Parking Rules in North Carolina (2026)

Cabarrus County allows an RV on a residential parcel only if it isn't lived in, isn't hooked to utilities, stays on its…

Concord bars recreational vehicles, trailers and boats stored on trailers from sitting on a predominantly residential…

Buncombe County does not ban keeping a personal RV, travel trailer, camper, or boat at your home in the unincorporated…

Cary confines boat, RV and trailer storage to side or rear yards, never in front of the principal structure or within a…

Catawba County lets homeowners park a domestic or recreational vehicle on their own residential property, but it can…

Boats, camper trailers, and utility trailers in Durham's residential districts have to be stored off the street: either…

In Durham, boats, camper trailers and utility trailers must be stored off the street and located to the rear of the…

Fayetteville's Unified Development Ordinance lets homeowners keep RVs, campers, and single-axle boat or utility…

Gaston County limits residential lots to one recreational vehicle over eight feet tall and one boat or trailer…

Harnett County's zoning code lets a homeowner keep one personal recreational vehicle or travel trailer on a residential…

High Point lets residents keep an RV or travel trailer on a residential lot, but bans living in it there: occupancy is…

Iredell County limits a private recreational vehicle campsite to one RV per parcel under Land Development Code…

In the Town of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, a homeowner may keep one travel trailer parked at the residence under…

In unincorporated Onslow County, keeping an RV, boat, trailer or similar item in a yard counts as outdoor storage…

Inside a mapped Special Residential Parking Overlay District, Raleigh bars parking or storing any vehicle, including a…

Rose Hill's code makes it unlawful to park or store a mobile home or travel trailer anywhere in town except under…

Wilmington lets homeowners park recreational vehicles and trailers on residential lots, but placement depends on size…

Winston-Salem bars parking boats, campers, trailers, and vehicles on front lawns, but only inside neighborhoods that…

Brunswick County's Unified Development Ordinance sets driveway design rules for unincorporated county properties…

Buncombe County does not require homeowners to pave a residential driveway, but a new driveway onto a state road needs…

Cary's LDO caps vehicle parking area on single-unit and duplex lots at 40% of the streetyard, requires an improved…

Charlotte bans parking between the curb and the front building line of a single-family, duplex, triplex or quadraplex…

Concord lets single-family, duplex, triplex and quadplex owners park in the front yard only on an improved driveway or…

Fayetteville limits how much of a residential front or corner side yard can be paved for vehicles and how it must be…

Durham requires residential driveways and parking areas to be built and maintained with a hard all-weather surface…

In Durham, driveways and parking areas in front and side yards must have a defined all-weather surface, grass…

Fayetteville's UDO lets single-family and duplex-to-fourplex driveways skip pavement: Sec. 30-5.A.5 permits gravel or…

Greensboro bars parking any vehicle on the front yard of a single-family or two-family home unless it sits on a hard…

Guilford County requires parking spaces, access drives and loading areas to be paved with concrete, asphalt or a…

Harnett County requires automobile repair facilities to pave any front-yard or handicap-accessible parking with asphalt…

High Point requires any vehicle parked between a single-family or duplex home and the street to sit on a graveled or…

In the Town of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, a driveway serving a one- or two-family home must be at least ten feet…

For a detached house, tiny house or attached house on a Residential District lot, Raleigh's UDO caps combined parking…

A driveway built in Rose Hill has to match its surroundings: portland cement concrete plus drainage structures where…

Any new driveway or expanded driveway that ties into an NCDOT-maintained road in unincorporated Wake County requires an…

Winston-Salem bars parking vehicles, boats, campers or trailers on front lawns unless on an improved driveway or pad at…

Gaston County requires off-street parking areas to be paved, but one- and two-family residential parking is exempted…

Shelby prohibits parking any truck over 19 feet long on any city street. Only a temporary emergency stop is allowed…

Asheville City Code Sec. 19-59 bans parking any truck, tractor, trailer, semitrailer, or bus over 10,000 pounds gross…

Tractors can park in Catawba County residential districts, but trailers and tractor-trailer combos cannot unless fully…

Charlotte bans large or medium commercial trucks from residential streets except while loading, unloading or passing…

Concord bans transfer trucks, tractor-trailers and oil trucks of any size from parking on a residential street between…

Fayetteville's zoning code bars the customary parking of heavy trucks, multi-axle trailers, and major recreational…

Greensboro bans parking any motor vehicle wider than 80 inches or longer than 30 feet, plus any trailer, on city…

High Point's Development Ordinance bars parking any vehicle longer than 24 feet or heavier than 14,000 pounds gross…

Iredell County expressly prohibits using mobile homes, travel trailers, tractor trailers, mobile storage units, mobile…

Johnston County restricts how many commercial vehicles a resident can park at home in the agricultural-residential…

