Many parts of the United States, including Cherokee County, operate under specific land use controls, commonly referred to as Cherokee land laws, which aim to make real estate developments uniform, similar, or prevent problems before they ever occur. We commonly get asked about how Cherokee land laws affect zoning in Murphy, NC.

Zoning

Most of Cherokee County has NO zoning. The only part of the county that does have zoning is the Murphy NC City Limits, which are actually quite small compared to what many people are used to. The City Limits is broken into several different zones like commercial and residential with varying levels of each. You can obtain a copy of the zoning ordinances for the City Limits of Murphy right here on our website.

Deed Restrictions

Mostly, Cherokee County is governed by deed restrictions, which are a significant part of Cherokee land laws, dictating what cannot be done on a property. They are said to “run with the land,” meaning they cannot be altered and regardless of who owns it, the restrictions remain intact (unless they expire).

Generally speaking, deed restrictions are very basic in Murphy with the main intention being to retain property values and keep places looking nice. You usually find them in subdivisions and communities. We don’t really have any with super-strict requirements like some horror stories we hear from other places – thank goodness! Many of our common restrictions are:

• No mobile homes, manufactured homes, and in some cases, modular homes.
• No junk cars or untagged or unlicensed vehicles.
• No used appliances to be left on property and all trash to be in refuse containers.
• Certain square footage limitations. Our common range is from 800-1400 square feet minimum, depending on the community.
• Many more recent ones reference “Earth Tone” colors to be used on the house so you don’t have a random pink, purple, or yellow house in a cabin community.
• No livestock/farm animals – sorry! In some cases, your dream of a llama farm is no more! 😉
• Must complete a home within 1 year of beginning building

That gives you a good idea of many of the common restrictions we see. In fact, you can download a copy of the Brookgreen restrictions by clicking here. Although older, many of our newer restrictions say the same basic thing.

Unrestricted

Under Cherokee land laws, you can do anything you like, so long as it’s legal, with unrestricted real estate. This flexibility is often not available in areas with strict zoning under Cherokee land laws. An unrestricted parcel may be perfect for you if you’d like to: 

• Have an RV or camper on your land for extended periods of time
• Build a house over a long time (over a year’s time)
• Have livestock or other animals
• Run a commercial business out of the “normal” areas
• Simply not have to worry about someone else’s rules

Larger tracts of land (3 or more acres) are not very hard to find that are unrestricted. Smaller parcels less than three acres can be more challenging to find depending on the area you want to be.

Looking for a home or land in Murphy NC? Let The POLTROCK TEAM find it for you! You can Search Our Murphy NC Listings, Search the entire Murphy NC MLS for Free, or complete our “Dream Home Finder” for Murphy NC Real Estate and we’ll find it for you!

John Poltrock – Certified Residential Specialist – The POLTROCK TEAM at REMAX Mountain Properties – www.MyMurphy.com – JohnPoltrock@gmail.com – Call Us Toll Free at 1-866-687-7496