structure in Chapel Hill generally requires a zoning compliance permit under Land Use Management Ordinance Section 4.9.1, though the town…

Chapel Hill lets a single-family lot add one accessory apartment, attached or detached, capped at 1,000 square feet unless the Planning Director grants an exception, and limited to 29…

Chapel Hill allows a detached 'cottage' dwelling on a single-family lot, capped at 1,500 square feet of floor area and 29 feet in height, on a lot at least 2,700 square feet larger…

Chapel Hill short-term rental hosts owe the Town's three percent room occupancy tax under Code of Ordinances Section 19-11, on top of state sales tax and personal property tax. The…

In the Town of Chapel Hill, a primary residence short-term rental with an accessory apartment or duplex unit may rent out more than one dwelling unit on the same zoning lot to separate…

Short-term rentals in the Town of Chapel Hill must follow the same noise limits as any other residence. Land Use Management Ordinance section 6.27.5(d) pulls the Code of Ordinances…

Every short-term rental in the Town of Chapel Hill must provide one off-street parking space per bedroom plus one extra space. Land Use Management Ordinance section 6.27.5(e) sets that…

Chapel Hill's short-term rental ordinance defines a 'primary residence' as the dwelling where the host lives at least 183 days a year, and states its purpose as preventing residential…

Every Chapel Hill short-term rental used more than 14 days a year needs a town-issued STR permit, renewed annually, with dedicated STRs in multifamily buildings capped at two units or…

Chapel Hill caps overnight occupancy at a short-term rental at two people per bedroom plus two more, not counting children under 12, under Land Use Management Ordinance Sec. 6.27.5(b)…

In Chapel Hill, building a fence counts as construction of an accessory structure, so it needs a zoning compliance permit from the town manager before work starts under the Land Use…

In the Town of Chapel Hill's Blue Hill Form District, the Land Use Management Ordinance bars barbed wire and concertina wire outright and blocks chain-link fencing in any front…

Chapel Hill's Land Use Management Ordinance caps a front-setback fence or wall at 6 feet, with at least 75 percent opacity above 4 feet, while side and rear setback fences can rise to…

Within the Historic Rogers Road Neighborhood District, the Town of Chapel Hill's Land Use Management Ordinance caps home occupation signs at eight square feet for a Major Home…

A major home occupation in Chapel Hill may generate no more than 50 vehicle trips a day and cannot park more than three business-associated vehicles where they're visible from the…

In the Town of Chapel Hill, an adult day care facility or child day care facility can only locate on a zoning lot with access onto an arterial or collector street, and only within the…

Chapel Hill requires a Zoning Compliance Permit before operating a 'major home occupation,' caps business space at 50% of the home's heated square footage, and limits related noise…

North Carolina has no permit-free cottage food law. Before selling homemade food from an Orange County kitchen, you must have the kitchen inspected by NCDA&CS. Only non-hazardous…

The Chapel Hill Land Use Management Ordinance ties a density bonus to its inclusionary zoning program in Section 3.10.2. Outside the TC-1, TC-2 and TC-3 town center districts, a…

In the Town of Chapel Hill's Town Center (TC-1, TC-2, TC-3) zoning districts, the Land Use Management Ordinance directs project design toward specific visual and human-scale objectives…

In the Town of Chapel Hill, a private lot owner cannot have a vehicle towed without first posting a compliant tow-away notice under Town Code § 11-301. The Chapel Hill Police…

The Town of Chapel Hill charges every pawnbroker a $100.00 annual license tax under Sec. 10-189. A pawnbroker is anyone who lends or advances money or other value for profit and takes…

In the Town of Chapel Hill, dealers who buy or trade secondhand gold, silver or platinum items must keep a bound, sequentially numbered transaction ledger and hold every purchased…

North Carolina regulates retail sale of vapor products and e-cigarettes under NCGS 14-313 and requires licensure under NCGS Chapter 105, while the federal Tobacco 21 law sets the…

In the Town of Chapel Hill, anyone selling goods or soliciting orders door-to-door for commercial purposes must first get a permit from the town manager under Town Code § 13-2…

In the Town of Chapel Hill, the town manager sets opening and closing hours for every town park and posts them on-site under Town Code § 12-1. Anyone who stays after closing can be…

Chapel Hill keeps a long-standing juvenile curfew: no minor under 16 may loaf or idle on a town street or in a business after 9:00 p.m. unless with an adult family member. Carrboro…

