Where short-term rentals are allowed in Duck, NC

What Duck asks of you

• Single-family and duplex units need 1 parking space for every 2 occupants authorized by the septic improvement permit. The Dare County Department of Environmental Health issues that permit.^[7]

• The parking area is drawn to scale on a survey when the building permit is obtained. The Zoning Administrator checks the installation before the certificate of occupancy is released.^[7]

• A seasonal rental unit is a single-family or duplex unit rented for less than 1 month at a time. Each one keeps at least 2 rollout carts, more if the town finds it necessary.^[8]

• The town's general table counts carts by permitted occupancy. Up to 6 people need 1 cart, 7 to 12 need 2, and 13 to 18 need 3. Above 18, the minimum is 4.^[8]

• A bed and breakfast home rents 3 rooms at most, with a permitted occupancy capped at 12 people. Its owners must live in it. The house must also sit on NC 12.^[9]

• A zoning violation carries a civil penalty of up to $500. Every day it continues counts as a separate violation.^[10]

What North Carolina asks wherever you host

These rules apply at this address whatever the city decides.

• Under G.S. 160D-1207(c), no North Carolina city can make registration a condition of renting your property. Demanding a housing-code permit before you rent is barred as well. The Court of Appeals applied that rule in Schroeder v. City of Wilmington.^[1]

• Zoning is what remains. In that case the court let a city keep whole-house lodging inside named districts. Parking rules survived too, as did limits on large events. So did insurance conditions and posted safety information.^[1]

• Renting out a private residence or cottage owes North Carolina's 4.75% sales tax. Local and transit rates come on top. So does any occupancy tax levied by the city or county. Sales tax stops once a single guest has stayed ninety days in a row.^[3]