Burlington, NC Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

Article V of Chapter 23, adopted by Ordinance No. 22-38 in October 2022, defines "camp or camping" broadly as using city property, public streets, sidewalks, rights-of-way or public parking lots for living-accommodation purposes such as sleeping, preparing to sleep, laying down bedding, storing personal belongings, or placing a tent or temporary shelter. "Storing personal property" separately covers leaving effects such as clothing, bedrolls, cookware, sleeping bags, luggage, knapsacks or backpacks unattended for a substantial, prolonged length of time, though it does not reach a parked bicycle or other mode of transportation.

Section 23-36 then makes four things unlawful on city-owned public property: camping or storing personal property; placing tents or temporary shelters, occupied or not; leaving a tent, shelter or stored property behind; and lighting a campfire or bonfire, except in each case where the city council has designated a specific location for that use. Section 23-37 treats any of this conduct as a public nuisance. A law enforcement officer or city employee may direct a person camping, preparing to sleep or storing belongings to stop and remove their gear, and may summarily remove any tent, temporary shelter, bedding or personal belongings from city property without a separate court order; the same authority extends to extinguishing an unauthorized campfire or bonfire.

A violation of the article is punishable as a Class 3 misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to five hundred dollars or up to thirty days' imprisonment under G.S. 14-4 and G.S. 160A-175, and a violator also remains subject to arrest under the state criminal trespass statute, G.S. 14-159.12. There is no permit process in this article for lawful outdoor camping; the only path around the ban is a city council-designated site.