In the Town of Chapel Hill, Town Code § 12-3(i) bars anyone from camping or staying overnight in a town park without written permission from the parks and recreation director, and §…

The Town of Chapel Hill lists 'noisy parties' as a nuisance noise under Town Code § 11-39.1(a)(2), banning unreasonably loud gatherings that interfere with neighbors, especially at…

Chapel Hill's Sec. 11-170 doesn't ban panhandling outright but bans it in specific ways: no intimidating, accosting or cornering a person to beg; no soliciting within 20 feet of a bank…

Chapel Hill's Code of Ordinances Sec. 11-113 makes it unlawful to urinate or defecate anywhere in public, on a sidewalk, street, alleyway, right-of-way, in a public building, or on…

Chapel Hill bans smoking and tobacco use outright on the grounds of any town-owned park, parks and recreation facility, or playground under Sec. 12-5, enacted under G.S. 130A-498 and…

In the Town of Chapel Hill it is unlawful to drink or carry an open container of malt beverages or unfortified wine on any street, sidewalk, alley, municipal parking lot, town park, or…

Chapel Hill has no dedicated jaywalking statute; instead, Code of Ordinances Sec. 21-5 bars pedestrians from standing in the roadway or otherwise blocking vehicle traffic and requires…

Chapel Hill regulates skateboarding two ways: hour and size limits on outdoor ramps in residential zones, and a downtown sidewalk riding ban. Ramps over four feet or twelve feet are…

The Town of Chapel Hill lists loading and unloading noise as a nuisance under Town Code § 11-39.1(a)(3), covering the handling of boxes, crates, containers and garbage cans that create…

In the Town of Chapel Hill, Town Code § 11-39.1(a)(11) makes it a nuisance noise for a security alarm, including a car alarm, to keep sounding for more than twenty minutes after the…

The Town of Chapel Hill lists power equipment, including generators, power tools and garden equipment, as a nuisance noise under Town Code § 11-39.1(a)(9) whenever it is unreasonably…

Chapel Hill's noise code has a second, frequency-specific limit aimed at bass-heavy sound that a standard decibel reading can understate. Table 2 sets one-third octave-band sound…

The Town of Chapel Hill lets residents set furniture and appliances behind the curb for a special pickup once Public Works has been notified, while other bulky rubbish like kraft board…

Dumping garbage, refuse, or debris on a Chapel Hill street, sidewalk, or other public place is unlawful under section 8-4, and repeat offenders face civil penalties that climb from a…

Chapel Hill requires yard waste to be kept separate from other trash: limbs and clippings go in a rigid container or tied bundles under 50 pounds, and loose brush piles behind the curb…

Retail, wholesale and commercial establishments in Chapel Hill are capped at seven refuse receptacles or one bulk container under Code of Ordinances § 8-27 unless they arrange…

Chapel Hill picks up household refuse and garbage from the rear yard twice a week, or once a week at the curb in zones the town has designated for weekly curbside collection, under…

Chapel Hill bars nonresidential haulers and businesses from dumping recyclable corrugated cardboard at the Orange Regional Landfill or in county mixed-waste receptacles, and every bulk…

Chapel Hill residents on weekly curbside service must set refuse, yard waste, and recycling containers at the curb without blocking the street or sidewalk, put trash and yard waste out…

Chapel Hill bans putting cardboard in trash bulk containers or compactors and makes it unlawful to intentionally contaminate recyclable cardboard so it can't be recycled. Section 8-26…

Chapel Hill collects household refuse and garbage twice a week from the rear yard, or once a week at the curb in designated curbside zones, while commercial refuse is picked up twice…

New construction and substantial improvements in Chapel Hill's special flood hazard areas must sit at least two feet above the base flood elevation. The floodplain administrator, a…

Anyone disturbing more than 20,000 square feet of land in Chapel Hill must file an erosion and sedimentation control plan and get a grading permit before breaking ground. The Chapel…

The Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance in Code of Ordinances Section 5-55 bars locating, altering or developing any structure or land in Chapel Hill's special flood hazard areas…

The Town of Chapel Hill funds its stormwater management program through a dedicated utility fee charged to every zoning lot and tract under Sections 23-1 through 23-9 of the Town Code…

The Coastal Area Management Act, N.C.G.S. 113A-100 through 113A-134.3, requires CAMA permits for development in 20 coastal counties and Areas of Environmental Concern, preempting local…

Chapel Hill's Housing Code requires every dwelling and dwelling unit rented or occupied as a human habitation to meet the minimum standards of fitness in Code of Ordinances § 9-3 and…

