Gaston County, NC Parking Rules: Commercial & Oversized Vehicles (2026)

11 governs parking of passenger and commercial vehicles on Residential-zoned lots in the unincorporated county. Passenger-type vans and pickup trucks, including towed trailers, face no limitations regardless of lot size. Tractor-trailers, cargo trucks and similar vehicles with two or more axles are not allowed at all on residential lots under one acre. On residential lots of one acre or greater, exactly one such vehicle is allowed per parcel, and overnight running of auxiliary equipment and the engine is permitted only if the vehicle sits at least 200 feet from any property line, addressing the noise these idling refrigeration or power units generate near neighbors.

Subsection B independently bars any lot with a principal residential use in a Residential district from being used as the base of operations for a freight-hauling truck, closing a loophole where a single allowed vehicle might otherwise anchor a trucking business. Subsection C ties the privilege to owner-occupancy: the person who owns the commercial vehicle must also occupy the property where it is parked, and that property must carry a single-family dwelling. Together the three subsections keep large trucks off small residential parcels, cap even qualifying larger parcels at one vehicle, and prevent the exception from becoming a commercial trucking yard.

The rule applies only within the unincorporated county; Gastonia, Belmont, Mount Holly, Cherryville, Dallas, Stanley and Bessemer City enforce their own separate commercial-vehicle parking rules within their corporate limits.