North Carolina § 160A-174 - General ordinance-making power.

§ 160A-174. General ordinance-making power.

A city may by ordinance define, prohibit, regulate, or abate acts, omissions, or conditions, detrimental to the health, safety, or welfare of its citizens and the peace and dignity of the city, and may define and abate nuisances. A city ordinance shall be consistent with the Constitution and laws of North Carolina and of the United States. An ordinance is not consistent with State or federal law when: The ordinance infringes a liberty guaranteed to the people by the State or federal Constitution; The ordinance makes unlawful an act, omission or condition which is expressly made lawful by State or federal law; The ordinance makes lawful an act, omission, or condition which is expressly made unlawful by State or federal law; The ordinance purports to regulate a subject that cities are expressly forbidden to regulate by State or federal law; The ordinance purports to regulate a field for which a State or federal statute clearly shows a legislative intent to provide a complete and integrated regulatory scheme to the exclusion of local regulation; The elements of an offense defined by a city ordinance are identical to the elements of an offense defined by State or federal law. The fact that a State or federal law, standing alone, makes a given act, omission, or condition unlawful shall not preclude city ordinances requiring a higher standard of conduct or condition. History (1971, c. 698, s. 1.) Cross References. - As to waiver of certain dentistry and dental hygiene requirements under Articles 2 and 16 of Chapter 90 during state of emergency declarations, see G.S. 90-28.5. As to limitations on enactment of Sunday-closing ordinances, see G.S. 160A-191. Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2014-120, s. 32(b)-(d), provides: "(b) No later than November 1, 2014, and November 1, 2015, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall report to the Environmental Review Commission on any local government ordinances that impinge on or interfere with any area subject to regulation by the Department. "(c) No later than November 1, 2014, and November 1, 2015, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources [now Department of Environmental Quality] shall report to the Environmental Review Commission on any local government ordinances that impinge on or interfere with any area subject to regulation by the Department. "(d) In developing the reports pursuant to Sections 32(b) and 32(c) of this act, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources [now Department of Environmental Quality] and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall solicit and receive input from the public regarding any local government ordinances that impinge on or interfere with any area subject to regulation by the respective Department." Legal Periodicals. - For article, "Regulating Obscenity Through the Power to Define and Abate Nuisances," see 14 Wake Forest L. Rev. 1 (1978). For comment, "Municipal Tort Liability for Negligent Failure to Provide Adequate Police Protection," see 20 Wake Forest L. Rev. 697 (1984). For note, "Preemption Hogwash: North Carolina's Judicial Repeal of Local Authority to Regulate Hog Farms in Craig v. County of Chatham," see 80 N.C.L. Rev. 2121 (2002). For note, "A First Step in the Wrong Direction: Slavin v. Town of Oak Island and the Taking of Littoral Rights of Direct Beach Access," see 82 N.C.L. Rev. 1510 (2004). For article, "Toward a Comprehensive Program for Regulating Vacant or Abandoned Dwellings in North Carolina: The General Police Power, Minimum Housing Standards, and Vacant Property Registration," see 32 Campbell L. Rev. 1 (2009). For article, "Searching for the Right Approach: Regulating Short-Term Rentals in North Carolina," see 96 N.C.L. Rev. 1821 (2018). For article, "Searching Everywhere for a Section 24(1)(A) Standard: City of Asheville, Town of Boone, and the Unclear Future of Local-State Relations in North Carolina," see 96 N.C.L. Rev. 1882 (2018).