North Carolina Easement and Eminent Domain Laws (2026)

In North Carolina, a prescriptive easement requires, among other elements, at least 20 years of use that is adverse, open and notorious, and continuous, and the courts presume that use of another's land is permissive, so the claimant must prove every element, including hostility (Potts v. Burnette, 301 N.C. 663 (1981)). On eminent domain, a 2006 law (S.L. 2006-224) made the purposes listed in G.S. 40A-3 the exclusive uses for which condemnation authority is granted and limited urban redevelopment commissions to taking blighted parcels. The state constitution has no express takings clause; the right to just compensation rests on the "law of the land" clause of article I, section 19 (Long v. City of Charlotte, 306 N.C. 187 (1982)).

This page covers both halves of North Carolina law: easements between private landowners first, then the government's power to take private property. For other states, see our guide to easement laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-19. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers North Carolina law on private easements (prescription, ways of necessity, the cartway statutes in G.S. 136-68 and 136-69, and the Marketable Title Act's treatment of easements) and on condemnation of private property under Chapter 40A of the General Statutes, the Department of Transportation's condemnation procedure in Article 9 of Chapter 136, and the urban redevelopment limits in Chapter 160A. It does not cover adverse possession of title (see North Carolina squatters rights and adverse possession), HOA covenants, zoning or regulatory takings, federal condemnation, or county and city ordinances.

Types of Easements in North Carolina

An easement is a right to use someone else's land for a limited purpose, such as a driveway, a utility line or access to a landlocked tract. North Carolina recognizes easements created by a written grant, by implication from a prior use when a tract is divided, by prescription (long use), by necessity when land under common ownership is divided, and by statute through the cartway proceeding. Each has its own requirements, set out below.

Express easements: writing and recording

North Carolina's statute of frauds reaches agreements about any interest in land. G.S. 22-2 provides that "all contracts to sell or convey any lands, tenements or hereditaments, or any interest in or concerning them" are void unless the contract, "or some memorandum or note thereof, be put in writing and signed by the party to be charged therewith."

Recording governs priority. Under G.S. 47-18(a), a conveyance of land is not valid "to pass any property interest as against lien creditors or purchasers for a valuable consideration" from the grantor "but from the time of its registration in the county where the land lies." Our guide to North Carolina property records explains how to look up recorded documents for a parcel.

Conservation easements

North Carolina's conservation and historic preservation agreements statutes cover conservation easements. G.S. 121-35(1) defines a "conservation agreement" as a right, "whether or not stated in the form of a restriction, reservation, easement, covenant or condition," in a deed, will or other instrument, appropriate to retaining land or water areas "predominantly in their natural, scenic or open condition or in agricultural, horticultural, farming or forest use."

Prescriptive Easements in North Carolina

A prescriptive easement is a right of use gained by long, unpermitted use of another person's land. The Supreme Court of North Carolina set out the elements in Potts v. Burnette (1981):

"In order to prevail in an action to establish an easement by prescription, a plaintiff must prove the following elements by the greater weight of the evidence: (1) that the use is adverse, hostile or under claim of right; (2) that the use has been open and notorious such that the true owner had notice of the claim; (3) that the use has been continuous and uninterrupted for a period of at least twenty years; and (4) that there is substantial identity of the easement claimed throughout the twenty-year period."

The 20-year period is a case-law rule. Potts states it without citing a statute, and the adverse possession statutes in Chapter 1 address actions to recover real property and title by possession.

Use is presumed permissive

North Carolina departs from the majority of states on the burden of proof. In Potts, the claimants asked the court to adopt the rule "obtaining in the majority of jurisdictions, that the user is presumed to be adverse." The court declined, explaining that an easement by prescription, "like adverse possession, is not favored in the law," and that it deemed "it the better-reasoned view to place the burden of proving every essential element, including hostility, on the party who is claiming against the interests of the true owner."

In practice, that means long use alone does not establish a prescriptive easement in North Carolina; the claimant must also prove the use was adverse, hostile or under claim of right.

Public roads cannot be claimed by occupancy

Occupying or encroaching on a public way does not create private rights in it. G.S. 1-45 provides that "no person or corporation shall ever acquire any exclusive right to any part of a public road, street, lane, alley, square or public way of any kind by reason of any occupancy thereof or by encroaching upon or obstructing the same in any way."

