Onslow County, NC Garage & Yard Sales: Frequency, Duration & Permits (2026)

8(E)(4)(h), alongside contractor's yards, junkyards, and motor vehicle repair. The home occupation article defines a home occupation broadly as any occupation, profession, or business activity a resident runs from a single-family dwelling, and Onslow County requires a Home Occupation permit any time a business owner operates out of a residence. By listing yard sales and flea markets that exceed six occurrences a year among the uses that can never qualify for that permit, the ordinance draws a bright line: up to six residential yard sales in a calendar year fall outside the home-occupation permitting scheme entirely, while a seventh crosses into commercial territory the zoning code will not license from a house.

The same subsection also bars other recurring at-home businesses, including animal services, sawmills, motor vehicle or boat repair and body work, medical and dental offices, and contractor's offices with outdoor equipment storage, on the theory that these activities are incompatible with a residential neighborhood no matter how a permit application is worded. 8 lists the use as permitted in the RA, R-20, R-15, R-10, R-8M, R-5, CB, and HB districts, and the frequency cap travels with it in every one of those districts.