Curb markings and colored-curb paint on Chapel Hill public streets are installed only by the Town, with placement governed by federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) standards and administered by Chapel Hill Engineering and Public Works. Residents and adjacent property owners may not paint, alter, or add markings to a public curb. Where curb paint is faded or absent, the state-law distance restrictions in NCGS 20-162 still apply by default: no parking in front of a private driveway, within 15 feet in either direction of a fire hydrant or fire station entrance, or within 25 feet from the intersection of curb lines. The Town's published parking rules also require parking 'no farther than 12 inches from the curb' and prohibit sidewalk parking anywhere in Town limits.
Chapel Hill follows the standard North Carolina practice that all official curb markings, signage, and pavement markings on public streets - red (no parking / fire lane), yellow (loading zone), green (time-limited parking), white (passenger loading), and blue (accessible parking) - are placed by Town staff under federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) standards. Chapel Hill Public Works and Engineering install and maintain these markings, and Park on the Hill (Chapel Hill Parking Services) administers enforcement and parking-related markings in the downtown core. Residents and adjacent property owners may not paint, repaint, or alter a public curb on their own; unauthorized painting of a public curb is unauthorized work in the public right-of-way. Even where curb paint is faded or unmarked, NCGS 20-162(a) applies citywide: 'No person shall park a vehicle or permit it to stand, whether attended or unattended, upon a highway in front of a private driveway or within 15 feet in either direction of a fire hydrant or the entrance to a fire station, nor within 25 feet from the intersection of curb lines or if none, then within 15 feet of the intersection of property lines at an intersection of highways; provided, that local authorities may by ordinance decrease the distance within which a vehicle may park in either direction of a fire hydrant.' The Town's published parking rules also require parking 'no farther than 12 inches from the curb,' '25 feet' from intersections, stop signs, traffic signals, and crosswalks, and '15 feet' from fire hydrants, and prohibit sidewalk parking anywhere in Town limits. To request a new or additional parking restriction (including new curb paint), contact the Town's Engineering Department. To report missing, faded, or damaged curb markings in the downtown core, contact Park on the Hill at (919) 968-2828. To report a blocked driveway or hydrant in real time, call Chapel Hill Police non-emergency at (919) 968-2760.
Painting, repainting, or altering a public curb in Chapel Hill without Town authorization is unauthorized work in the public right-of-way and may require restoration at the property owner's expense. Parking in front of a private driveway, within 15 feet of a fire hydrant or fire station entrance, or within 25 feet of a curb-line intersection violates NCGS 20-162 regardless of whether the curb is painted, and is citable under Chapter 21 of the Chapel Hill Code of Ordinances. Parking on a sidewalk, more than 12 inches from the curb, or across the center line is independently citable under the Town's published parking rules. Parking in a designated accessible space without a valid permit carries a $250 fine.
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