Pitt County treats a facility for parking oversized commercial vehicles as its own zoning use under Section 8(VVVV): it…

City Code § 11-2176 bars trucks, trailers, house trailers and buses from parking or storing on Raleigh rights-of-way or…

Wilmington residential lots may keep exactly one commercial vehicle, capped at 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight…

Winston-Salem prohibits parking private vehicles or trailers wider than 80 inches or longer than 30 feet on any city…

Apex prohibits parking any RV, trailer, or boat overnight in town-owned or leased parking lots, defined as 11 p.m. to 6…

Unincorporated Brunswick County, North Carolina limits a home-based business to one commercially licensed vehicle…

The Town of Cary bans parking any vehicle or trailer 80 inches or more wide, or 30 feet or more long, on town streets…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance caps how big a vehicle can be if it's parked in a residential district: no more…

Durham's UDO caps vehicles parked in residential areas at 35 feet long, 8 feet wide and 12 feet high; anything larger…

Gaston County's Unified Development Ordinance bans tractor-trailers, cargo trucks and other two-or-more-axle vehicles…

Gastonia bars parking any vehicle wider than seven feet on a public street except while actively loading or unloading…

Onslow County limits home occupations to one business vehicle with two axles and one trailer, and bars parking that…

Shelby's traffic code bars stopping, standing, or parking in front of any private driveway, on sidewalks, within…

Apex bans parking within 15 feet of driveways, crosswalks, and fire hydrants, and requires vehicles to park with the…

Asheville City Code Sec. 19-137(a) bans stopping, standing, or parking in front of any private driveway, within 15 feet…

Buncombe County does not run a municipal street network or enact everyday on-street parking rules. Roads outside…

The Town of Cary bars stopping, standing, or parking on sidewalks, in intersections, in front of private driveways, or…

Section 14-216 lists 27 specific places drivers may not stop, stand or park on a Charlotte street, from fire hydrants…

Concord requires vehicles parked on a street to sit parallel to the curb, headed in the direction of traffic, with the…

Durham requires every roadway-parked vehicle to sit parallel to the curb, headed with the flow of traffic, and with its…

Durham County adopts North Carolina's statewide parking rule, G.S. § 20-162, through Code Sec. 16-10: no parking in…

City Code Sec. 16-300 lists eleven specific spots where on-street parking is always illegal in Fayetteville, from…

Forsyth County lets the fire marshal tow any vehicle blocking a fire hydrant, marked fire lane, fire protection…

Gastonia bans parking that blocks a driveway or mailbox, sits within 15 feet of a fire hydrant, or crowds an…

Greensboro requires on-street vehicles to sit parallel to the curb and headed the same direction as traffic, and…

High Point requires parked cars to sit within 12 inches of the curb, facing the correct direction, and bars parking in…

Kill Devil Hills bans stopping, standing or parking on any sidewalk, in an intersection, on a crosswalk, or in front of…

Street parking in Orange County is regulated by town and county ordinance under N.C.G.S. §160A-301, over a statewide…

Section 11-2171 bars parking that blocks traffic or sits within five feet of a driveway on either side, among a dozen…

Rose Hill's police department enforces on-street parking under Chapter 72 of the town code: vehicles must park within…

Wake County does not own or maintain a public street system in its unincorporated areas: those roads are NCDOT…

City Code § 5-52 bars on-street parking in nineteen specific situations, from blocking a private driveway or fire…

Winston-Salem requires vehicles parked on a street to sit parallel to the curb, headed in the direction of traffic…

Fayetteville's UDO bars the customary overnight parking of heavy trucks, trailers and major recreational equipment in…

Shelby outlaws parking any truck on a city street. Even the narrow emergency exception ends at nightfall: a truck…

Apex prohibits overnight parking from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on six named streets, and separately bans RVs, trailers, and…

There is no countywide overnight on-street parking ban in unincorporated Buncombe County; state-maintained roads are…

Where posted signs designate certain Cary streets under Traffic Schedule 9, the Town of Cary bans parking between 1:00…

Durham bans parking any motor vehicle wider than 6½ feet on a public street between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. under City…

Fayetteville imposes no blanket overnight parking ban on public streets. The operative limits are a seven-day cap…

Forsyth County has no blanket overnight on-street parking ban for its unincorporated, state-maintained roads. In…

Greensboro doesn't ban overnight parking citywide; it restricts specific signed zones instead. Under §16-145, streets…

There is no countywide overnight on-street parking ban in unincorporated Guilford County; state-maintained roads are…

High Point, North Carolina authorizes police to tow and impound any vehicle parked on a public street between 1:00 a.m…

Pitt County prohibits leaving a vehicle unattended for more than 12 hours or overnight on any outdoor property the…

Raleigh has no single citywide overnight parking ban; instead § 11-2174 lets the City post block-by-block time-limit…

