Bessemer, AL

Bessemer's zoning code caps RVs, boat trailers and camping trailers parked in residential yards at 32 feet long and eight feet wide, and limits how long they can sit in front of the…

Bessemer requires vehicles parked on public streets to sit parallel to the curb with the right-side wheels within 18 inches of it, effectively banning wrong-way parking against…

Bessemer bans leaving a vehicle standing continuously on a public street for more than 24 hours in areas listed on the city traffic schedule, effectively limiting extended overnight…

Bessemer requires all permanent off-street parking to be sealed-surface construction and confines single- and two-family driveway parking to the driveway, garage or rear of the house…

Bessemer restricts marked loading zones to freight loading and unloading for businesses in that block, bans parking within 20 feet of a designated loading zone curb, and requires…

Bessemer allows only one commercial vehicle per family in a residential district, capped at one and one-half tons rated capacity, 32 feet in length and eight feet in width, under…

Bessemer bans abandoning a motor vehicle on any street or public way and caps a dismantled, wrecked or discarded vehicle on private property at seven days. Fines escalate from $50 to…

Alabama regulates the paperwork of a nonconsensual tow far more tightly than the price of one. Ala. Code § 32-13-2(d) lets a property owner or lessee have a car removed once it has…

Bessemer limits home-based business signage to a tiny nameplate: Sec. 11.10(1) caps residential nameplates at two square feet, and the parallel professional-sign rule in Sec. 11.8(27)…

Bessemer confines a home occupation to 25 percent of the principal building, bars hiring anyone outside the resident family, limits operating hours to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and requires a…

Bessemer's zoning ordinance blocks any home occupation that increases pedestrian or vehicular traffic in a residential area, under Appendix B, Section 9.8(1). The rule requires zoning…

Alabama DHR licenses home daycares under Alabama Code §38-7-1 et seq. Family Day Care Home: 6 children. Group Day Care Home: 7-12 children. Birmingham requires business license plus…

Alabama runs one of the plainer cottage food laws in the country. Ala. Code § 22-20-5.1(b) states that a cottage food production operation is not a food service establishment and is…

Alabama has never created a microenterprise home kitchen permit. The words "microenterprise" and "home kitchen" return no sections at all in the Code of Alabama, and Ala. Admin. Code…

Bessemer requires every dog on a street, sidewalk or public place to be on a leash held by its owner, under City Code Section 14-60. Section 14-58 separately makes it unlawful for any…

Bessemer requires anyone keeping a poisonous reptile or wild animal to register it with the police chief and the county health department, per City Code Section 14-11. The rabies…

Bessemer doesn't restrict dogs by breed; instead, City Code Section 14-57 requires any dog classified as vicious to be securely confined or bound wherever it's kept, so it can't bite…

Bessemer requires a county health department permit to keep fowl, chickens or rabbits within 30 feet of a dwelling or 12 feet of a lot line, under City Code Section 14-14. Section…

In unincorporated Jefferson County, veterinary establishments may operate in a C-1 Commercial District, but only as an enclosed clinic. The Zoning Resolution's Section 903 permits…

Alabama Code Title 2, Chapter 14 requires all beekeepers to register colonies with the Department of Agriculture and Industries and complies with state apiary inspection and disease…

Alabama Code Sections 13A-11-14 and 13A-11-241 criminalize animal cruelty and neglect statewide, capturing hoarding conduct that deprives animals of food, water, shelter, or veterinary…

Alabama Department of Conservation regulations restrict baiting and feeding of deer and other game animals statewide during hunting seasons, with separate rules on bear feeding and…

Bessemer limits fences and walls in a required front yard to three and one-half feet, requires them to be decorative and approved by the building official, and bars any fence that…

Bessemer caps front-yard fences and walls at three and one-half feet under Appendix B, Section 8.7(2) of the zoning ordinance, and any fence built in that yard must be decorative and…

Under Sec. 1502.08 of Jefferson County's U.S. Highway 280 Corridor Overlay, any retaining wall over eight feet tall that is visible from public property must be screened with…

In the designated U.S. Highway 280 Corridor, Jefferson County requires a site plan submitted to the Department of Development Services before any building permit, including for fences…

Alabama's partition-fence law (Ala. Code § 35-7-1 et seq.) makes a boundary fence between improved lands a shared expense of adjoining owners, with § 35-7-3 apportioning costs. Alabama…

Bessemer allows sheds and other accessory structures in the rear yard, but caps them at 30 percent of the required rear yard area and requires at least a 5-foot setback from every side…

