Johnston County, NC Ordinances (2026)

Playing a radio, TV, record player, musical instrument or any sound-amplifying device loudly enough to disturb neighbors is unlawful in unincorporated Johnston County, especially…

A dog or other animal that barks or makes noise frequently or continuously enough to disturb neighbors violates section 12-32(d)(4) in unincorporated Johnston County, unless it is…

Driving an automobile, motorcycle, ATV or any motor vehicle that is out of repair, modified from factory settings, or loaded so it grates, grinds or rattles loudly is a noise violation…

Johnston County has no blanket citywide decibel cap; its everyday noise rule bans only "unreasonably loud or disturbing" sound. The one hard numeric standard sits in the special-use…

Johnston County's Voluntary Agricultural District ordinance (County Code §§ 3-25 through 3-174) lets farmers with at least 25 contiguous acres, or three qualifying farms within a half…

Johnston County's zoning chapter does not apply to bona fide farms. Section 14-7 exempts any farm operation covered by G.S. 106-2 from the Land Development Code entirely, though the…

In unincorporated Johnston County, every multifamily, office, commercial and industrial development must provide secure, sanitary solid waste and recycling storage, and screen it from…

In unincorporated Johnston County, dumping solid waste anywhere except your own property is a crime. County Code § 20-41 bars littering at recycling and convenience centers…

Johnston County runs staffed convenience and recycling sites across the unincorporated county rather than a curbside pickup program. Johnston County Code § 20-39 requires anyone…

Johnston County Code § 20-34 defines yard waste as vegetative matter from landscaping maintenance, and § 20-37(13) bars dumping it, along with white goods and other special waste, into…

Johnston County treats large items like appliances, furniture, mattresses and tree limbs as bulky waste. Code § 20-37(5) bars leaving bulky items outside a building for more than one…

Johnston County Code § 20-37 tells property owners in the unincorporated county to remove solid waste often enough to control odor and rodents, recommending once a week, and to store…

Johnston County Code § 20-41 makes it unlawful to leave solid waste at a recycling and convenience center or landfill unless a county employee is on duty to direct and supervise…

Every new development in unincorporated Johnston County must attenuate stormwater runoff so post-development peak rates never exceed pre-development rates, per Land Development Code §…

Johnston County adds a two-foot freeboard cushion above FEMA's base flood elevation to set its Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation. New residential construction and substantial…

Before any grading, filling, or construction starts in a Special Flood Hazard Area, unincorporated Johnston County requires a Floodplain Development Permit. Special Flood Hazard Areas…

In unincorporated Johnston County, no one may disturb one acre of land, or any acreage that is part of a larger common plan of development, without first filing an erosion and…

Johnston County's stormwater ordinance recognizes rainwater harvesting as an approved primary stormwater control measure under Land Development Code § 14-384. A property owner in…

Johnston County classifies outdoor irrigation of lawns, gardens, golf courses and playing fields as a 'Class 3, nonessential' water use under County Code § 24-72. Once the Board of…

Before grading, filling, or building anything beyond ordinary repairs on land in unincorporated Johnston County, the planning director must first issue a land use permit under Sec…

Johnston County's code official inspects dwellings for compliance with the minimum housing and property maintenance code under Chapter 5, Article II. The official is authorized to…

Retail, wholesale, and industrial developments in unincorporated Johnston County that get regular semitrailer truck deliveries must provide off-street loading space under Sec. 14-358…

Johnston County restricts how many commercial vehicles a resident can park at home in the agricultural-residential district. Section 14-75(b)(11) allows none if the associated business…

County-initiated removal of a junked motor vehicle in Johnston County must follow every hearing step required by G.S. 153A-132.2(a3); the county set that procedure under Article XI of…

Johnston County classifies an unrepaired water leak as 'waste of water' under County Code § 24-72, and County Code § 24-73 bans using county water in violation of the water…

Johnston County runs a separate reclaimed water system under Chapter 24, Article IV of its Code of Ordinances. Property owners may connect once reclaimed water reaches their site by…

Johnston County bans sexually oriented businesses, including massage parlors, adult bookstores, arcades and theaters, from operating within 1,000 feet of a dwelling, church, public…

Johnston County does not license massage establishments, but Section 6-71 makes it unlawful to massage or offer to massage another person's private parts for hire anywhere in the…

Johnston County's Land Development Code allows home occupations in unincorporated areas only as a use clearly incidental to a residence. Section 14-6 caps the workspace at 500 square…

