Durham, NC

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance doesn't require electric vehicle charging citywide, but downtown Design District developments can earn 30 extra feet of building height by…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance caps how big a vehicle can be if it's parked in a residential district: no more than 35 feet in overall length, eight feet in width, or 12 feet…

Durham bans parking any motor vehicle wider than 6½ feet on a public street between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. under City Code § 66-187, with an exception only while actively loading or…

Boats, camper trailers, and utility trailers in Durham's residential districts have to be stored off the street: either behind the house or on a driveway at least 25 feet back from the…

Durham requires residential driveways and parking areas to be built and maintained with a hard all-weather surface, grass, landscaped areas, and bare earth are prohibited, and caps…

Durham requires every roadway-parked vehicle to sit parallel to the curb, headed with the flow of traffic, and with its curbside wheels within 12 inches of the edge under City Code §…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance bars deliveries at off-street loading docks next to residential uses between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., unless the site sits in the Downtown Design…

Durham bans leaving an abandoned motor vehicle on a public street for more than seven days, on city property for more than 24 hours, or on private property without the owner's consent…

Durham puts hard dollar ceilings on a nonconsensual tow, which North Carolina does not do statewide. Fee Schedule Part 12-104 caps a police-initiated rotation wrecker tow at $125.00…

Durham's city charter lets the city council regulate or prevent firing fireworks, firearms, and other explosives anywhere in or near the city. Public fireworks displays, at fairs…

Durham bans burning leaves, brush, trash, or any other refuse anywhere within city limits as an amendment to the adopted North Carolina Fire Prevention Code, leaving only a narrow…

Durham sits in the Piedmont region with generally low wildfire risk. North Carolina leads the nation in wildland-urban interface acreage, but Durham is largely urbanized with no…

Durham enforces NC Residential Code Section R314.3 requiring smoke alarms in every sleeping room, outside each sleeping area, and on every story including basements. Alarms must be…

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…

North Carolina regulates propane storage statewide under G.S. Chapter 119, Article 5. The Board of Agriculture adopts a code of safety, NFPA 58 via 02 NCAC 38 .0700, governing the…

Durham's UDO requires that traffic and parking generated by a home occupation never become a neighborhood nuisance. Only one commercially licensed vehicle can be based at the home, and…

Durham lets a home-based business post exactly one sign advertising the home occupation, and it must be a wall sign no larger than three square feet: no freestanding yard sign, no…

Durham requires a home occupation permit before running a business from a residence, approved by the Planning Director under UDO Sec. 3.13. Standards in Sec. 5.4.4 cap the operation at…

Durham licenses in-home daycares as a "Child Care Center in Residence," and the Unified Development Ordinance folds them directly into the home occupation rules at Section 5.4.4: the…

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 caps mechanically or electronically amplified sound measured at the property line at 50 dB(A) overnight (11:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m.) and 60 dB(A) during the day and evening under City…

Erecting, demolishing, altering, repairing, or exterior-cleaning a building in a residential or business district in Durham outside 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on weekdays is a listed noise…

Between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Durham bans radios, phonographs and musical instruments played loud enough to disturb a dwelling or hotel, and City Code § 26-23(d)(2) separately caps…

Durham bans vehicles so out of repair that they grate, grind or rattle, and requires motor vehicle exhaust to run through a muffler that prevents loud or explosive noise, under City…

New homes inside Durham's Airport Overlay near Raleigh-Durham International must keep interior aircraft noise at or below 45 Ldn, certified by an acoustical engineer, under the joint…

Keeping an animal or bird that causes frequent or long-continued noise disturbing a neighbor's comfort and repose is listed as an unreasonably loud and disturbing noise under City Code…

Operating a radio, amplifier, or mechanical musical instrument in Durham so its sound is 'cast directly upon the public streets' or can be heard to the annoyance of neighbors or…

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 nuisance-abatement code caps weeds, grass, vines, and briars at 10 inches within 100 feet of a street or 50 feet of a building, and requires owners to cut them back to four…

Owners of property bordering a Durham street must keep trees trimmed so limbs don't overhang a sidewalk or city right-of-way at less than seven feet of vertical clearance, block sight…