Prescriptive easements compared with adverse possession

A prescriptive easement gives only a right of use. Gaining title to land by possession is a separate doctrine: under G.S. 1-40, possession "under known and visible lines and boundaries adversely to all other persons for 20 years" gives the possessor title in fee "against all persons not under disability," and G.S. 1-45.1 provides that title to State land subject to public trust rights "may not be acquired by adverse possession." The North Carolina squatters rights page covers title by adverse possession in more detail.

Preventing a prescriptive easement

North Carolina's real-property limitation statutes, G.S. 1-35 through 1-46, contain no sign-posting or recorded-notice procedure for stopping a prescriptive easement of the kind some states provide. The protection comes from the case law: because the claimant must prove the use was adverse, hostile or under claim of right, and the law presumes use is permissive (Potts v. Burnette), use that the owner has permitted does not meet the first element as Potts states it.

Landlocked Property: Cartways and Ways of Necessity

A landlocked owner in North Carolina may look to the statutory cartway proceeding, the common-law way of necessity and, where an obvious use existed before the land was divided, an easement implied from that prior use.

The cartway statute (G.S. 136-68 and 136-69)

G.S. 136-69(a) gives the cartway remedy to a person or business engaged in specific activities on land that has no public road or other adequate access:

"If any person, firm, association, or corporation shall be engaged in the cultivation of any land or the cutting and removing of any standing timber, or the working of any quarries, mines, or minerals, or the operating of any industrial or manufacturing plants, or public or private cemetery, or taking action preparatory to the operation of any such enterprises, to which there is leading no public road or other adequate means of transportation, other than a navigable waterway, affording necessary and proper means of ingress thereto and egress therefrom, such person, firm, association, or corporation may institute a special proceeding as set out in the preceding section (G.S. 136-68) ..."

How the proceeding works:

• Where it is filed. Under G.S. 136-68, the establishment, alteration or discontinuance of a cartway "shall be determined by a special proceeding instituted before the clerk of the superior court in the county where the property affected is situated."
• The standard. The court must find it "necessary, reasonable and just" that the petitioner have a private way to a public road, watercourse or railroad over the lands of others (G.S. 136-69(a)).
• Jury of view. The court appoints "a jury of view of three disinterested freeholders" to lay off a cartway, tramway or railway "of not less than 18 feet in width and not more than 30 feet in width," and to assess the damages to the owners of the land crossed.
• Payment first. "All damages assessed by a judgment of the clerk, together with the cost of the proceeding, shall be paid into the clerk's office before the petitioners shall acquire any rights under said proceeding" (G.S. 136-69(a)). Compensation to the landowner follows Chapter 40A, Article 4 (G.S. 136-69(b)).
• Appeal. Any interested party may appeal a final order or judgment "to the superior court for a jury trial de novo on all issues including the right to relief, the location of a cartway, tramway or railway, and the assessment of damages" (G.S. 136-68).

The statute is read narrowly. In Candler v. Sluder (1963), the Supreme Court of North Carolina held that G.S. 136-68 and 136-69 "are in derogation of the free and unrestricted use and enjoyment of realty by the owner of the land over which it is sought to establish a cartway, and must be strictly construed." The court added that "hunting is not a use contemplated by G.S. 136-69," though hunting being one of the principal uses "does not necessarily defeat petitioners' right to a cartway, where there are other uses which do conform." The court also said that strict construction "does not limit the uses to those specified in the statute if in fact there are uses which do meet statutory requirements."

The Supreme Court later explained that strict construction "does not mean that such statutes are to be stintingly construed"; the listed uses carry their meaning as "naturally and ordinarily defined." Applying that rule in Turlington v. McLeod (1988), it held that a cartway may be granted for cutting and removing firewood, as "standing timber" under G.S. 136-69.

The list in G.S. 136-69(a) does not name residential use, so a home by itself is not a listed use. An owner whose land also carries a listed use, such as cultivation or cutting timber, may petition on that basis; an owner with no listed use may need to rely on the common-law routes described next.