Bessemer's zoning ordinance bars accessory structures from containing living quarters unless the Board of Zoning Adjustment approves it. A garage apartment or backyard cottage is…

An accessory dwelling unit in unincorporated Jefferson County cannot be rented out to the public. Zoning Resolution Section 1207(b) restricts ADU occupancy to members of the property…

Jefferson County's Zoning Resolution defines a Tiny Home as a site-built detached dwelling of 400 square feet or less, excluding lofts, built to the county's Building Code. Tiny homes…

Bessemer makes it unlawful to confine, harbor or keep a dog that habitually, continuously or intermittently makes noise loud enough to be obnoxious or annoying to ordinary neighbors…

Bessemer bans using a diesel engine compression release (Jake) brake on any public roadway unless the vehicle carries a functioning noise baffling device. Public safety vehicles are…

Bessemer measures amplified-noise violations by distance, not decibels. Code of Ordinances § 78-98 makes it unlawful to run a radio, speaker, or musical instrument loud enough to…

Bessemer requires a wall or fence at least four feet high around any private swimming pool deeper than one and one-half feet, built to keep children from wandering in from the street…

Bessemer requires a building permit for pool construction because Sec. 18-32 deletes the International Building Code's exemption for work not needing a permit. Sec. 22-22 adds that…

Bessemer declares fire-prone or noxious weeds on private property a public nuisance, requiring council action, 30-day mailed notice, and posted signs before the city or a contractor…

Jefferson County's off-street parking landscaping code lets developers count an existing healthy tree toward planting requirements at one and one-half trees, but only if it is at least…

Planned Unit Developments in unincorporated Jefferson County must plant only native tree species in rights-of-way and common areas, with substitutions allowed only if the County…

Jefferson County requires shade trees planted as required parking lot landscaping to be trimmed and maintained at a minimum height of eight feet above finished grade once they reach…

The Alabama Water Resources Act (Ala. Code Title 9, Chapter 10B) gives the Office of Water Resources authority to declare drought stages and trigger conservation measures. Local water…

Unincorporated Jefferson County's Zoning Resolution defines a short-term rental as renting any residence, or part of one, to a transient for overnight stays under 90 consecutive…

Alabama imposes a statewide lodgings tax on rooms and accommodations rented for fewer than 180 continuous days, applying universally to short-term rentals across all municipalities…

Unincorporated Jefferson County allows seasonal fireworks stands only in the C-1 Commercial District, and only under a 30-day permit adopted by the county in 1983. Section 903 requires…

Alabama requires a state burn permit from the Alabama Forestry Commission for most outdoor burning of forest, grass, woods, and brush during fire season, applying universally across…

The Alabama Liquefied Petroleum Gas Board regulates the storage, handling, transportation, and installation of propane and LP-gas systems statewide under Title 9, Chapter 17, with…

Alabama's State Forestry Commission may declare a drought emergency by regulation under Ala. Code § 9-13-141, making all outdoor burning unlawful in the affected counties. Such…

Bessemer allows a garage, rummage or yard sale only once every six consecutive months per person or organization, and caps each sale at three consecutive days under Code § 22-117. A…

Bessemer confines adult entertainment businesses to its AE district and imposes a 1,500-foot buffer from churches, schools, homes, parks and other adult facilities, plus a…

Bessemer requires the wrecker company handling a police-ordered impound to collect established towing and storage fees plus a city administrative fee, and permits it to sell an…

Junk dealers in Bessemer cannot buy scrap metal, brass, iron, lead, or tools from a minor without written parental or guardian permission under Code of Ordinances section 86-19. Every…

Bessemer pawnbrokers follow the Alabama Pawnshop Act's definitions under Code of Ordinances section 86-44 and must hold purchased goods on the premises at least 15 business days, or 21…

Bessemer requires every massage parlor to hold a city business license naming each masseur, masseuse and attendant employed there, plus a separate operator's license per practitioner…

Jefferson County's home-occupation rule flatly excludes auto repair from the businesses a resident may run out of a house in the unincorporated county. Section 1701.02 of the Zoning…

Alabama regulates the retail sale of vapor products and electronic nicotine devices through Code Section 28-11-13, requiring permits, age verification, and restricted youth marketing.