Durham does not mandate rainwater harvesting citywide, but its Unified Development Ordinance rewards it downtown. A Downtown Design District project that installs rooftop cisterns…

When Durham declares a water shortage, Section 70-566 layers mandatory stages on top of the year-round sprinkler schedule. Stage 1 cuts spray irrigation to one day a week; Stage 2 bans…

Durham-Durham County's joint Unified Development Ordinance requires new development in the Urban, Suburban, and most Compact Neighborhood tiers to preserve a set percentage of tree…

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 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's Unified Development Ordinance lists apiculture as a permitted-by-right use across every residential district, including RR, RS, RS-M, RU and RU-M. Unlike general agriculture…

Durham designates its entire corporate limits a bird sanctuary. City Code § 6-2 makes it unlawful to trap, hunt, shoot at, or molest any bird or wildfowl, or rob a nest, anywhere in…

Durham zones veterinary clinics, animal hospitals, and kennels under UDO Sec. 5.3.4.W with separation and screening rules rather than a ban. Outdoor animal areas need a 300-foot buffer…

Durham allows up to ten female chickens per lot within the city, with no permit needed but strict coop and pen placement rules: coops at least 15 feet from any property line, pens at…

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 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…

A backyard shed in Durham is regulated as an 'accessory structure' under UDO § 5.4.1, jointly administered by Durham City-County Planning within the city limits. It can't be larger…

Durham's UDO lets one accessory dwelling unit onto most residential lots under Sec. 5.4.2 without added parking. A standard ADU is capped at 1,000 square feet on a single story and…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance exempts accessory dwelling units from height limits when they are created by converting existing space inside the primary house, such as a…

Durham's UDO exempts fences from the standard site plan review and permitting process entirely, unless the fence needs a Certificate of Appropriateness or a special use permit: such as…

Durham's UDO bans razor wire, concertina wire, barbed wire, and similar fencing in every residential district and on any site adjacent to residential use, plus the SRP-C, Design, and…

Durham allows retaining walls inside required yards, but a wall supporting an 8-foot-or-greater grade change next to a project boundary buffer must also sit back 10 feet from that…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance caps street-facing fences and walls at 4 feet in most zoning tiers (8 feet in the Rural Tier), 6 feet on a corner lot's side-street frontage, and…

Any Durham pool deeper than 24 inches with at least 100 square feet of surface area needs a building permit through Durham Inspections, plus UDO site standards: private pools must sit…

Every outdoor swimming pool in Durham over 24 inches deep and 100 square feet must be fully enclosed by a fence at least four feet tall with no more than 50% opacity, and every gate…

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's Housing Code bars using any interior paint that exceeds the lead pigment limit set by the Consumer Products Safety Commission, under City Code § 10-234(k). Effective since…

Any electrical wiring, device, appliance, or equipment installed or altered in Durham needs a permit from the director of inspection services first, under City Code § 10-107. A narrow…

Durham's Housing Code requires a working carbon monoxide alarm on every habitable level of a dwelling unit that has a fossil-fuel heater, appliance or fireplace, or an attached garage…

Renovating or remodeling a building in Durham requires a permit from the Durham Inspections Department before work starts. City Code § 10-48 requires a permit for any work that…

Installing or replacing plumbing in Durham needs a City Code § 10-48 permit from Durham Inspections before work starts. Fees are set under § 10-202(a): a new single-family dwelling's…

Durham runs a standing periodic building inspection program targeted at residential rental property. Under City Code §§ 10-361–10-362, a building lands in the program once it has three…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance lets Child Care Centers locate under the Sec. 5.1 use table, but Sec. 5.3.3.E ties every facility to full North Carolina state licensing…

Durham requires anyone buying or dealing in secondhand goods, junk, or pawned items to log every transaction in a purchase book with the seller's name and a description of the item…

Anyone operating a massage therapy establishment in Durham needs a City Code § 54-217 license before opening, and every therapist working there needs a separate § 54-218 individual…

Durham caps what rotation-list tow operators can charge for police-initiated nonconsensual tows at the fee schedule adopted by city council under City Code § 50-391, requires posted…

Durham pawnbrokers must file a sworn statement naming their corporate officers, log every item purchased or pawned along with the seller's identity, and hold each item open to…