The common-law way of necessity

In Oliver v. Ernul (1971), the Supreme Court of North Carolina applied the rule, quoting a property treatise, that a way of necessity arises "when one grants a parcel of land surrounded by his other land, or when the grantee has no access to it except over grantor's other land or land of a stranger," and that the owner of the land crossed need not be the immediate grantor, "so long as there was at one time common ownership of both tracts." In its own words, the court added that "it is not necessary to show absolute necessity. It is sufficient to show such physical conditions and such use as would reasonably lead one to believe that the grantor intended the grantee should have the right of access."

Easements implied from a prior use

A driveway or road that one owner used across part of a tract before dividing it can survive the division. In Barwick v. Rouse (1957), the Supreme Court of North Carolina stated that "there are three essentials to the creation of an easement by implication upon severance of title: (1) A separation of the title; (2) before the separation took place, the use which gives rise to the easement shall have been so long continued and so obvious or manifest as to show that it was meant to be permanent; and (3) the easement shall be necessary to the beneficial enjoyment of the land granted or retained."

Blocking a cartway or road

G.S. 136-90 makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to "willfully alter, change or obstruct any highway, cartway, mill road or road leading to and from any church or other place of public worship, whether the right-of-way thereto be secured in the manner provided for by law or by purchase, donation or otherwise." The statute names those ways; it does not list every private easement.

How Easements End in North Carolina

A cartway ends the way it begins: the discontinuance of a cartway, like its establishment or alteration, is determined by a special proceeding before the clerk of superior court (G.S. 136-68).

Abandonment. The North Carolina Court of Appeals has held that an easement "may be abandoned by unequivocal acts showing a clear intention to abandon and terminate the easement," that the party claiming abandonment must prove it, and that "mere lapse of time in asserting one's claim to an easement, unaccompanied by acts and conduct inconsistent with one's rights, does not constitute waiver or abandonment of the easement." In that case an easement unused for seventy years had not been abandoned. The same court noted that an easement "may be extinguished by adverse use by the owner of the servient property for the prescriptive period" (Skvarla v. Park, 62 N.C. App. 482 (1983)).

Merger. "Merger occurs when the owner of one of the estates, dominant or servient, acquires the other," but an outstanding deed of trust on the benefited land and its easement can prevent merger (Heritage Communities of N.C. v. Powers, Inc., 49 N.C. App. 656 (1980)).

The Marketable Title Act. A person whose estate has been of record for 30 years or more, alone or with predecessors in title, has a marketable record title (G.S. 47B-2(a)), free of interests whose existence depends on events before that 30-year period, which the statute declares "null and void" (G.S. 47B-2(c)). G.S. 47B-3 lists rights that a marketable record title "shall not affect or extinguish," including interests identified specifically, by book and page, in the 30-year chain (G.S. 47B-3(1)), and claims preserved by recording a notice within the 30 years, which preserves the claim for not longer than 30 years unless recorded again (G.S. 47B-4(a)). Two more matter for easements:

• People in possession. Rights of "any person who is in present, actual and open possession of the real property so long as such person is in such possession" (G.S. 47B-3(3)).
• Certain easements, recorded or not. Rights of any person with an easement, "whether recorded or unrecorded and whether possessory or nonpossessory," when it is for flowage, flooding or impounding of water; for placing and maintaining lines, pipes, cables, conduits or other appurtenances; or for conserving land or water areas under a conservation agreement (G.S. 47B-3(8)).

Eminent Domain in North Carolina

Eminent domain is the government's power to take private property for public use. This section covers North Carolina's rules; for a comparison of all states and the federal rules, see our guide to eminent domain laws by state.

The constitution: no express takings clause

In Long v. City of Charlotte (1982), the Supreme Court of North Carolina noted that "every state constitution, except North Carolina's, contains similar provisions prohibiting the taking of private property for public use without just compensation." The court held that the right to just compensation is nonetheless "part of the fundamental law of this State," imposing on a governmental agency taking private property for public use "a correlative duty to make just compensation to the owner of the property taken," and that this principle is "an integral part of 'the law of the land' within the meaning of Article I, Section 19."

Article I, section 19 provides that no person shall be "in any manner deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by the law of the land." It contains no public-use or just-compensation wording.

