Carteret County, NC Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Sec. 2902 splits home occupations into two classes. Minor home occupations, such as personal offices, home craft businesses, instructional services, and day-care for six or fewer individuals, operate without Planning Commission review. Major home occupations, including day-care for seven or more, medical, dental, or physical-therapy practices, barbers, beauticians, photographers, and bed-and-breakfasts, are permitted only with a special use permit reviewed under Sec. 3320. Every home occupation, minor or major, must keep the home's residential appearance: no more than 25 percent of the home's gross area, capped at 400 square feet, may be used (day-care and bed-and-breakfast are exempt from the percentage), and no more than 600 square feet of either an attached garage or a detached accessory building, but not both, may be added.

Minor home occupations add a further layer: clients are capped at ten visits per week on average (five students at a time for instructional services), no exterior signage is allowed, retail sales are barred except for goods made on-site, and no more than one non-resident employee may work there. The Carteret County Planning Department's zoning enforcement officer administers these standards countywide outside the incorporated towns.