Durham zones adult establishments under UDO Sec. 5.3.4.A with strict distance buffers rather than a citywide ban. No adult establishment can sit within 1,000 feet of a residential…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance caps at-home vehicle repair at two cars worked on simultaneously, and only if each one is registered to a resident of the home. No zoning or…

North Carolina regulates retail sale of vapor products and e-cigarettes under NCGS 14-313 and requires licensure under NCGS Chapter 105, while the federal Tobacco 21 law sets the…

Urinating or defecating anywhere in Durham other than a designated water closet or toilet facility is a misdemeanor under City Code § 26-2, whether it happens on a public sidewalk…

Durham doesn't ban panhandling outright, but City Code § 54-261 makes it unlawful to beg by accosting someone or blocking their path, soliciting within 20 feet of a bank entrance or…

Durham bars possessing or drinking an open beer or wine container on any public street under City Code § 46-149. Vehicle occupants and pub-bike passengers are exempt, but everyone else…

Durham's loitering ordinance, City Code § 46-150, doesn't criminalize standing around generally: it targets repeated conduct in a public place tied to drug transactions, like beckoning…

Durham bans riding a skateboard on any roadway except to cross at a crosswalk or on a designated play street under City Code § 66-322, an infraction carrying up to a $50.00 penalty…

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 prohibits "loud and excessive noise" from loading or unloading a vehicle, including breaking down bales, boxes, crates and containers, as an unreasonably loud and disturbing…

Durham bans sounding a vehicle horn, siren or alarm while the car is parked and not signaling actual danger, under City Code § 26-23(b)(1), including alarms that blare "for an…

During a Durham special event, only the event's permittee may sell goods on a street closed under a City Code § 66-430 closing order: anyone else who wants to sell needs written…

Anyone who wants to close a Durham street or sidewalk for a private event like a block party needs a permit from the city manager under City Code § 66-430. The city manager reviews the…

Parades and demonstrations count as "First Amendment protected activity" under Durham City Code § 66-429, and § 66-431(b) requires the city to expedite review of a street-closing…

Restaurants, private clubs, and eating establishments that want tables on a Durham sidewalk, public alley, or pedestrian way need an outdoor seating area permit from the city manager…

Holding a concert or performance inside a Durham city park takes a second, park-specific permit from the city manager on top of the citywide outdoor-concert permit, with the city…

Every Durham household, store, restaurant, market, and hotel must provide a proper refuse receptacle for collection unless the city supplies one, and the city offers only two…

Durham won't collect yard waste bagged in plastic: leaves, grass and trimmings must go out in biodegradable paper bags made for yard waste or in city-approved receptacles. Tree and…

Commercial developments with four or more businesses on one site must use a stationary bulk container instead of roll-out carts, and Section 58-65 makes every stationary-container…

Durham doesn't fix holiday pickup dates in the code. Section 58-125 hands the Director of Solid Waste, or their designee, the authority to alter collection schedules to observe…

Depositing trash, garbage, debris, or any other refuse on Durham streets, sidewalks, parks, private property without the owner's permission, or into waterways is a misdemeanor citywide…

Before it hits the curb, Durham law requires garbage to be bagged, drained and free of standing liquid, and recyclables kept entirely out of the trash. Section 58-97 makes mixing…

When trimmings, leaves or refuse pile up beyond what a routine truck can handle, Durham calls it "extra refuse". Section 58-99 lets an owner request a special haul for a fee covering…

Durham requires garbage receptacles to be watertight metal or plastic containers with tight-fitting covers and strong handles that keep flies out, and any cart with ragged edges or…

Durham requires recyclable materials to go out in their own separate receptacle from the trash. Section 58-103 applies whether the city or a city contractor runs your route. It backs…

Durham levies an annual privilege license tax on every business conducted in the city, classified by trade under Chapter 30's Divisions 5 and 6, with the same tax owed by businesses…

Durham's right-of-way sales ordinance lets food carts, vending vehicles, and First Amendment sellers operate on paved sidewalks and on-street parking spaces, but sales gear must clear…

Durham limits temporary outdoor vending to commercial and Design zoning districts, and requires a temporary use permit for most mobile food vendors -- except those operating in the…