Public-use limits after Kelo

In Kelo v. City of New London (2005), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the economic-development takings before it, carried out under a city development plan that served a public purpose, satisfied the public use requirement of the Fifth Amendment, and stressed that "nothing in our opinion precludes any State from placing further restrictions on its exercise of the takings power." North Carolina's 2006 restrictions are statutory.

S.L. 2006-224 (House Bill 1965) is titled "an act to restrict the statutory purposes for which eminent domain may be used by private condemnors, local public condemnors, and other public condemnors, and for certain revenue bond projects." Its main pieces:

• Exclusive purposes. G.S. 40A-1(a) now provides that, "effective August 15, 2006, the uses set out in G.S. 40A-3 are the exclusive uses for which the authority to exercise the power of eminent domain is granted to private condemnors, local public condemnors, and other public condemnors," and that a local act granting eminent domain authority for any other purpose "is not effective for that use or purpose."
• Redevelopment limited to blighted parcels. Under G.S. 160A-515, an urban redevelopment commission "may exercise the right of eminent domain in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 40A, but only where the property to be taken is a blighted parcel."
• Revenue-bond projects. The 2006 act also amended G.S. 159-83(a)(1) so that eminent domain authority under that subdivision "shall not apply to economic development projects" described in G.S. 159-81(3)m. unless the revenue bonds were approved by the Local Government Commission before August 15, 2006 (G.S. 159-83(a)(1)). The act was approved on August 10, 2006, and a technical-corrections act changed its July 1, 2006 dates to August 15, 2006 (S.L. 2006-259, s. 47).

The 2006 act did not remove the "public use or benefit" wording. G.S. 40A-3(b) still grants each city and county the power of eminent domain "for the public use or benefit," for listed purposes such as (for cities only) opening, widening, extending or improving roads, streets, alleys and sidewalks, and (for cities and counties) establishing, enlarging or improving parks, playgrounds and other recreational facilities.

Courts decide what is a public use. The Supreme Court of North Carolina has held that "what is a public use is a judicial question for ultimate decision by the court as a matter of law, reviewable upon appeal," and that a condemnor's declaration of public use, though "entitled to great weight," cannot "by its mere fiat make a private use a public use." In that case the court held that the State Highway Commission could not condemn land for a road "for the private use of any person or group of persons" (State Highway Commission v. Batts, 265 N.C. 346 (1965)).

Who may condemn

G.S. 40A-3 lists, subsection by subsection, the private condemnors, the local public condemnors (each city and county), and other public condemnors, and the purposes for which each may condemn.

Private condemnors include utilities and pipeline companies. Under G.S. 40A-3(a)(1), "corporations, bodies politic or persons have the power of eminent domain" for the public use or benefit to build, among other things, railroads, power generating facilities, electric power lines, telegraphs and telephones, public water supplies, public sewerage systems, and "pipelines or mains for the transportation of petroleum products, coal, gas, limestone or minerals." Land condemned for a liquid pipeline must be not less than 50 feet nor more than 100 feet wide, and land condemned for a natural gas pipeline not more than 100 feet wide. Railroad companies have separate powers under G.S. 40A-3(a)(4). Private condemnors use the clerk-of-court procedure in Article 2 of Chapter 40A.

Subsection (a) also adds a protection for homes: "No such condemnor shall be allowed to have condemned to its use, without the consent of the owner, his burial ground, usual dwelling house and yard, kitchen and garden, unless condemnation of such property is expressly authorized by statute."

A condemnor listed in G.S. 40A-3(a), (b) or (c) has no power of eminent domain over property owned by the State or a State-owned railroad unless the State consents to the taking (G.S. 40A-5(a)).

Procedure and deadlines: two condemnation tracks

North Carolina has two separate condemnation procedures, and the owner's deadlines differ between them. Chapter 40A governs private condemnors such as utilities, pipeline companies and railroads (Article 2) and cities, counties and other public condemnors (Article 3). The Department of Transportation condemns under its own procedure in Article 9 of Chapter 136. A city, county or other public condemnor's complaint, and the Department of Transportation's complaint and declaration, must state "the authority under which and the public use for which" the property is taken (G.S. 40A-41, 136-103); a private condemnor's petition must state the nature of its public business and the specific use of the property (G.S. 40A-20).

