Durham County, NC Ordinances (2026)

Playing any radio, phonograph, or musical instrument loudly enough to annoy or disturb residents, particularly between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., is a prohibited noise in Durham…

Durham prohibits operating any vehicle so out of repair, loaded, or driven as to create loud grating, grinding, or rattling noise, and bans discharging engine exhaust except through an…

Durham County bars erecting, demolishing, altering or repairing a building in a residential or business district outside 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on weekdays under Sec. 6-2. Work is…

Durham has no leaf-blower-specific ordinance. Powered yard equipment is instead governed by the general 60 dB(A) daytime property-line limit, and properly muffled lawn/agricultural…

Durham's noise ordinance expressly exempts sounds from the normal operation of properly equipped aircraft, and aircraft noise is federally regulated by the FAA. Model aircraft…

Durham County bans any 'unreasonably loud and disturbing noise' under Code Sec. 14-26, a general nuisance standard rather than a fixed decibel level or curfew hour. Enforcement weighs…

Durham requires compressed-air mechanical devices to be effectively muffled, bars unmuffled engine exhaust and stationary-boiler steam whistles (except work/danger signals), and holds…

Durham County treats a barking, roaming or otherwise disruptive animal as a nuisance under Sec. 4-136, which bars any animal from committing the acts listed in the Sec. 4-13 nuisance…

Durham's UDO caps vehicles parked in residential areas at 35 feet long, 8 feet wide and 12 feet high; anything larger, plus heavy equipment and tractor-trailers, cannot be parked at a…

In Durham, driveways and parking areas in front and side yards must have a defined all-weather surface, grass, landscaping and bare earth are prohibited, and a front driveway cannot…

In Durham, boats, camper trailers and utility trailers must be stored off the street and located to the rear of the home. Front-yard and on-street RV storage is not allowed.

Durham County adopts North Carolina's statewide parking rule, G.S. § 20-162, through Code Sec. 16-10: no parking in front of a private driveway, fire hydrant, fire station, or…

Durham County bans abandoning a motor vehicle on public property, county property or private property, and bans keeping a junked vehicle in a condition that makes it a hazard, under…

Durham residents must set garbage, recycling, and bulky items at the curb by 5 a.m. on collection day, place carts no more than 3 feet from the curb, keep them clear of obstructions…

Unincorporated Durham County runs no curbside yard waste collection: Sec. 16-13(f) allows residents to burn leaves, branches and yard trimmings on their own property, but only because…

Durham County regulates every solid waste container, dumpster included, under Sec. 20-4(c): garbage containers must be durable, rust-resistant, watertight, and fitted with a tight…

Durham County requires every residence, business, church, school, and institution to make a good-faith effort to pull recyclables out of the trash stream. Sec. 20-6 lists six required…

Every property in unincorporated Durham County must have its solid waste removed at least once every seven days. Sec. 20-4(b) sets that weekly floor, backed by container standards…

Large tree/shrub trimmings and bulky or excessive refuse that routine collection can't handle are picked up as "extra refuse" under the director's regulations, at the owner's request…

Dumping litter on public or private property you don't own is illegal statewide under NC G.S. 14-399. Small amounts are an infraction with fines and community service; larger amounts…

Short-term-rental guests must obey the City of Durham noise ordinance (Code Chapter 26). Amplified sound may not exceed 50 dB(A) at night (11:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.) or 60 dB(A) during…

Durham sets no short-term-rental-specific headcount, but the UDO's overnight-lodging category caps guest capacity: a state-regulated bed and breakfast home in a Durham home is limited…

Durham has no short-term-rental registry. NCGS 160D-1207 forbids the city and county from making owners register rental property, except for chronic-violation properties. Hosts must…

Durham imposes no blanket primary-residence rule on short-term rentals, and NCGS 160D-1207 limits how it could. But the UDO's owner-occupied lodging category, bed and breakfast…

Durham has no rule forcing a host to be present during every stay, but its owner-occupied lodging use requires a resident. The UDO bed and breakfast, drawn from NCGS 130A-247, must be…