North Carolina regulates mobile food units under N.C.G.S. 130A-248 and 15A NCAC 18A .2600, requiring uniform statewide permits, commissary requirements, and inspections by local health…

Paving a driveway across a Durham sidewalk, walkway or parkway, or cutting curb for a driveway approach, requires a permit from the city before work starts, under City Code § 62-82…

Durham's City Code puts specific, narrow upkeep duties on the property next to a public sidewalk, not a blanket repair obligation. Owners abutting an improved sidewalk must grade their…

Durham bars anyone from impeding the "regular flow of travel" on a sidewalk in a way that blocks pedestrian or vehicle passage into a driveway or building entrance, under City Code §…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance lets residential projects add units above the base zoning cap by setting aside affordable homes. Projects of at least 15 units that make 15% of…

Durham's Downtown Design (DD) District regulates building form, not just use, across the city's Downtown Tier under UDO Article 16. Ground-floor residential space must sit at least 30…

Durham's water-waste ordinance requires customers to fix any leak, break or malfunction in their plumbing or distribution system within 30 days of finding its source, and bars…

Durham's UDO sets minimum front, side, and rear yards for a single-family detached house by zoning district, from 35-foot street yards and 25-foot lot lines in the RS-20 suburban…

In Durham's RS-20, RS-10, RS-8, and RS-M districts, the Unified Development Ordinance caps principal residential structures at 3 stories and 40 feet. RS-20/10/8 can add one story per…

Durham has no citywide lot-coverage cap, but land inside the city's six Watershed Protection Overlays -- a regime jointly adopted with Durham County -- is capped at 6% to 70%…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance protects "major specimen trees" on development sites: evergreen canopy trees 18 inches dbh or larger, deciduous canopy trees 12 inches dbh or…

Where a Durham street's right-of-way is too narrow for trees, the city may plant them on an adjacent private lot under a temporary easement agreement with the owner's consent. The…

Durham does not designate individually named heritage trees, but its UDO protects large 'major specimen trees', evergreens 18 inches dbh or greater, deciduous canopy trees 12 inches or…

Durham caps window signage at 10% of the window area on each building façade. UDO Sec. 11.4.2.Q defines a window sign as anything attached to, painted on, etched into, or displayed…

Durham's UDO bans animated, blinking, chasing, flashing or moving-effect signs, the standard for digital billboards and LED message boards, in every zoning tier except Downtown, where…

Durham's UDO lets political and election signs go up in the public right-of-way without a permit, but the (City only) provision caps each sign at six square feet and four feet in…

Durham allows one yard sale sign per lot without a permit, capped at four feet in height and six square feet in area. UDO Sec. 11.4.2.R also sets a strict timing window: the sign can…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance requires every off-street loading area to post a 'No Idling' sign, but the UDO sets no citywide minutes-based limit on engine idling: the rule is…

Durham requires new or substantially improved residential structures in Special Flood Hazard Areas to elevate the reference level, including any basement, no lower than the Regulatory…

Durham City Code requires every property owner to keep the stormwater drainage system on their land free of obstructions, trash and debris, and bars dumping refuse, sediment or…

Any development activity within Durham's Special Flood Hazard Areas or Future Conditions Flood Hazard Areas requires a floodplain development permit under UDO Sec. 3.21 before work…

Durham requires a sedimentation and erosion control plan and land-disturbing permit before grading more than 20,000 square feet, or 12,000 in a watershed overlay, inside the city or…

The Coastal Area Management Act, N.C.G.S. 113A-100 through 113A-134.3, requires CAMA permits for development in 20 coastal counties and Areas of Environmental Concern, preempting local…

Durham bars charcoal and gas grills within ten feet of any rooming house, boardinghouse, bed-and-breakfast inn, residency hotel or similar building under City Code § 10-235(m). The…

A tenant complaint about substandard conditions is enough, on its own, to place an entire Durham rental building into the city's periodic-inspection program. Under City Code §…

Durham's city manager can designate geographic areas for mandatory periodic inspection of every rental dwelling inside them, without any complaint or violation history required…

Operating a shared micromobility program in Durham without a permit is unlawful under City Code § 50-463, and the city caps the number of active permits at three unless the director…