Chapter 40A: cities, counties and other public condemnors

No prior offer is required. G.S. 40A-4 provides that "the power to acquire property by condemnation shall not depend on any prior effort to acquire the same property by gift or purchase." A condemnor that does try to buy the property must give the owner written notice of G.S. 40A-6, the property-tax reimbursement section.

Notice before suit. At least 30 days before filing, a public condemnor listed in G.S. 40A-3(b) or (c) must send each owner whose name and address can be found by reasonable diligence a notice by certified mail, describing the property and stating "the amount estimated by the condemnor to be just compensation," the purpose of the taking and the date it intends to file (G.S. 40A-40(a)). Where title will vest on filing under G.S. 40A-42(a), the notice must also give a plain-language summary of the owner's rights, including the right to seek injunctive relief and to answer the complaint (G.S. 40A-40(b)).

Entry before condemnation. Before entering land under G.S. 40A-11, the condemnor "shall give 30 days' notice in writing to the owner at his last known address and the party in possession of the land of the intended entry."

The complaint and deposit. A public condemnor listed in G.S. 40A-3(b) or (c) starts the case by filing in superior court "a complaint containing a declaration of taking," accompanied by a deposit of "the sum of money estimated by the condemnor to be just compensation for the taking" (G.S. 40A-41).

When title passes. In the takings covered by G.S. 40A-42(a), "unless an action for injunctive relief has been initiated, title to the property specified in the complaint, together with the right to immediate possession thereof, shall vest in the condemnor upon the filing of the complaint and the making of the deposit." For other takings by a local public condemnor, unless an action for injunctive relief has been initiated, title and the right to possession vest when the owner files an answer asking only for a determination of just compensation without challenging the authority to condemn, when the 120-day answer period runs out, or when the deposit is disbursed (G.S. 40A-42(b)).

Withdrawing the deposit. Where there is no dispute as to title, the owner may apply to have the deposit paid out "as full compensation, or as a credit against just compensation without prejudice to further proceedings in the cause to determine just compensation" (G.S. 40A-44). Under G.S. 40A-42(b), disbursement is one of the events that vests title in the condemnor.

The 120-day answer deadline. Under G.S. 40A-46, a person named in and served with a complaint containing a declaration of taking "shall have 120 days from the date of service thereof to file answer." Missing that deadline has a serious consequence: failure to answer "shall constitute an admission that the amount deposited is just compensation and shall be a waiver of any further proceeding to determine just compensation." Before final judgment, the judge may extend the time to answer by 30 days for good cause shown.

Challenging the right to take. Issues other than compensation, "including, but not limited to, the condemnor's authority to take," are heard and decided by the judge on motion and 10 days' notice by either side (G.S. 40A-47). Who sets compensation. Either side may ask the clerk to appoint three disinterested commissioners to appraise compensation, in the owner's answer or by motion within 60 days after the answer is filed (G.S. 40A-48(a)). Within 30 days after the commissioners' report is mailed, either side may except and demand a jury trial on compensation; if no one does, the judge enters final judgment on the report if the judge finds that it, with interest, awards just compensation (G.S. 40A-48(d)). If no one requests commissioners in time, the case goes to trial on compensation (G.S. 40A-49).

Inverse condemnation. If a condemnor listed in G.S. 40A-3(b) or (c) takes property "by an act or omission" without filing a complaint containing a declaration of taking, the owner may sue for compensation "within 24 months of the date of the taking of the affected property or the completion of the project involving the taking, whichever shall occur later" (G.S. 40A-51(a)). When filing, the owner must record a memorandum of action with the register of deeds in each county where the property lies (G.S. 40A-51(b)). The North Carolina statute of limitations guide covers filing deadlines for other kinds of claims.

Chapter 40A: utilities, pipelines and railroads

Owners may answer a private condemnor's petition and show cause against it; if no sufficient cause is shown, the clerk appoints three disinterested commissioners, who view the property and report the compensation (G.S. 40A-19, 40A-20, 40A-25, 40A-26). Even while exceptions or an appeal are pending, the condemnor may deposit the sum the commissioners appraised and take possession until final judgment (G.S. 40A-28(d)).