Rose Hill's code bars parking a mobile home or travel trailer on any street, alley, highway, or public place overnight…

Wilmington bars storing a vehicle on any city street for more than forty-eight hours under City Code § 5-54(2), one of…

Concord has no blanket overnight parking ban; restrictions apply street by street once the city posts signs under an…

Gastonia has no blanket citywide overnight parking ban. Sec. 6-128 lets the city administrator post no-parking signs or…

Matthews generally permits overnight on-street parking in residential neighborhoods except where signed otherwise…

Apex's UDO requires multi-family and apartment projects to install EV-Ready and EV charging spaces under Table 8.3-9…

Charlotte's Unified Development Ordinance requires EV charging infrastructure for multi-family stacked dwellings, the…

Blocking a marked "Plug-in Electric Vehicle Parking" space in Fayetteville, or parking there without connecting to the…

Winston-Salem requires vehicles parked in designated electric vehicle charging spaces to be actively plugged in and…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance doesn't require electric vehicle charging citywide, but downtown Design District…

Raleigh doesn't require EV charging in every new apartment complex, but UDO Sec. 7.1.4 does require extra EV-ready…

Private EV chargers are allowed as an accessory use on every parcel in unincorporated Union County, and public chargers…

North Carolina General Statute 20-137.7 and Chapter 160A-303.2 set the framework for declaring and removing abandoned…

Craven County makes it unlawful to keep a junked motor vehicle anywhere within its ordinance-making jurisdiction. A…

Fayetteville sorts derelict vehicles into three categories under Chapter 16, Article XI, abandoned, public nuisance…

Greensboro enforces a Junked and Abandoned Motor Vehicles Ordinance under N.C.G.S. 160A-303. Vehicles without valid…

In unincorporated Union County's residential districts, storing a motor vehicle that is neither licensed nor…

Cabarrus County's Development Ordinance flatly bars storing a junk or abandoned motor vehicle on any parcel in the…

The Town of Cary makes abandoning a motor vehicle on public or private property unlawful, defining it as leaving a…

Forsyth County's own abandoned-vehicle chapter defines when a car counts as abandoned or junked, from being left on…

Leaving an abandoned, hazardous or junked vehicle in Gastonia is a misdemeanor. Police handle public-property…

High Point bans abandoning a motor vehicle on city-owned property or on private property anywhere in the city. The…

A vehicle is abandoned under county code if it sits on private property without the owner's consent for more than two…

Shelby allows only one junked motor vehicle per property, and it must be entirely concealed from public view in the…

City Code § 5-111 makes it unlawful to abandon a motor vehicle in Wilmington, defined under § 5-110 as one illegally…

Alamance County allows a property owner to keep up to three junked motor vehicles on a parcel if they sit behind the…

Apex, North Carolina, makes it unlawful to let a motor vehicle become "abandoned" on public or private property, with…

A vehicle left on an Asheville street more than seven days, on city property over 24 hours, or on private property…

Leaving an abandoned motor vehicle on public grounds, county property or someone else's private land in unincorporated…

Buncombe County prohibits abandoning and junking vehicles on public and private property. Its ordinance (Chapter 26…

Catawba County makes it unlawful to leave an abandoned vehicle on public property once it has been declared abandoned…

Charlotte treats a vehicle as abandoned after seven unmoved days on a roadway, 24 hours on city-owned property, or two…

Cleveland County treats a vehicle as abandoned under § 11-126 if it's left on county property or public grounds for 24…

Concord makes it unlawful to leave a vehicle abandoned on a public street for more than seven days, on city property…

In unincorporated Cumberland County it is unlawful to keep an abandoned, nuisance or junked vehicle on private property…

In unincorporated Davidson County a residential lot may keep only one junked motor vehicle, and it must sit behind the…

Durham bans leaving an abandoned motor vehicle on a public street for more than seven days, on city property for more…

Durham County bans abandoning a motor vehicle on public property, county property or private property, and bans keeping…

Gaston County Code of Ordinances § 11-43 makes it unlawful for an owner to abandon a vehicle on public or private…

County-initiated removal of a junked motor vehicle in Johnston County must follow every hearing step required by G.S…

Kill Devil Hills bans leaving a motor vehicle on a public street more than seven days, on town property more than 24…

Matthews enforces NCGS 20-137.7 and 160A-303 for abandoned vehicles. Vehicles left on public streets over 7 days or on…

New Hanover County bans abandoning or junking any vehicle anywhere in the unincorporated county under Code of…

Pitt County's Junk Motor Vehicle Ordinance lets the county remove an inoperable, dismantled or damaged vehicle that is…

Under North Carolina General Statute §20-137.7 and Raleigh City Code, a vehicle is considered abandoned if left on a…

Rose Hill defines an abandoned motor vehicle as one left on a town-owned lot over 24 hours, on private property without…