Durham treats electric assisted bicycles and electric scooters as vehicles under City Code § 66-308, meaning riders must obey the same traffic signals, signs, and lane rules that apply…

Durham makes it unlawful for a driver of a motorized vehicle to occupy a marked bike lane for moving or parking under City Code § 66-310(e), except to cross it for a lawful turn while…

North Carolina runs two entirely separate regimes, and which one you are in is decided by five miles per hour. A golf cart is defined as a vehicle not capable of exceeding 20 mph, and…

Durham's Housing Code makes property owners responsible for keeping grounds and structures free of rodent harborage and infestation, and for exterminating a structure before it's…

Durham will collect hypodermic syringes and needles at the curb, but only if they're sealed inside a plastic, puncture-resistant carton with a tight-fitting lid. Section 58-102 sets…

Once Durham's Department of Recreation posts a closing-time notice for a park or recreational area, being there after that hour is a trespass, and removing a lock or barrier installed…

North Carolina permits cities and counties to enact juvenile curfews under general police power but requires constitutional safeguards under state law.

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance sets zoning standards for farming rather than a blanket right-to-farm exemption. Sec. 5.3.1 lets every agricultural use into the RS-20 District…

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…

Durham designates historic landmarks under UDO Sec. 3.16.3: the Historic Preservation Commission and City Council review integrity, significance, and National Register or Statewide…

Durham residents can hold no more than four garage or yard sales at the same address per calendar year, and must leave at least three months between sales. Stay within that cap and the…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance caps directional and full cut-off security lighting at 30 feet above grade when the fixture sits 50 feet or more from a residential lot line…

Durham's UDO requires outdoor accent lighting, fixtures that highlight architecture, landscaping or artwork on nonresidential and multifamily sites, to be located, aimed or shielded so…

Durham's Housing Code sets binding minimum-fitness standards for every dwelling and dwelling unit in the city under City Code § 10-234. A habitable bedroom must be at least 70 square…

For nonpayment of rent, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-3 requires a 10-day demand for past-due rent before the lease term is forfeited. The landlord then files summary ejectment under Article 3…

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-46 caps residential late fees on monthly rent at $15 or 5% of the monthly rent, whichever is greater, and bars charging the fee until rent is at least five days…

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-14 sets notice periods to end periodic tenancies: seven days for month-to-month, two days for week-to-week, and one month or more before the year ends for…

North Carolina law preempts local rent control. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-14.1, no county or city may enact, maintain, or enforce any ordinance that regulates the amount of rent…

North Carolina restricts cities from requiring residential rental registration, permits, or fees absent a specific qualifying public safety problem.

North Carolina caps a residential security deposit by tenancy length under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-51: two weeks' rent for week-to-week, one and one-half months' rent for month-to-month…

North Carolina recognizes adverse possession after 20 years of open, continuous possession under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-40, or after 7 years if the possessor holds under color of title…

Durham allows solar energy systems as an accessory use in every zoning district, but installing one still requires a building permit: the City's Fee Schedule sets a $65 Solar…

North Carolina voids any deed restriction, covenant, or HOA agreement that bans, or effectively bans, solar collectors on residential property, under G.S. 22B-20. The protection covers…

Durham's housing code administrator can order an owner to repair, vacate, or demolish any building that meets North Carolina's statutory definition of an unsafe building under G.S…

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…

Anyone peddling goods door-to-door or setting up temporarily as an itinerant merchant or specialty market operator in Durham must first obtain a privilege license from the tax…

North Carolina repealed its state commercial drone operator permit and knowledge test effective December 1, 2024, so commercial pilots now need only the FAA Part 107 remote pilot…

North Carolina General Statute 15A-300.1 and related laws set statewide rules for unmanned aircraft, banning drone surveillance without consent and weaponized drones, while federal law…

North Carolina has no statewide predictive scheduling law and effectively preempts local fair workweek or predictive scheduling ordinances through its Wage and Hour Act framework.

North Carolina issues concealed handgun permits through county sheriffs under NCGS 14-415.10 and recognizes reciprocity with many states; permitless carry is not authorized statewide.