Chapter 136: Department of Transportation

The Department of Transportation's deposit is its own estimate of just compensation (G.S. 136-103). The 12-month answer period becomes 120 days when the Department of Administration uses this procedure (G.S. 136-107). Unless there is a dispute as to title, the owner may have the deposit paid out as full compensation or as a credit against just compensation without prejudice to further proceedings (G.S. 136-105). The inverse condemnation remedy covers land taken "by an intentional or unintentional act or omission" of the Department when no declaration of taking has been filed (G.S. 136-111).

How just compensation is calculated

Except where a bullet names the Department of Transportation, the rules below come from Chapter 40A.

• Fair market value. "Except as provided in subsection (b), the measure of compensation for a taking of property is its fair market value" (G.S. 40A-64(a)).
• Partial takings. When less than the entire tract is taken, compensation is "the greater of either (i) the amount by which the fair market value of the entire tract immediately before the taking exceeds the fair market value of the remainder immediately after the taking; or (ii) the fair market value of the property taken" (G.S. 40A-64(b)).
• Department of Transportation partial takings. "Where only a part of a tract is taken, the measure of damages for said taking shall be the difference between the fair market value of the entire tract immediately prior to said taking and the fair market value of the remainder immediately after said taking, with consideration being given to any special or general benefits resulting from the utilization of the part taken for highway purposes" (G.S. 136-112(1)).
• Valuation date. "The day of the filing of a petition or complaint shall be the date of valuation of the interest taken" (G.S. 40A-63).
• Combined tracts. Contiguous tracts "in the same ownership and ... being used as an integrated economic unit shall be treated as if the combined tracts constitute a single tract" (G.S. 40A-67).
• Interest. Under Chapter 40A, the judge adds interest "at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum" on the amount awarded "from the date of taking to the date of judgment" (G.S. 40A-53). For Department of Transportation takings, G.S. 136-113 sets a legal rate of not less than 5% and not more than 8% per year. Under both sections, interest does not run from the date of deposit on the part of the award already paid into court (G.S. 40A-53, 136-113).
• Property taxes. An owner whose property is "totally taken in fee simple" is reimbursed for the pro rata portion of real property taxes paid that are allocable to the period after title vested in the condemnor or possession took effect, whichever is earlier (G.S. 40A-6(a)).

Attorney fees and costs

North Carolina's fee rules are tied to specific outcomes:

• Condemnor loses or abandons. If the final judgment is that the condemnor "is not authorized to condemn the property," or the condemnor "abandons the action," the court must award each owner a sum that reimburses "his reasonable costs; disbursements; expenses (including reasonable attorney, appraisal, and engineering fees)" (G.S. 40A-8(b)).
• Owner wins an inverse condemnation or owner's petition. If an owner sues under G.S. 40A-51, or petitions under G.S. 40A-20, "and judgment is for the owner the court shall award" the same reimbursement of costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney, appraisal and engineering fees (G.S. 40A-8(c)).
• Department of Transportation. G.S. 136-119 requires a similar award, including reasonable attorney, appraisal and engineering fees, if "the final judgment is that the Department of Transportation cannot acquire real property by condemnation" or "the proceeding is abandoned by the Department of Transportation," and requires the judge to award such fees as part of a judgment for the owner in a G.S. 136-111 inverse condemnation action.
• Appraisers, engineers and plats. In any action under Article 2 or Article 3 of Chapter 40A, the court "in its discretion may" reimburse the owner for charges paid for appraisers, engineers and plats, provided the appraisers or engineers testify and the plats are received into evidence (G.S. 40A-8(a)).
• Damage from entry. If the owner recovers damages "of twenty-five percent (25%) over the amount offered by the condemnor for reimbursement for its activities" on the land, the court "in its discretion, may award reasonable attorney fees to the owner" (G.S. 40A-11).

Relocation assistance

North Carolina's relocation statute provides an additional payment "not in excess of twenty-two thousand five hundred dollars ($22,500) to any displaced person who is displaced from a dwelling actually owned and occupied by such displaced person for not less than 180 days prior to the initiation of negotiations for the acquisition of the property" (G.S. 133-9(a)). The payment is made only to a displaced owner who buys and occupies a comparable replacement dwelling within one year after receiving final payment for the acquired dwelling, unless the agency extends the period for good cause (G.S. 133-9(b)).

