Burning brush and yard waste is prohibited inside Apex town limits. The Town of Apex Fire Department directs residents to place yard waste curbside for collection rather than burning, and the Town's curbside yard-waste service handles routine brush, leaves, and limbs. NC Forest Service burn permits are not valid inside the corporate limits of Apex - they are only available for sites in unincorporated Wake County under NCGS Chapter 113 and 15A NCAC 02D .1900. Property maintenance (uncut weeds, grass, and noxious growth) is enforced by Apex Code Enforcement under the Apex Code of Ordinances; the standard NC municipal nuisance abatement procedure provides written notice with an opportunity to cure before the Town may abate the nuisance at the owner's expense and place a lien on the property. Burning brush as an alternative to disposal is itself a separate Chapter 9 violation enforced by the Apex Fire Department.
The Town of Apex Fire Department's official guidance is unambiguous: burn permits are issued by the NC Forest Service (Wake County office 919-841-4046) and are not allowed inside the town limits of Apex - they are only available for use in the County. Burning brush or yard waste in Apex therefore violates both Chapter 9 (Fire Prevention) of the Apex Code of Ordinances and the NC DEQ Open Burning Rule at 15A NCAC 02D .1900 (which prohibits burning yard waste in any area where regular curbside pickup is available). The Town of Apex provides curbside yard-waste collection for residents; residents should place brush, leaves, and limbs curbside per Solid Waste schedules. Property-maintenance nuisance vegetation (overgrown weeds, grass, noxious growth) is enforced by Apex Code Enforcement under the Apex Code of Ordinances and the Unified Development Ordinance. Apex Code Enforcement officers also enforce the NC State Building Code, NC Residential Code, and NC Mechanical/Plumbing/Electrical/Fuel Gas codes; fire-code enforcement is delegated to the Apex Fire Department (919-367-4055). The NC Forest Service is the statewide burn-permit authority under NCGS Chapter 113 and may impose a statewide burn ban during hazardous forest-fire conditions (such as the March 2025 statewide ban issued by NCDA&CS).
Open burning of brush, yard waste, leaves, or trash inside Apex town limits is enforced by the Apex Fire Department (919-367-4055 Fire Marshal; 919-362-4001 main) and is also actionable under 15A NCAC 02D .1900 by NC DEQ. Property-maintenance violations (overgrown weeds, grass, brush) are enforced by Apex Code Enforcement; the standard NC municipal abatement process provides written notice and an opportunity to cure before the Town may abate at the owner's expense, with the cost recoverable as a lien against the property. During statewide or county burn bans, all outdoor burning is suspended regardless of permit status.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Apex, NC
Apex does not have a code provision specifically prohibiting or permitting artificial turf in residential or commercial landscapes. Where landscape material ...
Apex, NC
Apex does not mandate native plants in private landscapes but actively promotes them. The Town's Plant the Peak program installs native trees on residential ...
Apex, NC
Rainwater harvesting is legal and encouraged in Apex. North Carolina state law prohibits local governments from banning cisterns and rain barrels used for ir...
Apex, NC
Apex UDO Sec. 4.5.6 permits one Accessory Apartment per single-family lot. Attached accessory apartments have no size limit. Detached accessory apartments ar...
Apex, NC
Apex Town Code Sec. 13-62 limits Mobile Food Vendors to (a) private property with written owner permission, (b) Town-owned property with the Town Manager's w...
Apex, NC
Apex Town Code Chapter 13, Article IV (Sec. 13-60 through 13-69.5), adopted by Ordinance 2019-0305-02, requires every Mobile Food Vendor and Transient Food V...
Side-by-side rule comparisons with other cities in Wake County.
See how other cities in Wake County handle brush clearance.
See how Apex's brush clearance rules stack up against other locations.
Quick Compare
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.