Buncombe County does not require native landscaping on ordinary lots, but in the Steep Slope and Protected Ridge overlays, required screening trees must be native species with no single species exceeding 50% of the plantings. The county Cooperative Extension also promotes native, drought-tolerant plants.
There is no countywide mandate to landscape with native plants on a typical residential lot. The one place native-species rules are binding is the hillside screening-tree standard in the Steep Slope/Protected Ridge overlays: trees planted to screen a downhill-facing structure must consist of varying native species, with no single species making up more than 50% of the plantings, spaced 10 to 30 feet apart. Outside the overlays, native plant use is voluntary and encouraged by N.C. Cooperative Extension in Buncombe County for water conservation and habitat. Watershed buffers along streams must remain vegetated but do not dictate a specific native-plant list.
In the overlays, using non-native or over-concentrated species for required screening trees can hold up hillside development approval.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Buncombe County, NC
Buncombe County has no ordinance using the word 'hoarding,' but Sec. 6-57 prohibits keeping animals in numbers or conditions that constitute a public nuisanc...
Buncombe County, NC
Buncombe County's animal code has no general wildlife-feeding ban, but it prohibits keeping wild animals (Sec. 6-61). In bear-heavy western NC, the state Wil...
Buncombe County, NC
Buncombe County Recreation Services parks are open seven days a week from 8:00 a.m. until dark; there is no overnight access. Parks close on Thanksgiving, Ch...
Buncombe County, NC
Under Sec. 78-668, outdoor lighting on regulated development may not exceed 0.75 footcandles at any property line, and 3.0 footcandles at any public street r...
Buncombe County, NC
Buncombe County's zoning ordinance (Sec. 78-668) sets dark-sky-style lighting standards for new commercial, industrial, public and multi-family development. ...
Buncombe County, NC
Buncombe County's zoning ordinance does not set a specific rule for garage or yard sale signs on residential property, so the county imposes no permit or siz...
See how Buncombe County's native plants rules stack up against other locations.
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