City Watch
Short-term rental rules in Wrightsville Beach, NC
How Wrightsville Beach regulates short-term rentals: the rules that apply, their sources, and pending changes.
Short-term rentals here are subject to registration, a lodging tax, or a small number of operating rules.
- No STR-specific registration, permit, lottery, or supply cap in the Town of Wrightsville Beach.
- Governing controls found are general/process only: a certificate-of-zoning-compliance requirement (applies to all uses, not STR-specific) and New Hanover County 6% room occupancy tax.
- Vacation rental is the town's core housing economy and is generally permitted townwide — no durable residential-district exclusion of transient use confirmed.
- UDO §155.6.4 Table of Permitted/Special Uses lists 'Residence, single-family' as Permitted (P*) in both residential districts R-1 and R-2 with no transient/STR exclusion, and there is NO short-term/vacation-rental row anywhere in the table. 'Tourist or guest homes, including bed and breakfast' is a separate Conditional-Zoning (CZ) lodging use listed only in commercial districts (C-2/C-3/C-4/C-5) — the traditional room-rental/B&B use, distinct from whole-home residential rental, which under Schroeder is a permitted residential use. No STR-specific supplemental regulation is cross-referenced (single-family residence references only §155.7.17 Floor Area Ratio, a general dimensional standard).
- One aggregator (awning.com) claims registration + a permit cap/waitlist, but this conflicts with detailed sources and appears to conflate Wrightsville Beach with Wilmington's Schroeder-struck registration+density-cap scheme; not counted as a supply device.
Based on: Town of Wrightsville Beach Unified Development Ordinance, Ch. 155 (esp. §6.3 primary zoning districts R-1/R-2 and §6.4
Summary of the rule
The Town of Wrightsville Beach (incorporated) itself levies its own municipal room occupancy tax of 6% on rentals <90 days (effective February 1, 2003), authorized by local act S.L. 2002-138; the tax is due and payable to the Town finance officer monthly by the 20th. Governing jurisdiction (the Town) levies its own STR-touching lodging tax.
View the ordinance source ↗✓ Verified
Active litigation / open question
Schroeder v. City of Wilmington (N.C. Court of Appeals 2021) — Struck the City of Wilmington's STR registration + density-cap (2% / separation) scheme as beyond municipal zoning/regulatory authority. Controlling NC lens: neighboring beach towns cannot lawfully impose STR registration/caps absent express authority. No Wrightsville Beach-specific STR suit located. Source ↗
Reported as fact only, reflecting the code as currently in effect — not legal advice, and not a prediction of the outcome. Verify current status before relying on it.
Last reviewed Sep 9, 2026 · Sources · Report an error
Pending legislation
Monitoring Wrightsville Beach · system last checked Oct 25, 2026
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