Unincorporated Rowan County limits junked motor vehicles kept outdoors in the RA, RR and RS districts to five per lot…

Wake County's authority to remove abandoned and junked motor vehicles comes from NCGS §153A-132. The statute defines an…

Unincorporated Wayne County makes it unlawful to abandon a vehicle under County Code § 30-183(a), defining "abandoned"…

Winston-Salem defines abandoned vehicles as those parked on public streets over 72 hours or inoperative vehicles on…

Only authorized City employees may paint streets, sidewalks, or curbs in Raleigh's rights-of-way, under City Code §…

Buncombe County does not paint or regulate curb-color parking markings, because its roads are state-maintained by…

In Fayetteville, curbing painted yellow carries the same legal weight as a posted no-parking sign. City Code Sec…

Guilford County does not paint or regulate curb-color parking markings, because its roads are state-maintained by…

In Shelby, curbing painted yellow or red substitutes for a sign: parking there is banned at all times without one…

Apex limits designated loading zones to 15 minutes of loading and unloading only, 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, and…

Asheville City Code Sec. 19-138 caps loading zone use at 30 minutes unless the traffic engineer issues a special…

In unincorporated Brunswick County, commercial loading docks and berths must sit at least 30 feet from any street…

Buncombe County sets off-street loading standards through Sec. 78-659 of its Zoning Ordinance, requiring qualifying…

Every industrial and commercial building in unincorporated Cabarrus County must supply dedicated off-street loading…

The Town of Cary requires commercial and multifamily developments to provide off-street loading berths sized and…

Any commercial or industrial use in unincorporated Catawba County that receives or ships goods by vehicle must provide…

Charlotte caps passenger loading zones at three minutes and commercial loading zones at 30 minutes under City Code Sec…

Concord's traffic engineer designates curb loading zones by sign and sets the hours each one operates. Inside a marked…

Fayetteville requires off-street loading spaces sized to a development's use and floor area under UDO Sec. 30-5.A.10…

Every industrial and commercial building in unincorporated Davidson County must provide dedicated off-street loading…

Durham's Unified Development Ordinance bars deliveries at off-street loading docks next to residential uses between 11…

Vehicles in a designated Fayetteville loading zone may only load or unload, and can't stay parked there past 20…

Gaston County's Unified Development Ordinance makes every non-residential use in the unincorporated county provide…

Gastonia caps commercial loading zone parking at 30 minutes for loading, pickup, or delivery of materials and goods…

Greensboro designates specific curbside legends F-1 through F-19 as commercial loading zones, each carrying its own…

Commercial and industrial buildings in unincorporated Guilford County must provide off-street loading spaces at least…

Businesses in unincorporated Harnett County must load and unload entirely on their own property, in a permanent loading…

High Point, North Carolina bars tractor-trailer trucks from loading or unloading on designated downtown streets during…

Retail, wholesale, and industrial developments in unincorporated Johnston County that get regular semitrailer truck…

In the Town of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, commercial and industrial buildings must provide off-street loading…

Any commercial, office or industrial building in unincorporated Nash County that needs off-street loading has to…

In unincorporated Onslow County, every off-street loading space must measure at least 12 feet wide and 25 feet long…

Pitt County's zoning ordinance sets no specific loading-zone hours; instead it fixes minimum off-street loading space…

Section 11-2177 caps passenger loading at ten minutes and materials loading at sixty minutes citywide, with materials…

Rose Hill designates loading and unloading zones by posted sign, and once one is marked, no vehicle may stop there…

Shelby caps on-street and city-lot parking at two consecutive hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays to keep curb…

Commercial and industrial buildings in unincorporated Union County must provide off-street loading spaces sized to the…

Wake County bars loading or unloading from the right-of-way of a collector or arterial street and requires off-street…

Wilmington's commercial vehicle loading zones, governed by City Code § 5-85, cap parking to the time needed to load or…

Winston-Salem caps curb loading zone stops at 30 minutes for active loading or unloading, and reserves commercial…

Charlotte can designate residential parking permit zones under City Code Sec. 14-224 once at least 75 percent of…

Greensboro's traffic engineer designates controlled residential parking areas where non-permit vehicles face a strict…

Raleigh lets residents petition to create a Controlled Parking Residential Area, restricting on-street parking to…

North Carolina's private-lot towing statute, G.S. 20-219.2, is not a statewide rule: it applies only in 13 named…

When the Town of Apex has a vehicle towed, section 20-39 requires notice to the registered owner within 24 hours for a…

Durham puts hard dollar ceilings on a nonconsensual tow, which North Carolina does not do statewide. Fee Schedule Part…

Greensboro will not release a towed vehicle until the owner obtains a signed release authorization form from the chief…

When Winston-Salem has a vehicle towed, Chapter 42 gives the owner a fixed set of rights: notice within 24 hours if the…