North Carolina bans local rent control, so neither Orange County nor Chapel Hill, Carrboro, or Hillsborough may cap rents. N.C.G.S. §42-14.1 forbids any county or city ordinance that…

North Carolina sharply limits mandatory rental registration. Under N.C.G.S. §160D-1207(c) neither Orange County nor Chapel Hill or Carrboro may require landlords to register rentals or…

North Carolina requires no just cause to end a tenancy, and Orange County cannot add one. A landlord ends a month-to-month lease with seven days' notice under §42-14, then files…

For nonpayment of rent, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-3 requires a 10-day demand for past-due rent before the lease term is forfeited. The landlord then files summary ejectment under Article 3…

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-46 caps residential late fees on monthly rent at $15 or 5% of the monthly rent, whichever is greater, and bars charging the fee until rent is at least five days…

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-14 sets notice periods to end periodic tenancies: seven days for month-to-month, two days for week-to-week, and one month or more before the year ends for…

North Carolina caps a residential security deposit by tenancy length under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-51: two weeks' rent for week-to-week, one and one-half months' rent for month-to-month…

North Carolina recognizes adverse possession after 20 years of open, continuous possession under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-40, or after 7 years if the possessor holds under color of title…

Chapel Hill's building inspector may enter and inspect any dwelling, rooming unit or premises at reasonable times under Code of Ordinances § 9-17, and owners and occupants must give…

Renters in Chapel Hill do not have to wait for the town to act on its own: under Code of Ordinances § 9-23, at least five residents can file a petition with the housing inspector…

New town-owned buildings of 5,000 square feet or more in Chapel Hill must achieve at least LEED silver certification and meet Architecture 2030 fossil-fuel reduction targets. Code of…

The Town of Chapel Hill adopts the North Carolina Building Codes by reference under Code of Ordinances Section 5-15, so a permit under the state code is required before construction or…

Plumbing work inside Chapel Hill town limits needs a permit before it begins, and Code of Ordinances Section 5-20 sets the inspection fee schedule: two dollars for the first fixture…

Chapel Hill adopted the National Electrical Code by Code of Ordinances Section 5-25, and the town's current NC Electrical Code adoption under Section 5-15 governs every electrical…

Chapel Hill's housing inspector can order an owner to repair or demolish a dwelling ruled unfit for human habitation. Under Code of Ordinances § 9-24, the inspector must find in…

Chapel Hill's Housing Code requires basement and cellar openings that could let rodents in to be screened or otherwise sealed, and it assigns responsibility for exterminating any…

Chapel Hill sorts businesses into four privilege license tax schedules under Code of Ordinances §§ 10-5.1 through 10-5.4. Schedule A businesses are exempt by state law, Schedule B and…

Chapel Hill limits where a food truck can set up: Code of Ordinances § 10-69 confines vending to specific commercial zoning districts, catering jobs, and town-authorized events, and it…

Every food truck operating in Chapel Hill needs an annual privilege license under Code of Ordinances § 10-71, plus a town inspection before the license issues, a regulatory fee to…

Chapel Hill's Sec. 11-80 adopts 14 C.F.R. Part 107, the FAA's Small UAS Rule, wholesale as a town ordinance, making any Part 107 violation within town limits a local misdemeanor. Sec…

Recreational drone flying in Orange County runs on federal FAA rules: register a drone over 0.55 lb, pass the TRUST test, stay under 400 feet and in sight. North Carolina adds no…

Chapel Hill's Town Code bans leaving goods, bags or containers on any sidewalk or public street for more than twelve daylight hours under Code of Ordinances Section 17-3. The Chapel…

Anyone cutting pavement, curb or sidewalk in a Chapel Hill public street, or building sidewalks, driveways or utility lines the Town will maintain, must get a construction permit from…

In the Town of Chapel Hill, Town Council traffic rules protect bike lanes from vehicle intrusion. Chapel Hill Code of Ordinances § 21-52 makes it unlawful to drive a motor vehicle or…

Chapel Hill's Code of Ordinances authorizes automated red light cameras at designated intersections under Article IIA, Sec. 21-10.1 through 21-10.5. Crossing the stop line on a steady…

North Carolina runs two entirely separate regimes, and which one you are in is decided by five miles per hour. A golf cart is defined as a vehicle not capable of exceeding 20 mph, and…

