Bear Creek, CA

Unincorporated Merced County bars noise that exceeds the background sound level by 5 dBA between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., stricter than the 10 dBA daytime allowance. The Sheriff, acting as…

Unincorporated Merced County limits construction, drilling, earthmoving, and demolition noise to weekdays between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. The work is barred outside that window on weekdays…

Merced County's animal control ordinance treats a dog's barking as a nuisance only when it becomes chronic: noise lasting more than 15 minutes per incident that keeps neighbors from…

Merced County's noise ordinance targets vehicle stereos with heavy bass and off-highway vehicles run on private land. A stereo cannot push low-frequency sound more than 10 dB above the…

Merced County Code Section 10.60.030 sets numeric sound limits at the receiving property line: no more than 10 dBA above background by day or 5 dBA above background at night, plus flat…

Merced County's noise ordinance bars any stereo, radio or similar device from creating a noise disturbance for anyone but its operator, and flatly bans loudspeakers or PA systems from…

Unincorporated Merced County fixes quiet hours for every short-term rental at 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. under Zoning Code Section 18.60.270(D)(5), which also ties all rental activity to…

Short-term rental operators in unincorporated Merced County must collect and remit a 10% Transient Occupancy Tax under Chapter 5.32, on top of the Administrative Permit required by…

Vacation rentals in unincorporated Merced County cannot operate more than 180 cumulative days in a calendar year under Zoning Code Section 18.60.270(F)(1). The cap applies only to…

Every short-term rental in unincorporated Merced County must provide off-street guest parking under Zoning Code Section 18.60.270(D)(6), which sets a floor of one off-street space per…

Unincorporated Merced County requires every short-term rental to be the primary residence of its owner, verified by two forms of identification, and permits only one short-term rental…

A hosted short-term rental in unincorporated Merced County must keep the owner or operator on site for the whole stay. Zoning Code Section 18.60.270(E)(1) requires concurrent owner…

Merced County caps short-term rentals at five guest rooms under Section 18.60.270, tying real occupancy to the number of bedrooms in the single-family dwelling rather than a flat…

Every short-term rental in unincorporated Merced County needs an Administrative Permit under Section 18.60.270 before it can open, and the permit only issues to the owner's primary…

New residential and non-residential projects in unincorporated Merced County that add 10 or more parking spaces must install electric and alternative-fuel vehicle spaces on a sliding…

Merced County bars parking on any county roadway marked or posted 'No Parking' by the Road Commissioner, and its own bail schedule sets a $28 local fine for blocking a driveway or…

Unincorporated Merced County bans parking a commercial vehicle of 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight or more on any residential-district street, with exceptions for active pickups…

It's unlawful to abandon, park, store, or leave a wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicle on public or private property in unincorporated Merced County for more than 10 days under…

Commercial, mixed-use, and industrial sites in unincorporated Merced County must limit loading near homes to 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. under Zoning Code Section 18.38.210, screen loading…

Unincorporated Merced County limits residential RV, boat, and trailer storage to the owner's own property under Zoning Code Section 18.38.120, capping front-setback storage at one…

Unincorporated Merced County bars parking in a front-yard setback except inside an actual driveway. Zoning Code Section 18.38.100 also blocks using street right-of-way for required…

Small development projects in unincorporated Merced County that create or replace between 2,500 and 5,000 square feet of impervious surface, including qualifying single-family homes…

Under Merced County Ordinance 9.25, weeds, grass, vines and other growth capable of igniting must be cut down and removed by the owner or occupant. Owners must keep a 30-foot disced or…

Merced County's landscaping code requires 90 percent of the plant material on any landscaped project in the unincorporated area to be drought-resistant, well-suited to the local…

Merced County lets residents in the unincorporated area compost their own garden rubbish on-site instead of setting it out for weekly collection, as long as the county health officer…

Merced County treats tiny homes as single-family dwellings, not accessory structures, and Section 18.12.040 requires them to sit on a permanent foundation system in every standard…

Merced County requires the property owner to live on site, either in a junior accessory dwelling unit (JADU) or in the remaining part of the single-family home, before the county will…

A detached shed in unincorporated Merced County needs no building permit if it stays under 120 square feet, 12 feet tall, and skips electrical or plumbing; only one such shed is exempt…

Unincorporated Merced County bars accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units from being used as short-term rentals, along with tents, yurts, RVs, and other…

Unincorporated Merced County allows up to four accessory dwelling units on a single-family parcel: one junior ADU, one attached ADU, one converted ADU, and one detached ADU, under…

Merced County requires any dog off its owner's private property to be on a leash or lead no longer than eight feet. The rule applies countywide in unincorporated areas, with narrow…

