Landscaping Rules in Johnston County, NC (2026)

2 rules for unincorporated Johnston County, North Carolina.

Verified from official government sources

Note: These county rules apply to unincorporated areas of Johnston County. If you live within an incorporated city, that city's own rules apply: see the city list below.

Water Restrictions

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 Commissioners declares a water shortage alert under § 24-75, it must ban all Class 3 uses countywide until the shortage ends, with narrow exceptions for agriculture, nurseries and golf greens.

Johnston County Outdoor Watering Restrictions

Significant Restrictions

Johnston County Code §§ 24-72, 24-75

(3) Class 3, nonessential uses of water. ... •Outdoor noncommercial watering, private impervious surface washing, watering, or irrigation: gardens, lawns, golf courses, parks, playing fields, and other recreational areas. ... In the event of such declaration, the Board of Commissioners shall impose a ban on all Class 3 water uses for the duration of the shortage until the water shortage has e...

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Rainwater Harvesting

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 unincorporated Johnston County can install a rainwater harvesting system to meet a development's post-construction runoff requirements, but the system must meet the state's Minimum Design Criteria and carries an ongoing recorded maintenance and inspection obligation.

Johnston County Rainwater Harvesting as Stormwater Control

Some Restrictions

Johnston County Code § 14-384

Primary stormwater control measure (SCM) means a wet pond, stormwater wetland, infiltration system, sand filter, bioretention cell, permeable pavement, green roof, rainwater harvesting, or an approved new stormwater technology that is designed, constructed and maintained in accordance with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality's Minimum Design Criteria (MDC).

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

All Johnston County ordinances

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