Durham sets no cap on how many nights per year a home may be rented short-term. North Carolina law (NCGS 160D-1207) bars local governments from requiring permits or registration to…

Durham County levies a 6% room occupancy tax on gross receipts from any room, lodging, or accommodation rented for fewer than 90 days, which covers short-term rentals. Hosts also…

Durham County imposes no breed-specific ban. It controls dangerous dogs by behavior under Chapter 4, Article VIII and NCGS 67-4.1, which authorizes local dangerous-dog programs. NCGS…

Durham County Code Sec. 4-86 makes it unlawful to intentionally or negligently allow a dog to run at large. Off the owner's property a dog must be under restraint (secure enclosure…

Durham County Code Sec. 4-13 defines livestock as equine, bovine, sheep, goats, llamas, and swine per NCGS Ch. 68. The animal ordinance sets no head limit; where livestock may be kept…

Durham County has no general law forcing every dog or cat owner to spay or neuter their pet, but its trap-neuter-vaccinate-release program does. Section 4-112(c) requires any community…

Durham County does not ban pet shops from selling dogs or cats; it licenses and regulates them instead. Section 8-104 requires every pet shop to hold an animal control department…

Durham County's animal ordinance applies to cats: they must be rabies-vaccinated (Sec. 4-39) and, like all animals, are 'at large' when off the owner's property and unrestrained (Sec…

Durham County Code Sec. 4-37 requires a kennel license for anyone who owns, maintains, possesses, or controls five or more animals of the same species. There is no flat pet cap below…

Durham County Code Article XI requires a permit for keeping an exotic animal. Sec. 4-302 bars keeping an exotic animal more than five days without first obtaining and maintaining all…

Durham County parks run seasonal daytime hours, not 24-hour access. Little River Regional Park, the county's flagship, opens at 8 a.m. and closes between 5 and 8 p.m. depending on the…

Converting a Durham garage into living space usually creates an accessory dwelling under UDO Sec. 5.4.2. It must stay within the 1,200-square-foot cap, be one per lot, and meet the…

A carport is an accessory structure under Durham's UDO. It must be located to the rear of the front building line and, on typical residential lots, set back at least five feet from the…

Durham allows accessory dwelling units by right under its joint City-County Unified Development Ordinance. An ADU on a single-family or duplex lot is capped at 1,200 heated square feet…

Durham's UDO limits light crossing onto neighbors. Illumination at a property line next to a residential district may not exceed 0.5 foot-candles, and lighting must be oriented so it…

Durham's UDO caps outdoor light-fixture height and spillover. Fixtures near homes are limited to 15 feet above grade within 50 feet of a residential property line, or 30 feet if…

In Durham County's mapped flood hazard areas, a retaining wall is one of two ways to satisfy the two-foot freeboard rule when building on fill. Sec. 16.5-71(10) lets a builder swap the…

Under Durham's joint City-County Unified Development Ordinance (UDO Sec. 9.9), a front-yard fence may be up to 4 feet tall, while side- and rear-yard fences may reach 8 feet…

Durham's UDO exempts fence and wall posts, columns, and their lighting or ornamentation from the height limits, so decorative post caps and lights can rise above the maximum fence…

No zoning permit is required to build a standard fence or wall within Durham City or County limits. Retaining walls, pool-barrier fences on single-family lots, and fences in a flood…

Durham County requires two feet of freeboard above base flood elevation for any new home or substantial improvement in the floodway fringe. Sec. 16.5-72 sets the lowest floor…

Unincorporated Durham County requires a stormwater control permit before any qualifying land-disturbing development, per Sec. 14-152. Small residential projects under 12,000 sq ft of…

Unincorporated Durham County requires a floodplain development permit for any structure built, extended, or altered, or any land disturbed, within FEMA-mapped special flood hazard…

Durham County outlaws smoking, including e-cigarettes, across a long list of outdoor and indoor public spaces, from county grounds and trails to bus stops and sidewalks. Sec. 17-93 was…

Durham County bans consuming or possessing an open container of any alcoholic beverage anywhere on county-owned or controlled property, including buildings, parking lots, recreational…

