Chapel Hill, NC HOA Rules: Assessment & Dues (2026)

The Town of Chapel Hill's Planning and Development Services department checks this requirement during subdivision review under Land Use Management Ordinance Section 4.6.6, titled Neighborhood or Homeowners' Associations. Where a developer proposes that a neighborhood or homeowners' association will maintain streets, alleys, bikeways, pedestrian and bicycle ways, utilities, storm drainage facilities, street signs, or recreation areas approved as part of the subdivision, the association's founding documents must give it the power to compel contributions from residents of the development to cover their proportionate shares of maintenance and control costs.

The town reviews articles of incorporation and by-laws submitted with the final plat application, filed in the form the North Carolina Secretary of State requires, to confirm this assessment authority exists before signing off. The same section bars subdivisions from writing covenants or sale conditions that restrict or prohibit the installation or maintenance of solar collection devices, so an association's assessment power cannot be used to block residents from adding solar panels. Because the requirement attaches at subdivision approval, an association that later tries to waive or narrow its own assessment authority puts itself out of compliance with the conditions under which the town approved the plat, giving the town manager grounds to treat the subdivision's common-improvement maintenance as deficient.