Merced County's Zoning Code treats commercial apiaries as a separate land use requiring a permit, not a hobby any homeowner can add to a lot. Table 4-3 of the animal-confinement…

Every Merced County park and recreation area is a wildlife sanctuary. County Code Section 10.28.040(B) bans hunting or killing, wounding, frightening or capturing any wild bird or…

Merced County bars pet stores in the unincorporated area from selling a live dog, cat, or rabbit unless the animal came from a public animal control agency, an SPCA, a humane society…

Cats in unincorporated Merced County can't run loose off their owner's property (the ordinance defines 'at large' to include an unrestrained cat), and every cat over four months old…

Merced County requires an annual administrative permit from the animal control manager, plus zoning clearance, before anyone may keep, harbor, or maintain a wild animal in the…

Merced County treats backyard chickens and other fowl as 'livestock' under its animal control code, which bars livestock from straying off the owner's property and requires them to be…

Merced County requires a Conditional Use Permit before an animal hospital or veterinary office can open in an agricultural zone, and Chapter 18.64 separately flags veterinary clinics…

Merced County does not regulate dogs by breed; instead it declares individual dogs 'potentially dangerous' or 'vicious' through a Superior Court hearing under § 7.04.292. Once so…

Merced County doesn't require every pet to carry a microchip, but any dog or cat impounded for biting someone, or ruled potentially dangerous or vicious, must be implanted with a…

A dog or cat impounded a third time within 12 months in unincorporated Merced County must be spayed or neutered, at the owner's expense, before animal control will release it again…

Merced County bans keeping a wild animal, from venomous snakes over eight feet to big cats, primates, and elephants, without an annual permit from animal control. Chapter 7.04's…

Fences and walls in Merced County residential zones are capped at 4 feet within the first 15 feet of the front setback and 7 feet everywhere else, while a 2-foot-6-inch limit applies…

Merced County exempts residential retaining walls two feet or less in height from a building permit under County Code § 16.12.110(B), and treats retaining walls under three feet as…

Merced County bans barbed wire, electric fencing, and razor wire in every residential and commercial zone under Zoning Code § 18.34.020(F), reserving those materials for agricultural…

Merced County requires a final pool-barrier inspection, alongside plumbing, electrical, structural, alarm, and mechanical inspections, before any swimming pool gets its finish coat of…

In unincorporated Merced County, a backyard fire pit is an 'open or outdoor fire' that needs a permit from the county fire chief under Code Section 9.24.130. The dooryard exemption in…

Merced County bans every "dangerous firework" countywide under Chapter 9.26 and allows only permitted "safe and sane" sales during a short summer window. Nonprofits must hold a $400…

Burning brush, grass, trash, rubbish, or land-clearing debris outdoors in unincorporated Merced County requires a permit from the county fire chief under Code Section 9.24.130, and…

Unincorporated Merced County allows home occupations only with an approved Zoning Clearance, run by someone who lives in the house plus at most one non-resident employee, confined to…

Unincorporated Merced County caps the pedestrian and vehicular traffic a home-based business can generate at normal residential levels, and limits parked business vehicles to a…

In unincorporated Merced County, a cottage or artisanal food operator (CFO) making low-risk food products at a private residence must obtain a Zoning Clearance from the Planning…

Unincorporated Merced County lets a large family child care home for 9 to 14 children operate with the Director's approval, subject to outdoor play space, setback, and spacing…

Unincorporated Merced County bars home-based businesses from any advertising that calls attention to the home, including signs, and prohibits telephone listings or mass-media ads that…

Unincorporated Merced County grants density bonuses under Zoning Code Chapter 18.66 to housing developments of five or more units that set aside affordable units. A project with 10…

Dumping discarded materials anywhere but an approved container or a permitted resource management facility is unlawful in unincorporated Merced County under Code Section 9.16.020, and…

Merced County restricts when refuse trucks can operate in the unincorporated area: collection in residential districts and nearby schools, churches, and hospitals is confined to six…

Unincorporated Merced County requires solid waste and recycling storage areas at every development to sit in one location, screened from the street, sized to serve the project, and…

In unincorporated Merced County, every occupied home and business must have refuse hauled away at least once a week to an authorized disposal site under County Code Section 9.08.020…

Carts in unincorporated Merced County are set out per the franchised hauler's rules. Gilton customers face containers toward the street with wheels against the curb by the night before…

Merced County requires every single-family household in the unincorporated area to subscribe to the county's organic waste collection service and sort food scraps and yard waste into…

Merced County requires every commercial business and multifamily property in the unincorporated area to subscribe to the county's blue-container recycling and green-container organics…