Durham County bans loitering and congregating on the property of its residential convenience centers, the county-run drop-off sites unincorporated residents use for household garbage…

Durham County requires every property owner to store solid waste in a way that keeps it from harboring rodents. Sec. 20-4(d) singles out lumber, boxes, tires, old furniture and other…

Durham County has no blanket right-to-farm statute of its own; protection comes through its Voluntary Agricultural District (VAD) program under Sec. 14-90(b)(1), created to shield…

Operating a massage therapy establishment in unincorporated Durham County requires a privilege license from the county under Sec. 8-66, on top of individual massage-therapist licensing…

Durham County bans or limits lawn and garden watering once University Lake, the reservoir behind the county's Orange Water and Sewer Authority service area, drops to preset levels. At…

Durham sets no permit or height rule for pruning trees in your own yard. Tree rules bite during land development, where the Unified Development Ordinance protects trees inside a fenced…

Backyard composting is legal in unincorporated Durham County under Code Sec. 20-12, but piles must sit at least 25 feet from any neighboring dwelling and can't attract rodents…

Durham declares dense weeds, vines, briars and undergrowth a public nuisance when they harbor pests or sit near buildings. Overgrowth over 12 inches high must be cleared and cut to no…

Durham lies in the Neuse River and Falls Lake watersheds, where state and UDO riparian buffer rules require a 50-foot protected buffer of native vegetation along streams. The inner 30…

Durham requires a tree survey and protection plan for land disturbance near buffers and protected trees. 'Major specimen trees' get special protection, and a land-disturbance tree…

North Carolina bans possessing, selling, or discharging pyrotechnics anywhere in the state, including unincorporated Durham County, under G.S. § 14-410. The only way around that ban…

North Carolina requires working smoke alarms in every home. Landlords must provide operable, UL-listed alarms at the start of each tenancy under NCGS 42-42, and any new or replacement…

Open burning in unincorporated Durham County requires a fire marshal's permit under Code Sec. 16-13, and no permit issues if the burn would violate state or local air-quality…

Setbacks in Durham vary by zoning district under the joint City-County UDO. In the Residential Rural (RR) district, buildings must sit at least 50 feet from the front and rear lines…

Durham limits development intensity mainly through watershed impervious-surface caps rather than a single lot-coverage number. In protected watersheds, low-density residential…

In Durham's Residential Rural (RR) district the joint City-County UDO caps buildings at 40 feet, or 3 stories for conventional and conservation subdivisions. Denser urban residential…

Durham's joint City-County Inspections Department requires a building permit before installing any swimming pool. You cannot legally use the pool until a Certificate of Compliance is…

Durham allows garage or yard sales in residential zones with no permit if you follow three rules: daylight hours only, no more than two consecutive days, and no more than one sale per…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance allows home occupations in residences citywide and in the unincorporated county, but the business must be clearly incidental to the home and may…

Durham's home-occupation ordinance lets residents sell only handmade items, foodstuffs, and crafts made on the premises directly for sale. Reselling bought goods is prohibited, and no…

Durham's UDO allows a home occupation only one wall sign, limited to 3 square feet, and no separate sign permit is required. There may be no display of goods, products, or services…

Durham's UDO permits child-care and instructional home occupations, but tutoring or instructional services may have no more than five students at one time. Outdoor recreation areas for…

Vacant lots in Durham are held to the same standard as occupied ones. Dense weeds, vines, briars, or undergrowth, and accumulated refuse on an unoccupied lot are declared public…

Durham County can order owners to clean up junk, overgrown lots, and dangerous conditions on their own property under Sec. 20-18, adopted under G.S. 130A-309.61 and G.S. 153A-121, -123…

North Carolina law lets political signs sit in the right-of-way of most roads during an election window. Under NCGS 136-32, a sign may be no larger than 864 square inches, no closer…

Durham's UDO allows a yard sale sign without a permit. It may not exceed four square feet in area, is limited to one per lot, and may be put up two weeks before the sale and must come…