In Pinehurst, the Right to Rent Short-Term Belongs to the House, and It Can Expire

Say a seller in the Village of Pinehurst stops taking short-term guests while the house is being staged and shown, and the listing runs long. At some point the seller may be giving up the very feature a rental-minded buyer would pay extra for. In residentially zoned Pinehurst, permission to operate a short-term rental is tied to particular properties. It moves to a new owner at closing. It also stops existing once the property goes more than 365 days without being used as a short-term rental.

That is why any second-home or investment purchase in the village has to begin with this question. It comes before the floor plan, the golf access, or the projected income.

A Use That Can Only Subtract

The Village Council adopted Ordinance #22-15 on October 27, 2022. After that date, a residentially zoned property can only be used as a short-term rental if it was already used that way in the 365 days before the ordinance passed. The Village defines a short-term rental as lodging for less than 30 consecutive days that adds up to more than 14 days in a calendar year. New short-term rentals are allowed only in the Hotel and Village Mixed-Use zoning districts, and each needs a development permit.

Owners who were already operating had a window to apply for a Nonconforming Use Certificate, or NCUC. That window is now closed. The Council has talked about reopening it. In an October 2024 work session reported by The Pilot, Council member Barb Ficklin said:

"I think we need to proceed very cautiously, if it all, around reopening the window for NCUCs."

The window has not reopened. The Village still describes it as closed, and a property that qualifies can now only document its existing status through a zoning certification. So the group of eligible residential properties does not grow. Every lapse makes it smaller.

The Village counted that group as of July 2026. It found 386 properties that hold a valid NCUC or were established as lawful nonconforming uses. It counted 269 active short-term rentals, meaning properties that were advertising and had more than 14 occupied nights in the past year. The Village's own summary is that more properties are eligible to operate than actually do.

Three Ways a Pinehurst House Can Take Paying Guests

Most single-family homes buyers look at in the village are residentially zoned. For those homes, only the first row offers a year-round rental model. That makes it the one buyers should check first.

What the Buyer Is Actually Purchasing

The Village says NCUCs and development permit approvals are tied to the property and transfer to the new owner at sale. A buyer who pays for rental history is really paying for that transferable status. Whether the status is still valid depends on the seller's recent use of the property, not on the listing description.

Nonconforming status also has limits on growth. An NCUC lets the use continue only as long as it is not "discontinued, enlarged, extended, or intensified." Separately, the SR-9 standards set the guest count by bedrooms and parking. They allow a maximum of two adult guests per bedroom and require one parking space per bedroom. They also require one smoke detector per bedroom, one carbon monoxide detector per floor, and no cooking facilities in bedrooms. House rules and emergency contact information must be posted at the main entrance.

For a buyer, that means a house's rental income is limited by its legal bedroom count and its parking, whatever the marketing photos suggest. Before committing, a buyer should confirm:

1. Status, documented. Has the property received a zoning certification or NCUC, or can the seller show lawful operation before October 27, 2022?
2. Continuity. Is there evidence the property has not gone more than 365 days without short-term rental use?
3. Capacity. Does the bedroom count and the number of parking spaces support the guest count the buyer's numbers assume?
4. Covenants. Does any private covenant or community restriction limit rentals that the Village would otherwise allow? The Village notes these can apply.

The Seller's Clock

The same rule that makes the status valuable also makes it fragile. The Village says status may be lost if the property is no longer used as a short-term rental for more than 365 days. A seller whose listing value includes rental status should know when the last qualifying stay took place, and how the listing timeline compares with the one-year mark.

The Village tracks this. It uses Host Compliance by Granicus, a system that scans more than 60 online platforms for rental activity. The Pilot reported that the software costs about $40,000 a year. In The Pilot's October 14, 2025 report, Village Manager Doug Willardson told the Council that only two properties were "potentially questionable" for a lapsed NCUC. Both had been rented less than 14 days in the past year and were considered compliant. The Village checks lapses directly. A seller should assume a buyer's diligence will do the same.

The same report described enforcement against unauthorized operators. Staff issued 11 notices of violation to properties that exceeded the 14-day limit without authorization, and 10 of them came into compliance, either by proving they were grandfathered or by stopping operation. Mayor Patrick Pizzella said that "90 plus percent have gotten in compliance" after being contacted, and called it "a sign of cooperation." Fines can reach $500 per violation, per day.

Championship Weeks Run on a Different Allowance

Owners without nonconforming status still have one option. The Village says any property in any zoning district can be rented for up to 14 days in a calendar year without a development permit, subject to private covenants. The FAQ answer that explains this is titled "Can I Rent My House During the US Open or Other Special Events?"

The upcoming schedule shows why the allowance matters. The USGA has announced the 2027 U.S. Women's Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2, followed by the U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Open there in 2029. The 2029 Women's Open is scheduled for June 7 to 10. The U.S. Open follows June 14 to 17. Those dates run 11 days from start to finish. An owner who rents through both championships would use most of the 14-day allowance for 2029, and every other rental day that year would count against the same total.

The demand has been measured before. A USGA-reported analysis of the 2024 U.S. Open estimated $95.7 million in visitor spending. On the tax side, Moore County raised its room occupancy tax from 3% to 6% for stays beginning January 1, 2026, no matter when the booking was made. Sandhills Sentinel reported that the tax covers short-term rentals as well as hotels. An owner planning event rentals should confirm with a tax professional how the tax applies to them.

What Could Change the Supply, and What Has Not

The Council's recent actions have dealt with guest behavior, not eligibility. In December 2025, it authorized Willardson to send letters to short-term rental owners setting out visitor expectations, and to put up signs about quiet hours and parking. "Noise, parking and trash are probably our biggest violators, and what annoys our residents more than anything," he said during a work session. The Council has also discussed changing "adults" to "guests" in the occupancy standard. The Village's posted rule still reads two adult guests per bedroom.

State law limits what the Village can require. Pinehurst says it cannot mandate registration, screening, or noise-monitoring devices. That follows the Court of Appeals decision in Schroeder v. City of Wilmington, which struck down Wilmington's registration and lottery provisions. UNC School of Government analysis explains that zoning-based use restrictions can still stand after that ruling.

The proposal that would change the most is Senate Bill 291, filed in 2025. It would bar cities from prohibiting residential short-term rentals. Its last recorded action was referral to the Senate Rules and Operations Committee on March 17, 2025. Unless a bill like that becomes law, the 2022 framework stays in place, and so does the cap on eligible properties.

A Few Direct Questions

Can a buyer apply for new short-term rental status on a residential home in Pinehurst? No, under the current ordinance. New short-term rentals require Hotel or Village Mixed-Use zoning and a development permit.

Does nonconforming status survive a sale? Yes. The Village says NCUCs transfer with the property. Status that has already lapsed has nothing left to transfer.

Does renting during the 2029 Opens use up the 14-day allowance? Those days count toward the 14 days allowed per calendar year. The allowance is a yearly total, not a per-event limit.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. If you are thinking about selling a Pinehurst home that has rental history, or buying one for its rental status, The Gentry Team can help you check the documentation, plan a listing timeline around the 365-day lapse rule, and price the home on what it is legally allowed to do. Request a free market valuation or consultation to get started.