G.S. 133-8 separately provides for actual reasonable moving expenses, searching expenses for a replacement business or farm of up to $2,500, and reestablishment expenses for a displaced farm, nonprofit organization or small business of up to $10,000. An eligible business or farm may instead elect a fixed payment of not less than $1,000 nor more than $20,000 (G.S. 133-8(c)).

Getting unneeded property back

G.S. 40A-70 allows, but does not require, a public condemnor to return property it no longer needs in the circumstances that section describes: the condemnor "may reconvey the property to the original owner upon payment to the public condemnor of the full price paid to the owner when the property was taken by eminent domain, the cost of any improvements, together with interest at the legal rate to the date when the decision was made to offer the return of the property." The section applies only to a public condemnor listed in G.S. 40A-3(b) or (c) that still owns the property. Unless the whole tract was taken, the original owner must still own the remainder, and the condemnor must allow at least 30 days after written notice for the reconveyance and payment. Otherwise, condemned property no longer needed "may be used for any other public purpose or may be sold or disposed of" as surplus property (G.S. 40A-10).

Federal pipelines

Under the Natural Gas Act, a holder of a federal certificate may acquire needed rights-of-way by eminent domain "in the district court of the United States for the district in which such property may be located, or in the State courts," but the federal district courts have jurisdiction only when the amount claimed by the owner exceeds $3,000 (15 U.S.C. 717f(h)). Our eminent domain laws by state guide covers federal condemnation and relocation rules.

North Carolina Easement and Eminent Domain Rules at a Glance

Related North Carolina Guides

• Easement laws by state
• Eminent domain laws by state
• North Carolina squatters rights and adverse possession
• North Carolina property records
• North Carolina statute of limitations

This article provides general legal information about North Carolina easement and eminent domain law, current as of 2026-10-19. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific property or condemnation, contact a lawyer licensed in North Carolina.

Last updated: 2026-10-19.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to get a prescriptive easement in North Carolina?

At least 20 years. The Supreme Court of North Carolina requires use that is adverse, hostile or under claim of right, open and notorious, and continuous and uninterrupted for at least 20 years, with substantial identity of the easement throughout that period, each proved by the greater weight of the evidence (Potts v. Burnette, 301 N.C. 663 (1981)).

Does North Carolina presume use of a driveway or path is permissive?

Yes. In Potts v. Burnette (1981) the Supreme Court of North Carolina declined to adopt the majority rule that use is presumed adverse and kept its rule that use is presumed permissive, so the claimant must prove every element, including hostility.

What can I do if my land is landlocked in North Carolina?

North Carolina law offers several routes. The cartway statute, G.S. 136-69, lets a landowner engaged in listed uses such as cultivating land, cutting timber, mining or quarrying, operating an industrial plant or a cemetery petition the clerk of superior court for a private way 18 to 30 feet wide, with the petitioner paying the assessed damages. The common-law way of necessity can arise where both parcels were at one time in common ownership (Oliver v. Ernul, 1971), and an easement may be implied from a long-continued, obvious use that existed before a tract was divided, where it is necessary to the beneficial enjoyment of the land (Barwick v. Rouse, 1957).

Can I get a cartway in North Carolina for a house lot?

The list of qualifying uses in G.S. 136-69(a) names cultivation, timber cutting, quarries, mines and minerals, industrial or manufacturing plants and cemeteries, and does not name residential use, so a home by itself is not a listed use. The Supreme Court of North Carolina has held that the cartway statutes must be strictly construed (Candler v. Sluder, 1963), but gives the listed uses their natural and ordinary meaning; it held that cutting firewood counts as cutting standing timber (Turlington v. McLeod, 1988). An owner whose land also carries a listed use may petition on that basis; access for a home lot with no listed use may depend on the common-law way of necessity or an easement implied from a prior use.

Is it a crime to block a cartway in North Carolina?

Yes. Willfully altering, changing or obstructing a highway, cartway, mill road or road to a church or other place of public worship is a Class 1 misdemeanor under G.S. 136-90. The statute names those ways; it does not list every private driveway easement.