New and substantially improved homes in Chapel Hill's mapped flood hazard areas must have their lowest floor built no lower than the regulatory flood protection elevation, defined in…

The Chapel Hill Town Council levies a 3 percent room occupancy tax on gross receipts from renting hotel, motel, and similar short-term lodging under Code of Ordinances Sec. 19-11…

Chapel Hill residents who want to close a local residential street for a block party need the town manager's prior written approval under Code of Ordinances Sec. 21-7.1. The manager…

Restaurants that front a Chapel Hill sidewalk can sell food and drink outdoors only after the town manager issues a sidewalk dining permit under Code of Ordinances Section 17-89. The…

Planting trees or shrubs in a Chapel Hill public street right-of-way needs the town manager's authority under Code of Ordinances Section 17-98. In town center districts and along…

Chapel Hill has no heritage-tree ordinance in the usual sense, but the Land Use Management Ordinance lets property owners voluntarily register rare trees, those thirty-six inches or…

Chapel Hill's Land Use Management Ordinance sets diameter thresholds that make a tree a protected specimen tree: eighteen inches for pines, twelve inches diameter at breast height for…

Chapel Hill's Code of Ordinances declares specific property conditions unlawful nuisances residents can report: dead animals, stagnant water, decayed produce, filthy stables, and…

Chapel Hill limits how much extra light a development can throw onto a neighbor's land. Land Use Management Ordinance Sec. 5.11.4 caps any increase in illumination on off-site property…

Chapel Hill controls sky glow and glare by tying outdoor light pole height to fixture shielding under Land Use Management Ordinance Sec. 5.11.2. A non-cutoff fixture, one that throws…

Chapel Hill lets residents post a yard or garage sale sign without a zoning permit under Land Use Management Ordinance Sec. 5.14.4(k), as long as there is only one sign per sale site…

Chapel Hill exempts temporary political signs from a zoning permit under Land Use Management Ordinance Sec. 5.14.4(j), but only within strict limits: 4 square feet per display surface…

Chapel Hill bans digital and electronic billboard-style signage outright. Land Use Management Ordinance Sec. 5.14.5 lists vehicular billboards among prohibited moving signs and…

Chapel Hill caps window signage under the wall sign dimensional standards in Land Use Management Ordinance Sec. 5.14.7(h): signs displayed on or through a window cannot cover more than…

Customers of the Orange Water and Sewer Authority inside the Town of Chapel Hill must fix an outdoor or indoor water leak within ten days of discovering it, or of OWASA's notice of it…

The Town of Chapel Hill's water conservation ordinance defines 'reclaimed water' as highly treated wastewater effluent safe for non-potable uses, and directs OWASA to publicize its…

When a Chapel Hill subdivision's common improvements, streets, bikeways, drainage facilities or recreation areas, are turned over to a homeowners' association, the Land Use Management…

Chapel Hill's Land Use Management Ordinance requires any neighborhood or homeowners' association set up to maintain subdivision improvements to exist under a binding arrangement before…

North Carolina's Planned Community Act requires HOAs to hold at least one association meeting each year (G.S. 47F-3-108) with 10-60 days' advance notice stating the agenda, and to give…

North Carolina law overrides certain HOA restrictions. G.S. 22B-20 voids covenants that prohibit residential solar collectors (with narrow visibility exceptions). G.S. 47F-3-121…

North Carolina suspends an HOA's power to require landscaping irrigation once the area is designated severe, extreme, or exceptional drought and a government body has imposed water…

State law strips North Carolina homeowners associations of power to block the American or state flag on a member's own lot. G.S. 47F-3-121(1) voids any covenant restriction on a flag…

North Carolina's G.S. 47F-3-107.1 requires due process before an HOA can fine an owner. A hearing must be held before the executive board or an adjudicatory panel, with notice of the…

North Carolina lets a homeowners association foreclose on a house without ever filing a lawsuit. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47F-3-116, an assessment unpaid for 30 days can be turned into…

Chapel Hill's Table 3.8-1 Dimensional Matrix fixes minimum street, interior, and solar setbacks for every zoning district. In the R-1 single-family district, a structure must sit back…

Chapel Hill measures building height two ways under Table 3.8-1: a setback height at the perimeter setback line and a taller core height toward the lot interior. In the R-1 district…

Chapel Hill caps how much of a lot can be paved or built over: single-family and two-family lots are limited to 50 percent impervious surface, while multifamily, non-residential, and…

