Short-term rental permit rules in Buncombe County, NC — also called Airbnb permits, vacation rental licenses, or STR registration — list the application steps, fees, and operating requirements for hosting.
In unincorporated Buncombe County, a single vacation rental (up to two homes / 9,000 sq ft) is a permitted use in most zoning districts. Larger vacation rental complexes need a conditional use permit, and a zoning compliance certificate is required.
Buncombe County's Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 78) regulates short-term lodging as "vacation rentals" and "vacation rental complexes" in the unincorporated county. Under the district use tables (Sec. 78-641), a plain vacation rental is a permitted use (P) in most residential and open-use districts, while a vacation rental complex is a conditional use (C) requiring board of adjustment approval. Any development of more than 10 vacation rental units is treated as a hotel/motel except in the Open Use (OU) District, where it is a complex and must obtain a conditional use permit under Sec. 78-678. A certificate of zoning compliance (Sec. 78-598) is required before use. Inside Asheville, Weaverville, Black Mountain and other towns, the town's own STR rules govern instead.
Operating a vacation rental complex without the required conditional use permit or zoning compliance certificate is a zoning violation enforced by the Buncombe County Zoning Administrator under Sec. 78-596, subject to abatement and civil penalties. Town-limits properties are enforced by
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