A Home Occupation Permit is required for any home occupation that is primarily conducted within a residential dwelling unit, and is considered an accessory use of the dwelling unit.
Note: Home Occupation Permits are not required for "home offices" when they are used for tele-working or are not associated with a particular business. They are required when the primary location of a business, or any location where goods and services are provided or shipped, is a residential dwelling unit.
Childcare
One of the following permits is required to operate a child care facility in Chapel Hill. There are two types of Child Care Licenses:
1. Family Child Care Home
Requires a Home Occupation Permit ✔
GS 110-86(3) Family child care home is allowed to provide care for one of the following groups of children, including the operator's own preschool-age children and excluding the operator's own school-age children up to 13 years of age:
A maximum of eight children, with no more than five children who are from birth to 5 years of age, plus three school-age children.
A maximum of three children from birth to 24 months of age, plus three children from 2 to 5 years of age and three school-age children up to 13 years of age, for a total of nine children.
A maximum of 10 children if all children are older than 24 months of age.
2. Child Care Center- the Town of Chapel Hill
Requires a Business Occupancy Application ✔
In addition, you may also need to submit a separate application to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services- Division of Child Development and Early Education.
Signs exempt from a sign permit are listed in LUMO 5.14.3, and include signs like:
Temporary real estate, construction, political, yard sale, public event, and grand opening signs.
ABC License
Permits to sell alcoholic beverages are administered by the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC). To sell alcoholic beverages in Chapel Hill you must:
1. Go to the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC) website and complete their forms.
2. Email the InspectionZoning Compliance form from the NC ABC’s permit package to the Town of Chapel Hill Inspection department: permits@townofchapelhill.org
3. The TOCH Inspections Department will help you schedule Building and Fire Inspections
4. Obtain a Town license through Revenue
Food Trucks
Permits are required when food truck/food carts operate in the following places and conditions:
On private property.
For temporary events on Town property, vendors wishing to sell food must apply for an Outdoor Special Events Permit from the Town Parks and Recreation Department.
Your food truck must have a restaurant or commissary that serves as a base of operations for the food truck.
Permitting and inspection of the mobile food unit is the responsibility of the county health department that holds jurisdiction over the vendor's restaurant or commissary.
Each food truck is assigned a number that is tracked by NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Food trucks may cross county lines to conduct business, and they are subject to inspection by each county health department where they are doing business. Health inspection violations are handled in the same manner as restaurant health inspections.
A Food Truck Permit is not required: when food truck/food carts operate in the following places and conditions:
On private residential property for one day only (catering a private party, for example), and the food is not being sold to the general public.
On UNC-Chapel Hill property. The vendor must make arrangements directly with UNC administration.
Temporary events on private property (shopping center, office park, community clubhouse, or public school, for example) as these events are covered under a separate event permit obtained by the event organizer. In this case, the food truck vendor will not be required their own permit.
If concerned with unsanitary conditions of a food truck: Contact the Orange County Health Department at 919-245-2360.
If concerned that a food truck is not complying with local rules:
