Guilford County, NC Ordinances (2026)

Dogs on a Guilford County lot under one acre must be leashed, caged, fenced or otherwise physically restrained at all times. On a lot of one acre or more in the unincorporated county…

Guilford County does not ban pet stores from selling dogs or cats, but animal control officers can inspect any pet store or dealer facility to check for abuse, and anyone who sells…

Guilford County has no county-wide bird-protection ordinance for the unincorporated area. Section 5-8 only keeps alive bird sanctuaries a city or town had already designated before the…

Guilford County does not require cats to be leashed or fenced in, the way it does dogs, but every cat over four months old must carry a current rabies vaccination, and a cat that…

Every dog or cat over six months old in Guilford County must be spayed or neutered unless the owner holds a $200 unaltered animal permit from the Department of Animal Services. Service…

Guilford County bans keeping any dangerous wild animal outright under Sec. 5-25, but a broader category of "exotic animals," species not customarily kept as household pets in North…

In Guilford County's agricultural zoning district, any structure or enclosed area used to house poultry, hogs, cattle or other livestock being bred must sit at least 100 feet from…

Guilford County has no breed ban: dogs are judged by behavior, not breed, under the county's dangerous-or-vicious-animal process. Once an animal control or law-enforcement officer…

Guilford County Code Chapter 5 sets no general numeric limit on the number of dogs or cats a household may keep. Keeping more than seven intact female dogs, however, makes you a…

Propane cylinders must be stored outdoors and upright in Guilford County, never indoors, in a crawl space, or near ignition sources. North Carolina adopts NFPA 58, and larger tanks…

Guilford County sets no mandatory defensible-space brush-clearance rule like fire-prone Western states. Land-clearing brush and limbs may be burned only with an NC Forest Service…

North Carolina requires operable smoke alarms in every rental dwelling, and the state building code requires them in all new and renovated homes. Guilford County follows state law…

North Carolina bans nearly all consumer fireworks statewide. In Guilford County, only non-aerial, non-explosive 'pyrotechnics' such as wire sparklers, fountains, snakes, and party…

Small backyard recreational fires for cooking, warmth, or pleasure are allowed in Guilford County without a burn permit, as long as only clean wood is burned. The fire must stay under…

Open burning in unincorporated Guilford County is limited to leaves and yard vegetation, burned only between 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM. A North Carolina Forest Service permit is required…

Guilford County does not paint or regulate curb-color parking markings, because its roads are state-maintained by NCDOT, which controls all pavement markings and traffic-control…

Guilford County requires parking spaces, access drives and loading areas to be paved with concrete, asphalt or a similar hardened dustless surface, not gravel, under UDO Section…

Commercial and industrial buildings in unincorporated Guilford County must provide off-street loading spaces at least 12 feet wide by 30 feet long with 15 feet of overhead clearance…

There is no countywide overnight on-street parking ban in unincorporated Guilford County; state-maintained roads are governed by NCDOT and NC motor-vehicle law. In county parks…

Guilford County does not mandate short-term-rental liability insurance in its ordinances. NC law also caps rental fees and limits registration, so insurance is a practical protection…

For the Bed & Breakfast Home use, yes. Guilford County's UDO requires the bed-and-breakfast to be the permanent residence of the owner or manager. The UDO does not impose a…

Guilford County has no standalone short-term-rental permit. A whole-house STR is treated as a lodging use under the Unified Development Ordinance; a hosted Bed & Breakfast Home (8 or…

Guilford County levies a 3% room occupancy and tourism development tax on the gross receipts from renting any room, lodging, or similar accommodation, including short-term rentals…

For the Bed & Breakfast Home lodging use, Guilford County's UDO requires two parking spaces for the residence plus one space per designated guest room. There is no separate parking…

Guilford County requires on-site residency only for the Bed & Breakfast Home use, which must be the owner's or manager's permanent home run as a home occupation. There is no county…

Guilford County allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot in the AG district, every residential zoning district and MXU, under UDO Subsec. 5.4.B. An ADU built inside the main house is…

In unincorporated Guilford County's RS-30 residential district, an accessory building 600 square feet or smaller gets a reduced 5-foot side and rear setback, larger sheds must meet the…

Guilford County treats tiny homes as a distinct land use only through a formal 'Tiny Housing Development,' permitted in the RM8, RM18 and RM26 districts under UDO Subsec. 5.4.C. A…

An above-ground residential pool still needs a NC Residential Code barrier. The pool wall can serve as the barrier if it is at least 48 inches high, and any ladder or steps must be…

A residential pool must be enclosed by a barrier at least 48 inches high with a self-closing, self-latching gate under the NC Residential Code, enforced by Guilford County Inspections…

Unincorporated Guilford County has no stand-alone tree-cutting permit; clearing more than one acre, disturbing highly erodible soil in a watershed critical area, or working inside a…

Sec. 15-79(h) of Guilford County's Minimum Housing Standards requires every yard and exterior property area to stay free of noxious or health-detrimental weeds and plant growth, tying…