North Carolina preempts local governments from regulating firearms, ammunition, and concealed handgun permitting beyond what state law expressly allows under NCGS 14-409.40.

North Carolina generally permits open carry of handguns and long guns without a permit, but local discharge ordinances and posted-property restrictions may apply under state law.

North Carolina permits transporting firearms in a vehicle, but a handgun carried concealed within reach generally requires a concealed handgun permit under NCGS 14-269 and 14-415.10.

North Carolina lets exempt nonprofits run bingo and raffles under Chapter 14, Part 2's charitable-gaming statutes. Bingo requires a $200 annual license from the Alcohol Law Enforcement…

North Carolina's gambling law, N.C.G.S. § 14-292, makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor for anyone to bet money, property, or anything of value on a game of chance, whether the wager is…

North Carolina legalized sports wagering under G.S. Chapter 18C, Article 9, effective March 2024. The State Lottery Commission licenses online and in-person sportsbooks; interactive…

Under the North Carolina Planned Community Act, G.S. 47F-3-116, any assessment unpaid for 30 days or longer becomes a lien on the lot. If unpaid for 90 days or more, the association…

North Carolina's Planned Community Act requires HOAs to hold at least one association meeting each year (G.S. 47F-3-108) with 10-60 days' advance notice stating the agenda, and to give…

North Carolina law overrides certain HOA restrictions. G.S. 22B-20 voids covenants that prohibit residential solar collectors (with narrow visibility exceptions). G.S. 47F-3-121…

North Carolina suspends an HOA's power to require landscaping irrigation once the area is designated severe, extreme, or exceptional drought and a government body has imposed water…

State law strips North Carolina homeowners associations of power to block the American or state flag on a member's own lot. G.S. 47F-3-121(1) voids any covenant restriction on a flag…

North Carolina's G.S. 47F-3-107.1 requires due process before an HOA can fine an owner. A hearing must be held before the executive board or an adjudicatory panel, with notice of the…

North Carolina lets a homeowners association foreclose on a house without ever filing a lawsuit. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47F-3-116, an assessment unpaid for 30 days can be turned into…

North Carolina is one of the few states whose legislature expressly authorized sobriety and license checkpoints by statute. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-16.3A lets any law enforcement agency…

North Carolina never enacted an express right to record police, and it never enacted a buffer law either. What it has is a one-party consent wiretap statute: N.C. Gen. Stat. §…

North Carolina has no general stop-and-identify statute. A pedestrian stopped on the street commits no offense by declining to give a name, and the state's entire vagrancy article…

North Carolina is one of the few states that wrote consent searches into statute instead of leaving them to case law. Article 9 of Chapter 15A defines consent as a statement to the…

North Carolina has no statewide ban on plastic straws and does not authorize local governments to ban single-use plastic straws or other utensils.

Federal law sets the minimum tobacco purchase age at 21 nationwide, but North Carolina's own statute, NCGS 14-313, still sets the state age at 18, so retailers must follow the stricter…

North Carolina has not enacted a statewide flavored tobacco or flavored vape ban, and no state law authorizes local governments to ban flavored tobacco products, leaving flavor rules…

North Carolina lets any motor vehicle carry up to two spot lamps and up to two front auxiliary driving lamps, and it caps every other added lamp at 25 candlepower unless the beam is…

North Carolina has no statute telling you where a dash cam may be mounted. Part 9 of Article 3 of Chapter 20 regulates the windshield only for tint and for safety glass, and nothing in…

North Carolina has never authorised lane splitting and has never written a section that uses the phrase. The motorcycle lane statute, G.S. 20-146.1, entitles a motorcycle to the full…

North Carolina bans anything over a plate that makes part of it unreadable, and it names frames and clear covers specifically. G.S. 20-63(g) makes it an infraction to cover a plate…

North Carolina has no statute regulating radar detectors in a private passenger vehicle. The words radar and detector appear nowhere in the 868 sections of Chapter 20, the Motor…

North Carolina lets you run studded tires on any day of the year. G.S. 20-122(b) permits studs on regular and snow tires "for increased safety" so long as they project no more than one…

North Carolina allows aftermarket tint on any window except the windshield down to 35% total light transmission, with reflectance of 20% or less and no red, yellow or amber film. The…