Carteret County, NC Parking Rules: RV & Boat Parking (2026)

Carteret County Code Appendix A, Article IV governs recreational vehicles kept outside a licensed RV park, covering the unincorporated area including Down East and Harkers Island. Section 4.1 lets an unoccupied RV be stored on any lot, provided it sits outside the required setback and is not used to store materials, items, pets, or farm animals. Section 4.2 bars an occupied RV (used for fewer than 180 consecutive days) from an individual lot unless one of four exceptions applies: during construction of a single-family dwelling or placement of a manufactured/modular home, for up to nine months; during a declared emergency when a government program supplies the RV; while a fire-, flood-, or hurricane-damaged home is being replaced; or on a parcel of one acre or more, where the RV must clear 20 feet from the front line, 15 feet from any side line, and 30 feet from the rear line.

Section 4.3 requires any occupied RV outside a park that stays on the property more than two consecutive weeks to be anchored to N.C. Building Code wind-zone specifications. Section 4.4 caps a non-park parcel at one recreational vehicle at a time. Section 4.5 adds that an RV placed within a special flood hazard area must either stay under 180 days and remain highway-ready (on wheels, connected only by quick-disconnect utilities, no permanent additions) or meet the anchoring and elevation standards of the county's Flood Damage Prevention and Protection Ordinance.