The county sets no general rule for trimming trees on your own single-family lot. Trimming is regulated only where trees satisfy required landscape planting yards or sit inside…

Guilford County has no ordinance banning or specifically regulating artificial turf on residential lots. Because turf is an impervious-type surface, it may count toward built-upon-area…

Guilford County does not mandate native plants for private yards, but its Unified Development Ordinance sets planting standards for required landscape and buffer yards on larger…

Backyard composting for your own yard and food waste is allowed; the county has no ordinance banning home compost bins. The public-nuisance code does bar accumulations of putrescible…

New construction and substantial improvements in Special Flood Hazard Areas of unincorporated Guilford County must sit at least 2 feet above the Base Flood Elevation. The county's UDO…

Guilford County bans direct illumination on billboards outright: UDO Subsec. 7.11.E allows only indirect lighting or no illumination at all, and blocks animated lighting features…

Guilford County caps outdoor light spilling across a property line at 0.5 footcandles next to residential land, 1.0 for civic uses, 2.0 for commercial, and 3.0 for industrial, and…

Every exterior fixture in unincorporated Guilford County, including security lighting, must be a full cut-off fixture aimed straight down with no glow above the horizontal plane of the…

No land or structure in unincorporated Guilford County may be occupied, altered, moved, or have its use changed until the Planning and Development Director issues a Certificate of…

Guilford County requires a second fire apparatus access road for single- and two-family subdivisions of 100 or more dwelling units. Where a second road is not feasible, the developer…

In unincorporated Guilford County, an in-home Child Day Care operating as an accessory home use is capped at twelve attendees under N.C.G.S. Section 110-86, while an Adult Day Care can…

Guilford County requires carbon monoxide alarms in unincorporated dwellings whenever permitted interior work triggers it: alterations, repairs, fuel-fired appliance swaps or additions…

In unincorporated Guilford County's RS-30 residential district, single-family homes and other principal structures cannot exceed 50 feet in height, capped further at no more than three…

In unincorporated Guilford County's RS-30 residential district, homes must sit back at least 40 feet from local or collector roads (20 feet on a corner lot's side street), 45 feet from…

In unincorporated Guilford County's RS-30 residential district, the combined footprint of all buildings on a lot cannot exceed 30% of the lot's area under UDO Section 4.2.3, on top of…

Guilford County lets LED message boards run on permanent signs in every non-residential district, but UDO Subsec. 7.9.B caps display area at 70-75% of the allowed sign face, sets…

Guilford County only allows off-premise billboards in HB, LI, HI and Urban Loop Scenic Corridor districts, and UDO Subsec. 7.11 caps them at 30 feet unless the sign sits within 400…

Guilford County lets businesses display window signs painted on or attached to the inside of the glass without any sign permit, but UDO Table 7.7.1 caps the coverage at 25% of the…

In unincorporated Guilford County, all signs except State/Federal ones are regulated by the Unified Development Ordinance, Article 7. Temporary signs such as yard/garage-sale signs…

In unincorporated Guilford County, political signs in the State highway right-of-way are governed by NC law. They may be placed starting 30 days before early voting and must be removed…

No structure or land in a Special Flood Hazard Area of unincorporated Guilford County may be developed without a Floodplain Development Permit. New and substantially improved…

Unincorporated Guilford County caps built-upon area at 50% to 70% in water supply watersheds, with the Lower Randleman Lake Watershed held to the strictest 50% limit. Development is…

Any land-disturbing activity over one acre in unincorporated Guilford County, including its extraterritorial reach into Jamestown, Stokesdale, Summerfield and Oak Ridge, needs an…

In Guilford County's mapped Special Flood Hazard Areas, new residential construction and substantial improvements, including manufactured homes, must have their reference level…

Building a boat dock, ramp, or pier in unincorporated Guilford County requires a Floodplain Development Permit whenever the structure sits within a Special Flood Hazard Area. The…

Multi-family and non-residential subdivisions within designated growth areas of Greensboro or High Point must plant street trees within 50 feet of the street centerline before…

Rooftop and freestanding solar panels are an accessory use allowed in every unincorporated Guilford County zoning district under UDO Sec. 5.14.E, no special permit required…

Guilford County's Historic Preservation Commission, created under G.S. 160D-303, reviews and recommends Historic Landmark and Historic District designations to the Planning Board and…

Guilford County's Voluntary Agricultural District Program, run under state authority in G.S. 106-735 through 106-743, lets qualifying farmland enroll to gain protection from nuisance…

Guilford County protects working farmland through its Voluntary Agricultural District and Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural District program under Secs. 15-57 through 15-71. A tract…

Guilford County's Solid Waste Collection Customer Bill of Rights sets the ground rules for scheduled pickup: a missed collection must be redone by the customer's next regular day, a…

Multi-family and other group developments in unincorporated Guilford County must provide trash containers, dumpsters or compactors sized and numbered to the jurisdiction's…