A home-based business in unincorporated Johnston County gets one small, unlit sign. Sec. 14-508(2) caps a home occupation sign at one wall sign per zoning lot, four square feet, set…

Johnston County limits how much traffic, parking, and utility use a home-based business can add to a residential lot. Section 14-6 caps activity at what a normal residence would…

Johnston County's zoning code will not let a child day care facility operate as a home occupation anywhere in unincorporated Johnston County. Section 14-6 lists day cares among nine…

New construction and substantial improvements inside a Johnston County Special Flood Hazard Area must be anchored against flotation and built with flood-damage-resistant materials and…

Johnston County exempts yard and garage sale signs from a sign permit, but only within firm limits: four square feet per face, four feet tall if freestanding, and removed within seven…

Political signs in unincorporated Johnston County cannot go up more than 60 days before an election and must come down within seven days after it. Sec. 14-504(12) caps them at 48…

Johnston County bans changing-message billboards outright: any outdoor advertising sign along U.S. 70 or I-95 that is replaced or substantially repaired may not use rotating slats, a…

In Johnston County's OI, GB, CB, I-1, I-2 and IHI zoning districts and shopping centers, window signs can't cover more than 25 percent of any single pane of glass. Signs may not…

Outdoor advertising signs in Johnston County are permitted only along U.S. 70, excluding the Clayton bypass segment, and Interstate 95 within the county's planning jurisdiction…

Johnston County Code § 4-9 bars any owner from permitting or negligently allowing a dog to run at large off the owner's property and outside a competent person's direct control. Animal…

Johnston County has no separate cat license or feral-colony program; instead Chapter 4's animal control rules simply cover cats alongside dogs and ferrets. Section 4-6 requires every…

Johnston County does not ban any dog breed by name. Instead, § 4-13 lets the Animal Services Department Head declare an individual dog 'dangerous' or 'potentially dangerous' under G.S…

Johnston County Code § 4-15 makes it unlawful to keep an 'inherently dangerous mammal' anywhere in the county: any non-domesticated member of the dog, cat over 15 pounds, or bear…

Johnston County does not require owners countywide to sterilize every dog or cat. What § 4-17(3) mandates is that any dog or cat adopted out of the county Animal Shelter be spayed or…

Johnston County Code §§ 5-31 through 5-67 set minimum fitness standards for every dwelling in the county's planning jurisdiction, rented or owner-occupied. Section 5-61 bars anyone…

Johnston County's minimum housing code defines exactly when a dwelling counts as 'deteriorated' versus 'dilapidated' by comparing repair cost to tax value, then gives the code official…

Johnston County Code § 5-66 requires every dwelling's basement or cellar windows and other rodent-entry openings to be screened or otherwise sealed against rodents, and makes occupants…

Johnston County Code § 20-37(10) requires all sharps, meaning needles, syringes and scalpel blades under § 20-34, to be placed in a sealed, puncture-proof container and disposed of…

Johnston County builds a dark-sky requirement directly into its zoning definitions. Section 14-6 defines outdoor lighting as engineered to be nonglaring on neighboring properties and…

Outdoor advertising signs along U.S. 70 and I-95 can't use flashing, intermittent, or moving lights, and any light aimed at the highway that creates glare or impairs a driver's vision…

In Johnston County's agricultural-residential district, Section 14-75(d) sets the yard setbacks for one-dwelling-per-acre development: 70 feet from arterial or collector streets, 50…

Johnston County caps building height in the agricultural-residential district at a flat 40 feet for residential structures. Section 14-75(e) sets that single maximum for the district…

Inside Johnston County's Water Supply Watershed Protection District (WSW), lot coverage is capped by how much of a parcel is built upon: 24 percent in the critical area, and in the…

In Johnston County's unincorporated Agricultural-Residential (AR) district, storage buildings top out at 2,000 square feet, can't sit inside a major subdivision, and need a 70-foot…

Johnston County Code § 20-37(11) prohibits open burning of solid waste, citing the state air quality rule 15A NCAC 20.1903. Anyone who illegally burns solid waste, tires…

Johnston County Code § 14-118 lets homeowners and farms in the AR, Resort Residential, Mobile Home Park, and Planned Development districts install solar panels as an accessory use…

Johnston County makes it a misdemeanor to accost, block, touch, or follow anyone while begging or soliciting, and bans panhandling within 100 feet of a bank, 20 feet of a bus stop or…

Section 16-5 makes it unlawful to loiter, loaf, wander, stand, or remain idle in a public place in a way that obstructs a street, sidewalk, or a business entrance against the owner's…