Bessemer caps building height at 35 feet in single-family districts, rising to 45 feet in multi-family and most commercial zones, with no limit at all in the C-2 Central Business…

Bessemer sets minimum front, rear and side yards for every zoning district in Table 2, backed by general rules in Section 8.3 that keep required yards open to the sky and unoccupied by…

In Jefferson County's Slope Zone Overlay District, land with a natural slope of 15% or more, impervious surface is capped at 15% of the lot in the Lower Slope Zone and just 10% in the…

Bessemer bars anyone from drinking an intoxicating beverage in a public place unless it is on the licensed premises where that particular beverage was bought, under City Code Section…

In Bessemer's business district, pedestrians can only cross a street at an intersection, at a right angle, and within the sidewalk lines extended across it. Crossing mid-block or…

Bessemer's smoke-free ordinance reaches outdoors too. Code of Ordinances § 62-108 bans smoking within ten feet of doors and vents of smoke-free buildings and within 20 feet of…

Bessemer's general loitering rule is narrow: Code of Ordinances § 78-129 only bans loitering or congregating at a police line or checkpoint after officers order people to disperse. The…

Bessemer's public parks close one half hour after sunset and reopen one half hour before sunrise under Code of Ordinances section 82-22(a). Anyone found on park grounds during the…

Bessemer bars minors from loitering or wandering in public between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. under Code of Ordinances § 78-95. Exceptions cover minors with a parent, on an errand…

Anyone wanting exclusive use of a Bessemer park, a group larger than nine, or a special event must get a permit from the parks and recreation director under Code of Ordinances section…

No parade, procession or public demonstration may use Bessemer's streets without a permit from the chief of police. Organizers must apply in writing with the route, start time, their…

Bessemer garbage cans and rubbish containers must keep lids tightly fitted except when in use, under Code of Ordinances section 90-63. Cans cannot go out for collection before 5:00…

Bessemer limits a business, commercial or industrial premises to four garbage or rubbish cans at a time. Once trash volume outgrows four cans, the owner or operator must install a…

Dumping refuse, litter, or debris on a Bessemer street, public thoroughfare, or within 20 yards of one is unlawful under Code of Ordinances section 90-2. If the dumping comes from a…

Only a city council franchised hauler may collect garbage or trash on Bessemer streets and alleys under Code of Ordinances section 90-29. Every dwelling, restaurant, or business that…

Alabama imposes no mandatory recycling on residents or businesses. Under the Solid Wastes and Recyclable Materials Management Act, every county and municipality must file an…

Bessemer puts sidewalk repair on the abutting property owner and occupant, not the city. Once the street superintendent serves written notice of a defect, crack or hazard, the owner…

Before anyone blocks a Bessemer street, sidewalk or other public way, even temporarily, they need a permit from the chief of police. The rule targets anything that would stop the free…

Bessemer bans putting showcases or advertising displays on any sidewalk outright, with no permit option, and requires every gas or water meter box in a sidewalk or street to sit flush…

Bessemer taxes hotel, motel and other transient lodging charges at six percent inside the city limits, and half that rate, three percent, in the police jurisdiction just outside city…

Bessemer declares any unauthorized discharge into its storm sewer system a public nuisance under Code of Ordinances § 50-104. Anyone disturbing soil for construction, grading, or land…

Bessemer regulates every FEMA special flood hazard area within city limits under Code of Ordinances §§ 58-31 and 58-33. Before any development, including grading, filling, or new…

Bessemer requires new and substantially improved homes in a mapped special flood hazard area to sit at least two feet above the base flood elevation under Code of Ordinances §…

Bessemer requires an erosion and sedimentation control plan for any subdivision land-disturbing activity exceeding one acre, filed with the building inspector at least 30 days before…

Alabama's Coastal Area Management Program, administered by ADEM under Code §9-7, regulates development in Mobile and Baldwin counties' coastal zones, requiring permits for construction…

Bessemer has adopted the 2011 National Electrical Code by reference, and Sec. 18-60 bars anyone without a certificate of competency or apprentice registration from wiring in the city…

Bessemer adopts the 2015 International Plumbing Code by reference under Sec. 18-122, with a local amendment to section 605.3 requiring listed, fire-rated piping for underground fire…

Bessemer adopted the 2015 International Building and Residential Codes but deleted every standard exemption for work not needing a permit, per City Code Section 18-32(1). Starting work…

Jefferson County's Building Official requires five staged inspections, foundation, foundation dampproofing, slab, frame, and final, before work covered by a permit can move to the next…

Jefferson County does not require automatic fire sprinklers in one- and two-family homes. The county's amendment to Section R313 of the 2018 International Residential Code keeps the…

Jefferson County's Building Code lets basement garages and crawl spaces skip Type X sheetrock or a sprinkler system if the builder instead installs a hard-wired heat detector in line…