The Land Use Management Ordinance names eight invasive exotic species, Norway Maple, mimosa, paper mulberry, chinaberry, white mulberry, princess tree, white poplar and Callery pear…

North Carolina law N.C.G.S. §22B-20 voids HOA covenants that prohibit rooftop solar. In Orange County's neighborhoods an association cannot ban panels, though it may still restrict the…

North Carolina requires building and electrical permits for solar panel installations under the State Building Code, with uniform statewide technical standards and licensed contractor…

Growing marijuana at home is illegal in Orange County. North Carolina permits no medical or recreational cannabis, and cultivating plants is manufacturing a controlled substance under…

Orange County has no cannabis dispensaries because North Carolina authorizes none. Selling marijuana is a felony under N.C.G.S. §90-95, so there is nothing to zone for. Only hemp…

North Carolina has no statewide predictive scheduling law and effectively preempts local fair workweek or predictive scheduling ordinances through its Wage and Hour Act framework.

North Carolina issues concealed handgun permits through county sheriffs under NCGS 14-415.10 and recognizes reciprocity with many states; permitless carry is not authorized statewide.

North Carolina preempts local governments from regulating firearms, ammunition, and concealed handgun permitting beyond what state law expressly allows under NCGS 14-409.40.

North Carolina generally permits open carry of handguns and long guns without a permit, but local discharge ordinances and posted-property restrictions may apply under state law.

North Carolina permits transporting firearms in a vehicle, but a handgun carried concealed within reach generally requires a concealed handgun permit under NCGS 14-269 and 14-415.10.

North Carolina lets exempt nonprofits run bingo and raffles under Chapter 14, Part 2's charitable-gaming statutes. Bingo requires a $200 annual license from the Alcohol Law Enforcement…

North Carolina's gambling law, N.C.G.S. § 14-292, makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor for anyone to bet money, property, or anything of value on a game of chance, whether the wager is…

North Carolina legalized sports wagering under G.S. Chapter 18C, Article 9, effective March 2024. The State Lottery Commission licenses online and in-person sportsbooks; interactive…

North Carolina is one of the few states whose legislature expressly authorized sobriety and license checkpoints by statute. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-16.3A lets any law enforcement agency…

North Carolina never enacted an express right to record police, and it never enacted a buffer law either. What it has is a one-party consent wiretap statute: N.C. Gen. Stat. §…

North Carolina has no general stop-and-identify statute. A pedestrian stopped on the street commits no offense by declining to give a name, and the state's entire vagrancy article…

North Carolina is one of the few states that wrote consent searches into statute instead of leaving them to case law. Article 9 of Chapter 15A defines consent as a statement to the…

North Carolina limits county zoning of bona fide farms under NCGS 160D-903, exempting most agricultural activities on qualifying farms from county zoning regulation.

North Carolina protects established agricultural and forestry operations from nuisance lawsuits under NCGS 106-701, the Right to Farm Act, with strict limits on plaintiff eligibility…

North Carolina has no statewide ban on plastic straws and does not authorize local governments to ban single-use plastic straws or other utensils.

Federal law sets the minimum tobacco purchase age at 21 nationwide, but North Carolina's own statute, NCGS 14-313, still sets the state age at 18, so retailers must follow the stricter…

North Carolina has not enacted a statewide flavored tobacco or flavored vape ban, and no state law authorizes local governments to ban flavored tobacco products, leaving flavor rules…

North Carolina lets any motor vehicle carry up to two spot lamps and up to two front auxiliary driving lamps, and it caps every other added lamp at 25 candlepower unless the beam is…

North Carolina has no statute telling you where a dash cam may be mounted. Part 9 of Article 3 of Chapter 20 regulates the windshield only for tint and for safety glass, and nothing in…

North Carolina has never authorised lane splitting and has never written a section that uses the phrase. The motorcycle lane statute, G.S. 20-146.1, entitles a motorcycle to the full…

North Carolina bans anything over a plate that makes part of it unreadable, and it names frames and clear covers specifically. G.S. 20-63(g) makes it an infraction to cover a plate…

North Carolina has no statute regulating radar detectors in a private passenger vehicle. The words radar and detector appear nowhere in the 868 sections of Chapter 20, the Motor…

North Carolina lets you run studded tires on any day of the year. G.S. 20-122(b) permits studs on regular and snow tires "for increased safety" so long as they project no more than one…

North Carolina allows aftermarket tint on any window except the windshield down to 35% total light transmission, with reflectance of 20% or less and no red, yellow or amber film. The…