Buncombe County does not require homeowners to pave a residential driveway, but a new driveway onto a state road needs an NCDOT permit, and the Zoning Ordinance's off-street parking standards govern surfacing and layout for commercial and multifamily sites. Access-point placement is set in Sec. 78-661.
For a single-family home in unincorporated Buncombe County there is no countywide mandate to hard-surface your driveway, though zoning setbacks still apply. When a driveway ties into a state-maintained road, NCDOT requires a driveway (encroachment) permit controlling the connection, sight distance, and drainage. The Zoning Ordinance's driveway standards in Sec. 78-661 apply to access points other than single- and two-family homes, requiring them at least five feet from perpendicular property lines unless shared. The off-street parking standards in Sec. 78-658 set surfacing and dimension requirements (at least nine by eighteen feet on a hard-surfaced or crushed-stone area) chiefly for nonresidential and multifamily development. Within Asheville, the city's driveway rules apply. Steep-slope and stormwater rules can also affect impervious area.
Building a driveway onto a state road without an NCDOT permit, or a nonresidential parking area failing the Zoning Ordinance standards, is enforced by NCDOT and Buncombe County Planning & Development through permit denial, corrections, and civil penalties.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Buncombe County, NC
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See how Buncombe County's driveway rules rules stack up against other locations.
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