Bessemer's zoning ordinance bars any outdoor light or reflected glare that reaches beyond a property line and interferes with a neighbor's safety or welfare, under Appendix B, Section…

Digital billboards and electronic message centers in Jefferson County cannot shine brighter than 0.30 foot candles above ambient light at set measuring distances, and each display must…

Bessemer's Sec. 18-352 makes any source of insect, pest or rodent infestation a declared danger on commercial, business and industrial premises, and Sec. 18-417 puts the duty to…

Bessemer's zoning code bans flashing or moving-light signs citywide, but Sec. 11.8 carves out an exception for electronic message signs: they need special-exception approval from the…

Bessemer limits garage, rummage and yard sale signs to six square feet, bans illuminated or animated signs, and only allows them up starting one day before the sale and coming down the…

Within the U.S. Highway 280 Corridor Overlay District, Jefferson County's sign regulations exempt holiday lights and decorations from the permit, site-plan and inspection requirements…

Jefferson County's Zoning Resolution caps political signs at two per parcel and four square feet apiece, and requires them to be non-illuminated and temporary. Section 1403.01(g)…

Jefferson County's sign code exempts window signs from its general permitting and design standards, but only up to a point: a sign posted inside a window counts as exempt only while it…

Jefferson County restricts billboards to a short list of designated highway corridors rather than allowing them anywhere: Interstates 22, 20, 59, 65 and 459, Alabama Highways 75 and…

Bessemer bars riding a bicycle on any sidewalk citywide and requires every bicycle ridden on the street to carry a warning device the rider must sound near pedestrians. The Code has no…

Alabama has no general statute putting golf carts or low-speed vehicles on public roads. The only statewide scheme, Ala. Code §§ 11-73-1 to 11-73-7, applies by its own terms in Class 2…

Bessemer's Sec. 18-176 adopts the 2015 International Property Maintenance Code as the city's housing code, and Sec. 18-177 backs it with a printed citation schedule: $2 for a defective…

Under Ala. Code § 35-9A-421 an Alabama landlord must give 7 business days' written notice for unpaid rent (pay or quit) and 7 business days to cure a material lease violation. After…

Alabama's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Ala. Code Title 35, Chapter 9A) provides the exclusive statutory framework for residential evictions. The act sets uniform notice…

Under Ala. Code § 35-9A-303 an Alabama landlord must give the tenant at least two days' notice and enter only at reasonable times for legitimate purposes such as repairs, inspection…

Alabama's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act sets no maximum late fee and no mandatory grace period. Late fees are governed entirely by the lease; rent is late the day after…

Under Ala. Code § 35-9A-441 either party ends a month-to-month tenancy with 30 days' written notice and a week-to-week tenancy with 7 days' notice. Breaking a fixed lease early…

Rent control is illegal at the local level in Alabama. Ala. Code § 11-80-8.1 preempts the field, barring any county, city, town, or municipality from enacting, maintaining, or…

Alabama's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act sets no specific notice period or dollar limit for raising rent. A landlord generally cannot raise rent mid-lease, but for…

Alabama caps a residential security deposit at one month's rent under Ala. Code § 35-9A-201, with exceptions for pets, alterations, and added liability risk. Landlords must return the…

Alabama recognizes two adverse-possession paths: 20 years of open, continuous possession by prescription, or 10 years under Ala. Code § 6-5-200 with color of title recorded, annual tax…

Bessemer's A-1 Agricultural district reserves land for farming and low-density residential use, and it is the only district where the ordinance lets residents keep fowl and livestock…

Alabama Code Section 6-5-127 protects established farms from nuisance lawsuits when surrounding non-agricultural land use changes, supporting long-term agricultural operations.

Data centers are a listed permitted use in Bessemer's I-1 Light Industrial district, meaning they can locate there by right without a rezoning or special-use hearing, subject to the…

Bessemer licenses mobile food operations under license classification 722330, 'mobile food services (mobile) food stands, snack stands,' in the Sec. 22-22 business license schedule…

Bessemer does not run a general peddler license system, but Code § 22-394 requires anyone soliciting orders for goods that require payment before delivery to file security with the…

Bessemer's Sec. 18-238 declares every dangerous building a public nuisance that must be repaired, vacated or demolished. Sec. 18-239 sets the standards: a structure 50 percent or more…

Jefferson County's Weed and Litter Ordinance requires anyone in charge of a lot in the unincorporated county to keep it free of unsightly weeds whenever the parcel is not under active…

