Brunswick County, NC Code Violation Reporting: Common Violations (2026)

Chapter 1-11, Article IV of the Brunswick County Code governs public health nuisance abatement in the unincorporated county. Sec. 1-11-61 defines a nuisance broadly as any unlawful act or condition a person permits to exist that injures or endangers others' health or safety, or that produces unreasonable annoyance, discomfort, or hurt to other persons. Sec. 1-11-62, titled "Illustrative enumeration," then lists the specific conditions the county treats as nuisances on any public or private property, expressly noting the list is illustrative and not exhaustive: accumulation of rubbish, garbage, trash, refuse, junk, and other abandoned materials, metals, or lumber; any condition that harbors rats, mice, snakes, or other vermin; animal or fowl carcasses not disposed of within a reasonable time after death; and pollution of any waterway, creek, stream, pond, lake, canal, or body of water by sewage, dead animals, creamery or industrial wastes, or other substances.

Under Sec. 1-11-63 it is unlawful to cause, permit, maintain, or contribute to any of these conditions. When a nuisance is found, the solid waste/environmental compliance officer or another designated county officer issues a written notice to abate under Sec. 1-11-64, and Sec. 1-11-65 requires that notice to state the order to abate or request a hearing, the location and description of the nuisance, and that the county may abate it and bill the responsible party if the deadline passes unmet.