Merced County limits how residents in the unincorporated area may set out grass clippings, tree trimmings, and other 'garden rubbish' for collection: it must go in a standard…

Merced County outlaws commercial cannabis activity in every zoning district of the unincorporated area, so no dispensary, cultivation, manufacturing or delivery-only storefront may…

Merced County pawnbrokers operate under the same Chapter 6.44 license as secondhand dealers, but face an additional, pawnbroker-specific rule: a peace officer with probable cause can…

In unincorporated Merced County, anyone operating a tattoo parlor, body piercing studio, permanent cosmetics business, or ear piercing service must hold an annual body art facility…

Merced County bans on-site vehicle repair, bodywork, and painting, including on recreational vehicles, as a home occupation anywhere in the unincorporated county. Every other home…

Adult entertainment businesses in unincorporated Merced County need a Sheriff's regulatory permit before opening and must sit in an M-1 or M-2 manufacturing zone. They cannot locate…

Merced County requires a county permit before anyone opens a massage establishment or school of massage, and every masseur, masseuse, instructor, or trainee must separately hold their…

Secondhand dealers in unincorporated Merced County must hold a Sheriff-issued license before buying, selling, or taking in secondhand goods, clearing a Department of Justice background…

Any Merced County business that holds a California Cigarette and Tobacco Products Retailer's License must sit at least 1,000 feet from another licensed tobacco or vape retailer, and…

Unincorporated Merced County requires every hotel and short-term rental operator to register with the Community and Economic Development Department before opening for business, obtain…

Merced County Code Chapter 9.53 bars discharging anything other than stormwater into the county's storm drain system in the unincorporated area, prohibits illicit connections, and…

Before disturbing any soil, operators of construction projects in unincorporated Merced County must prepare and submit a Sediment Control Plan to the Department of Public Works…

Marinas, boat docks, and launches in unincorporated Merced County's agricultural zones need at minimum an Administrative Permit under Table 2-1, and Section 18.10.040(H) lets the…

New homes and substantially improved structures built in a Merced County flood hazard Zone A must set their lowest floor one foot above the base flood elevation, and manufactured homes…

Any construction, fill, or land-disturbing activity within Merced County's mapped special flood hazard areas needs a floodplain development permit from the Community and Economic…

Merced County adopts the 2022 California Green Building Standards Code (Title 24, Part 11) by reference for all construction in the unincorporated county. The Building and Safety…

Merced County ties every building permit to staged inspections, foundation, shear and roof nail, framing, energy compliance, gypsum board nail, and final, and voids the permit if none…

Merced County adopts the 2022 California Electrical Code, based on the 2020 NEC, for all unincorporated construction and blocks permanent utility connection until the building and…

Merced County enforces the 2022 California Plumbing Code for every plumbing installation, alteration, or repair in the unincorporated county, requiring the same Title 16 permit process…

Merced County does not impose a stand-alone fire sprinkler mandate on accessory dwelling units. Zoning Code Section 18.62.040(E) states an ADU or JADU is not required to have fire…

Merced County requires a separate permit before anyone erects, alters, repairs, moves, or demolishes a building or structure in the unincorporated county, with its own permit for…

Merced County Code Section 10.44.010 makes it a misdemeanor for anyone under 18 to loiter on a public street or public place in the unincorporated county between 10 p.m. Standard Time…

Merced County Code Section 10.28.100 sets fixed hours for county parks: most parks open at 7:30 a.m. and close at 10 p.m., while Lake Yosemite, Henderson and Hagaman Parks close as…

In unincorporated Merced County, Table 2-4 of the Zoning Code sets minimum yard setbacks by residential zone, from a 50-foot front setback in the Rural Residential (no public…

In Merced County's R-1 zone, the main house is capped at 30 feet and accessory structures at 15 feet, measured from the average finished grade to the highest point of the structure…

Table 2-4 of the Merced County Zoning Code caps maximum structure coverage on residential parcels at 40% in Rural Residential without public sewer or water, rising to 60% in R-R with…

Merced County's zoning code splits food trucks into two classes: semi-mobile vendors serving one site a day need an Administrative Permit and can stay up to 16 hours, while fully…

Merced County requires every mobile food preparation unit and food vehicle operating in the unincorporated area to hold a valid Health Permit of Operation issued by the County Health…

Itinerant vendors and door-to-door solicitors in unincorporated Merced County must obtain a Sheriff's permit before going door to door, submitting fingerprints, photographs, and a full…

Merced County guarantees a one-inspection, checklist-based expedited process for qualifying small residential rooftop solar systems, implementing the mandate in California Government…