Unincorporated Guilford County gives recyclables a longer clock than trash: while ordinary solid waste must leave a property every seven days, recyclable materials can sit for up to…

Every licensed hauler serving unincorporated Guilford County must offer curbside recycling as an option to residential customers, though subscribing is the resident's choice, not a…

Guilford County treats leaves, grass clippings, and other yard debris as regulated solid waste: it must be removed from your property weekly, hauled in a covered load, and never dumped…

Unincorporated Guilford County has no county-run trash truck: residents contract with a privately licensed solid waste hauler. Every hauler must hold a three-year license from the…

Illegal dumping in Guilford County is a public nuisance under Solid Waste Ordinance Sec. 15.5-2 and a crime under NC Gen. Stat. 14-399 (littering). Dumping solid waste, tires…

Guilford County's housing code requires every basement or cellar opening that could let rodents inside to be screened or otherwise sealed. Extermination duty follows whoever caused the…

Guilford County's noise ordinance lists a dog or bird whose frequent or long-continued noise disturbs a neighbor's comfort as an unlawful disturbing noise. A first citation costs $200…

Guilford County's noise ordinance, Code Sec. 11-8, does not set a decibel-meter threshold; instead it bans any 'unreasonably loud, disturbing, annoying or unnecessary' sound in the…

Guilford County's general noise ordinance treats government street construction as exempt from its 'unreasonably loud' standard only when equipment meets manufacturer noise…

Guilford County's noise ordinance does not reach aircraft. Sec. 11-8(d)(4) exempts 'noise originating from aircraft or from any activities conducted upon property of the Piedmont Triad…

In unincorporated Guilford County, NC, noise ordinance Sec. 11-8 bans unreasonably loud, disturbing, annoying or unnecessary noise at any hour. It singles out 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m…

Guilford County has no leaf-blower-specific ban or hour rule. A gas leaf blower is judged under the general Sec. 11-8 standard: if it makes unreasonably loud, disturbing or unnecessary…

Guilford County Code Sec. 11-8 bans loud car stereos, blaring horns, screeching tires and defective exhaust. A vehicle sound system is presumed illegal if audible or felt 30 feet or…

Outdoor music in unincorporated Guilford County falls under Sec. 11-8. Using a loudspeaker to attract attention to a show, sale or event is a declared violation, and venue amplified…

A home-based child day care in unincorporated Guilford County may serve up to 12 attendees, including after-school children, under UDO Subsec. 5.7.C, and the operator must live in the…

To operate a home occupation in unincorporated Guilford County you must get approval from Planning & Development. Certain uses require a Home Occupation Permit obtained through the…

A home occupation in unincorporated Guilford County may have one freestanding identification sign, no more than four square feet in area and four feet in height. No sign permit is…

In unincorporated Guilford County, the county's Public Officer can declare a vacant, dilapidated or abandoned non-residential building unsafe under Sec. 15-74(b) if it contributes to…

Guilford County treats dumping on vacant land as a solid-waste public nuisance and can remove junked or abandoned vehicles from private property once declared a health or safety…

Guilford County bars anyone from occupying or renting out a dwelling that fails the county's minimum standards of fitness. Sec. 15-74(a) ties this directly to six numbered sections…

Anyone operating a massage establishment in unincorporated Guilford County must hold a $25 privilege license from the county tax supervisor before opening. Sec. 10-46 forbids operating…

Every adult bookstore, cabaret, arcade, escort agency, nude model studio or similar adult-oriented business in unincorporated Guilford County needs an annual regulatory license from…

The Guilford County Public Officer must investigate dwelling conditions and inspect buildings to find units unfit for habitation, and can act on a petition from residents. Once an…

Guilford County bans soliciting, peddling and begging inside every county park and recreation area outside an approved event. Sec. 13-9 makes it unlawful to 'ply the vocation of a…

Guilford County bans barbed or razor wire, electrified fencing, concertina wire and flammable materials like paper, cloth or canvas for fences, but carves out exceptions for livestock…

Guilford County caps residential fences at four feet from the property line up to the front setback line and eight feet behind it, with a narrower four-foot limit near street…

Guilford County's UDO regulates fence type, height and placement but does not itself require a zoning permit for an ordinary residential fence. Temporary construction fencing is…

Guilford County's UDO does not set a spite-fence or shared-cost rule; those are civil matters. The county does bar fences that obstruct street-intersection sight lines or block access…

Guilford County's UDO treats a retaining wall or berm under a fence as part of the fence's overall height. Fences may not impede the natural flow of water in any stream, creek…

Guilford County parks close at their posted hours, and Sec. 13-19 makes it unlawful to be in a county park outside those hours without express county permission. Sec. 13-20 backs the…

The county's most-cited zoning violations are building or using land without a permit, subdividing without approval, land-disturbing work without a permit, and unpermitted signs. Every…

Anyone can report a suspected zoning violation in unincorporated Guilford County by filing a written complaint with the Enforcement Officer, who logs it and investigates before…