How do I stop someone from getting a prescriptive easement in North Carolina?

North Carolina's real-property limitation statutes (G.S. 1-35 through 1-46) contain no sign-posting or recorded-notice procedure of the kind some states provide. Under Potts v. Burnette (1981), the claimant must prove the use was adverse, hostile or under claim of right, and the law presumes use is permissive.

Can North Carolina take my property for a private developer?

Condemnation is limited to the purposes listed in G.S. 40A-3, which have been the exclusive uses for eminent domain authority since 2006 (G.S. 40A-1(a)). An urban redevelopment commission may condemn property only where it is a blighted parcel (G.S. 160A-515). The Constitution itself contains no express public-use clause, but whether a use is public is decided by the courts as a matter of law, and a condemnor's declaration cannot make a private use a public one (State Highway Commission v. Batts, 1965).

Can a pipeline company take land by eminent domain in North Carolina?

For the purposes the statute lists, yes. G.S. 40A-3(a)(1) gives corporations, bodies politic or persons the power of eminent domain, for the public use or benefit, to build pipelines or mains for the transportation of petroleum products, coal, gas, limestone or minerals, along with railroads, electric power lines, telephone lines and public water and sewer systems. Land condemned for a liquid pipeline must be 50 to 100 feet wide, and for a natural gas pipeline no more than 100 feet wide. These condemnors proceed by petition to the clerk of superior court under Article 2 of Chapter 40A. Separately, a holder of a federal certificate may condemn under the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717f(h)).

Can a utility or railroad take my house in North Carolina?

G.S. 40A-3(a) provides that no such condemnor may condemn, without the owner's consent, the owner's burial ground, usual dwelling house and yard, kitchen and garden, unless condemnation of that property is expressly authorized by statute.

How is just compensation calculated in North Carolina eminent domain?

Under Chapter 40A, which covers private and local public condemnors, the measure is fair market value. When only part of a tract is taken, compensation is the greater of the drop in the whole tract's fair market value from immediately before to immediately after the taking, or the fair market value of the part taken (G.S. 40A-64), valued as of the day the petition or complaint is filed (G.S. 40A-63). In a Department of Transportation partial taking, damages are the before-and-after difference, with consideration given to any special or general benefits from the highway use of the part taken (G.S. 136-112).

How long do I have to answer an eminent domain complaint in North Carolina?

It depends on who is condemning. For a city, county or other public condemnor under Chapter 40A, a person served with a complaint containing a declaration of taking has 120 days from service to answer (G.S. 40A-46). For the Department of Transportation under Chapter 136, the answer period is 12 months from service (G.S. 136-107). Under both, failing to answer in time is an admission that the amount deposited is just compensation and waives any further proceeding to determine it, and before final judgment a judge may extend the time 30 days for good cause. A utility, pipeline or railroad proceeds by petition to the clerk instead, where exceptions to the commissioners' report are due within 20 days after it is filed and notice of appeal within 10 days of the clerk's final determination (G.S. 40A-28).

Does the government pay attorney fees in a North Carolina condemnation case?

Under G.S. 40A-8(b), the court must award the owner reasonable costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney, appraisal and engineering fees, if the final judgment is that the condemnor is not authorized to condemn or the condemnor abandons the action. The court must also award them when the owner wins an inverse condemnation action under G.S. 40A-51 or an owner's petition under G.S. 40A-20 (G.S. 40A-8(c)). G.S. 136-119 has parallel rules for the Department of Transportation, including for an owner who wins a G.S. 136-111 action. Courts may also, in their discretion, reimburse appraiser, engineer and plat charges (G.S. 40A-8(a)) and award fees in one situation involving damages from a condemnor's entry (G.S. 40A-11).

What is the deadline for an inverse condemnation claim in North Carolina?

Where a city, county or other condemnor listed in G.S. 40A-3(b) or (c) takes property without filing a complaint containing a declaration of taking, the owner may sue within 24 months of the date of the taking or the completion of the project involving the taking, whichever occurs later (G.S. 40A-51(a)). The same 24-month period applies to a taking by the Department of Transportation without a declaration of taking (G.S. 136-111). In both, the owner records a memorandum of action with the register of deeds when filing.