Small residential rooftop solar systems in unincorporated Merced County go through the building and safety division on a published checklist, with the applicant confirming roof and…

An outdoor smoker, stove, or similar open-flame cooking appliance at a home in unincorporated Merced County does not need a fire permit under Code Section 9.24.130's dooryard…

Merced County's Zoning Code flatly bars parking a vehicle across a sidewalk, pedestrian walkway, or driveway aisle anywhere in the unincorporated county. Section 18.38.040(H) applies…

Merced County requires an encroachment permit from the Department of Public Works before anyone digs, builds, or installs a driveway, pipe crossing, or utility line within, under, or…

Unincorporated Merced County requires all exterior lighting be hooded and pointed down and away from neighboring parcels so glare stays on-site, per Zoning Code § 18.40.070. Blinking…

Political signs count as exempt non-commercial temporary signs under Zoning Code § 18.44.070(A)(4): no permit is needed, but each sign is capped at 8 square feet in residential zones…

In unincorporated Merced County, holiday lights and decorations qualify as exempt signs under Zoning Code § 18.44.070(A)(3): no sign permit is needed, but displays cannot stay up…

Window signs in unincorporated Merced County cannot cover more than 25 percent of any individual window under Zoning Code § 18.44.110(M), must leave the bottom 24 inches clear so…

Merced County caps electronic digital display signs at 1,200 square feet of display area and 60 feet in overall length under Zoning Code § 18.44.130(E)(1), requires a Zoning Clearance…

Freeway-oriented signs in unincorporated Merced County top out at 60 feet tall and 200 square feet of sign area per tenant under Zoning Code § 18.44.110(F), and every one needs a…

In the Fox Hills Community Specific Plan area of unincorporated Merced County, restaurants may extend outdoor dining onto the public sidewalk only if a six-foot-wide clear pedestrian…

Anyone operating an outdoor festival, defined as a periodic outdoor gathering for rock, dance, or theatrical performances, in unincorporated Merced County must obtain a Board of…

Renting Hagaman, Henderson, Winton or LeGrand County Park facilities in unincorporated Merced County runs through the Parks and Recreation Division office at 345 W. 7th Street, Merced…

Unincorporated Merced County requires subdivision developers to plant a street tree on every residential lot before homes are occupied. Zoning Code Section 18.36.050(H) applies in the…

Merced County adopts the 1997 Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings by reference for the unincorporated county, giving the county authority to declare a structure…

Vacant lots and open fields in unincorporated Merced County must comply with weed-abatement Ordinance 9.25. Owners must maintain a 30-foot disced or 50-foot mowed firebreak around all…

Unincorporated Merced County allows residential garage and yard sales of used household merchandise, but not more than once every three months per property. The limit sits in Zoning…

Merced County has no dedicated data center ordinance. In unincorporated areas a data center is treated as an industrial use, sited in the B-P, M-1, or M-2 industrial zones under the…

Merced County's Zoning Code performance standards cap mechanical-equipment noise at any property line at 65 dBA Ldn (75 Lmax) next to a residential use and 70 dBA Ldn (80 Lmax)…

On designated bicycle paths and trails in unincorporated Merced County, motor vehicles, animal-drawn vehicles, and ridden or driven horses, mules, or other animals are banned outright…

Merced County restricts when backup generators at wireless telecommunication facility sites can run and be tested. Under County Code Section 18.68.100(D), generators may only operate…

Merced County Code Section 10.32.031 bans drinking beer, wine or any alcoholic beverage on sidewalks, streets, alleys, public parking lots, other public property, and even open private…

Merced County Code Section 10.32.010 makes it unlawful to loiter in or around a public building or block corridors, stairways or doorways so that public officers, employees or other…

Merced County Code Section 10.32.035 makes it a misdemeanor to camp, occupy camp facilities, or store personal belongings on public buildings, roads, sidewalks, parks, waterways or…

Unincorporated Merced County imposes a 10% transient occupancy tax on rent charged for hotel, motel, and short-term rental stays of 30 consecutive days or less. Operators collect the…

Unincorporated Merced County requires a recorded Certificate of Public Acknowledgement of Farming Activities on final subdivision maps near agricultural land, warning future buyers…

Merced County protects farming operations by requiring new houses to sit 200 feet back from land used for agricultural production, and by requiring the same 200-foot buffer when…

Merced County requires every refuse container in the unincorporated area to stay closed against rodents, flies, and other animals under County Code Section 9.08.040, and dairies and…

Anyone furnishing card tables to the public in unincorporated Merced County needs a Sheriff's permit before opening. The county caps operations at two gambling tables countywide and…