Durham has no rule forcing a host to be present during every stay, but its owner-occupied lodging use requires a resident. The UDO bed and breakfast, drawn from NCGS 130A-247, must be the permanent residence of the owner or manager. Unhosted whole-house rentals therefore fall outside that residential use category.
Durham does not mandate on-site host presence for a short-term rental during each booking. Its relevant zoning use, bed and breakfast, instead requires an ongoing resident: under NCGS 130A-247, incorporated by the UDO, the establishment must be the permanent residence of the owner or the manager of the business. That is a residency requirement, not a nightly-presence requirement, so a live-in host who lists rooms clearly qualifies. An unhosted, absentee whole-house short-term rental does not meet the bed-and-breakfast standard and is not a separately listed residential use, so Durham City-County Planning may evaluate it as a non-residential lodging use, subject to state limits under NCGS 160D-1207.
Operating an unhosted lodging use where only a resident bed-and-breakfast use is allowed can trigger a UDO zoning-violation notice, civil penalties, and a cease order from City-County Planning.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Durham, NC
Durham caps daytime sound at 60 dBA (8 AM to 11 PM) and nighttime sound at 50 dBA (11 PM to 8 AM) under Ch. 26, Sec. 26-23. Measured at property line using A...
Durham, NC
Durham UDO Section 9.9 limits residential fences to 4 feet in front yards and 8 feet in side and rear yards. Corner lots face additional restrictions along s...
Durham, NC
Durham does not require a permit for most residential fences or walls. Permits are required for retaining walls, pool barriers on single-family parcels, prop...
Durham, NC
Durham UDO Section 9.9 sets general fence standards including setbacks, orientation, and vision-clearance rules. Fences between structures and streets within...
Durham, NC
Durham requires a building permit for all retaining walls. Retaining walls over 4 feet at street frontage must be terraced in Design Districts. Walls over 8 ...
Durham, NC
Durham UDO 9.9 prohibits razor wire, concertina wire, and barbed wire in residential districts. Uncoated chain link is banned in CI and Design Districts.
See how Durham's host presence rule rules stack up against other locations.
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