Lee County, NC Special Events & Permits: Park Event Permits (2026)

Sec. 18-35(h) of the Lee County Code, in the recreational activities article, sets the paperwork deadline for using county park facilities: all payments, reservations, permits and similar arrangements must be made or secured at least five working days in advance of the date of use. The same subsection specifically requires an advance permit, covering the designated area and specific time, for any organized demonstration, gathering, performance, speech or youth campout. The requirement layers on top of the article's other reservation rules: picnic shelters can already be reserved for a fee, and scheduling an athletic field for games or practice requires a permit from the athletic director, with a possible fee set by the parks and recreation commission.

Sec. 18-35(j) gives the director additional discretion beyond the standard process: upon written application, the department may grant a specific-use permit for a special use when the director decides special consideration is warranted. Sec. 18-35(i) makes clear that none of these permit provisions exempts a reserved-space user from the department's other rules governing conduct on parks and recreation commission property. Enforcement runs through the parks and recreation department, and Sec. 18-32 applies the article's standard $100.00 civil penalty and possible expulsion to anyone who holds an unpermitted gathering or misses the five-working-day advance requirement, the same penalty that covers every other violation of the general parks article.