Pitt County, NC Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

Pitt County's zoning ordinance doesn't use the term 'short-term rental'; the closest regulated use is the Bed and Breakfast Inn, defined in Section 15 as 'a lodging facility in which the operator resides' that provides temporary overnight lodging for tourists, vacationers and other transients, with a dining room limited to guests. Section 8(L) permits the use in the RA, RR, R40, SR, and MFR residential districts and sets three operating conditions: the business 'must be owned and operated by a resident owner,' it has to be located in a structure that was originally constructed as a dwelling rather than a purpose-built motel-style building, and any meals served on site are limited to registered guests.

Signage is capped at what's allowed for a home occupation, meaning no separate commercial advertising sign, and any parking lot has to be screened from adjoining single-family homes by a buffer yard meeting Section 10(H). Because the county's Table 5-1 Table of Permitted Uses lists the use as 'D' (permitted with standards) in those five districts, an owner who wants to run overnight lodging out of a house they don't live in, or through a manager rather than themselves, doesn't fit this use category and would need a different, likely unavailable, approval path.