Every Planned Unit Development platted in unincorporated Jefferson County must line its interior streets with a planting strip between the curb and sidewalk holding one canopy tree…

Unincorporated Jefferson County allows solar panels, solar farms, and photovoltaic electricity production as a by-right use in the I-1 Light Industrial District. Section 1001.01 of the…

Jefferson County's Zoning Resolution lets residential developments earn up to a 10% density increase, compoundable to 20%, in exchange for specific public benefits. Section 504.02…

Jefferson County requires subdivision plats submitted for flood-prone land in the unincorporated county to be filled at least 2 feet above the 100-year flood elevation before the…

Alabama medical cannabis dispensaries operate only under Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission licenses with statewide siting standards including 1,000-foot school buffers; cities may…

Alabama prohibits all home cultivation of cannabis statewide. Even patients enrolled in the medical cannabis program cannot grow plants at home; only licensed cultivators authorized by…

Alabama's Uniform Minimum Wage and Right-to-Work Act (Ala. Code § 25-7-40 et seq.) preempts cities and counties from setting a local minimum wage. Alabama has no state minimum wage, so…

Alabama allows permitless concealed carry of handguns for lawful adults, while still issuing optional permits for reciprocity, with state preemption blocking local restrictions.

Alabama law preempts most local firearm regulations, reserving authority over guns, ammunition, and accessories exclusively to the state legislature under Code Section 13A-11-61.3.

Alabama has no statewide charitable gaming law. Nonprofit bingo is legal only in the roughly 18 counties that adopted their own constitutional amendment authorizing it, Jefferson…

Alabama makes being a player in unlawful gambling a Class C misdemeanor, but Ala. Code § 13A-12-21(b) gives players a defense if they were in a "social game in a private place." The…

Alabama has no legalized sports betting. Wagering on the outcome of a sporting event is "gambling" under Ala. Code § 13A-12-20(4), and a bettor who knowingly advances or profits from…

Under the Alabama Homeowners' Association Act, an association has a lien on each lot for unpaid assessments, plus interest and costs the declaration allows. The lien is recorded in…

An Alabama homeowners' association governed by Ala. Code § 35-20-13 must hand over ten named categories of records to any member or potential purchaser who asks in writing, within a…

Alabama sets no maximum dollar figure for a homeowners' association fine. Ala. Code § 35-20-11 lets a board assess only "reasonable penalties," only to the extent the declaration and…

An Alabama homeowners' association governed by the Alabama Homeowners' Association Act cannot foreclose on its own. Ala. Code § 35-20-12 requires it to give the lot owner 30 days'…

The Alabama Legislature has never written a checkpoint statute. Searching the Code of Alabama on the Legislature's ALISON database returns zero sections containing roadblock…

Alabama never enacted an express right to record police, so the question is answered by the definitions in its eavesdropping article. Section 13A-11-30(1) defines eavesdropping as…

Alabama Code § 15-5-30 lets a named list of officers stop a person who is abroad in a public place on reasonable suspicion of a felony or other public offense and demand three things…

Alabama has no statute telling officers to ask for consent, to warn you that you may refuse, or to log the answer, and a full-text search of the Code returns nothing at all for the…

Alabama prohibits the sale of tobacco, vapor, and alternative nicotine products to anyone under 21 under Code Section 28-11-13, aligning with federal Tobacco 21 law.

Alabama counts auxiliary lamps one by one rather than leaving them to a general glare rule. Section 32-5-241(a) permits not more than one spot lamp, not more than two fog lamps mounted…

Alabama is one of the few states whose code says the words dash camera. Section 32-5A-350.1(g)(5), added by the 2023 hands-free act, exempts from the distracted-driving offense the use…

Lane splitting and lane filtering are illegal in Alabama with no exception for stopped or slow traffic. Ala. Code § 32-5A-242(c) says no person shall operate a motorcycle between lanes…

Alabama has no statute that names license plate covers, tinted shields or frames. A full-text search of the Code of Alabama on the Legislature's own code database returns zero sections…

No section of the Code of Alabama mentions a radar detector. The ban that does apply to commercial drivers arrives indirectly: § 32-9A-2(a)(1) makes it an offense to operate a…

Alabama never sets a studded-tire season. Ala. Code § 32-5-210(b) instead bans every block, stud, flange, cleat or spike made of any material other than rubber that projects beyond the…

Alabama's tint chapter carries its own numbers, so nothing has to be looked up in an inspection regulation. Section 32-5C-2(a)(2) forbids operating a vehicle registered in this state…