Durham's Unified Development Ordinance allows home occupations in residences citywide and in the unincorporated county, but the business must be clearly incidental to the home and may use no more than 30 percent of the livable floor area.
Durham City and County share one Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), so the same home-occupation standards in Section 5.4.4 govern both the city and unincorporated county. A home occupation must remain clearly incidental to the primary residential use. Total home-occupation square footage may not exceed 30 percent of the livable portion of the dwelling; an accessory structure or accessory dwelling may hold part of that area within the same overall limit. No outside storage, use, or activity is allowed except parking and limited child-care or instructional exceptions. No equipment may create noise, vibration, glare, fumes, or odors detectable off site.
Zoning violations can include possible fines and revocation of the Home Occupation Permit after inspection by a Zoning Enforcement Officer.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Backyard composting is legal in Durham and the city offers a curbside food-waste program. Compost piles must be maintained so they do not harbor rodents or p...
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Durham has no ordinance banning artificial turf in residential yards. It counts toward impervious-surface and lot-coverage limits under the UDO, and cannot b...
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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 a...
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Rain barrels and cisterns are legal and encouraged in Durham; no county ordinance bans collecting rooftop rainwater. Durham has historically offered subsidiz...
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Durham enforces a year-round odd/even irrigation ordinance and can impose tighter water-shortage stages. As of June 2026 Durham is in Stage 2, which bans spr...
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Durham declares dense weeds, vines, briars and undergrowth a public nuisance when they harbor pests or sit near buildings. Overgrowth over 12 inches high mus...
See how Durham County's zoning restrictions rules stack up against other locations.
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