Lee County, AL Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- License trigger
- within 1,000 ft of road right-of-way
- Licensing body
- Lee County Commission
- Mandatory precondition
- screening from highway view
- Licensing authority statute
- Ala. Code § 11-80-10
- Exempt operators
- land-clearing debris burners, farms
- Unlicensed operation
- declared a public nuisance
Summary
Anyone running a junkyard or similar salvage business within 1,000 feet of a public road in unincorporated Lee County must first get a county license from the Lee County Commission, and the site has to be screened from highway view with fencing, plantings or natural buffers before a license can issue.
No person shall establish, operate, or maintain a junkyard or similar establishment listed in Section 45-41-170, but not limited to those items, any portion of which is within 1,000 feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way of any highway, road, street, or alley without obtaining a county license from the Lee County Commission according to the criteria and regulations established by the county commission pursuant to the authority granted in Section 11-80-10. No license shall be granted except for those junkyards or similar establishments which are screened by natural objects, plantings, fences, or other appropriate means so as not to be visible from the highway. The operation of an unlicensed junkyard or similar establishment required to be licensed pursuant to this section constitutes a public nuisance.
Full Breakdown
03 of Act 99-411 (1999) bars any person from establishing, operating or maintaining a junkyard or similar establishment listed under Section 45-41-170, when any portion of it lies within 1,000 feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way of a highway, road, street or alley, without first obtaining a county license from the Lee County Commission under criteria the commission sets pursuant to the licensing authority granted by Ala. Code Section 11-80-10. The commission cannot grant a license unless the junkyard is screened by natural objects, plantings, fences or other appropriate means so it is not visible from the highway.
04 that covers the rest of the 1999 nuisance act, including attorney's fees and abatement costs. Two exemptions apply: subsection (b) exempts companies whose primary business is burning or incinerating wood materials, salvage, building refuse, waste products, stumps, trees or land-clearing brush and debris, and subsection (c) exempts farm buildings and the farm equipment and materials stored around them on an actual working farm. The requirement applies only in unincorporated Lee County; Auburn and Opelika license salvage businesses under their own separate codes.
Violations & Fines
Operating a junkyard within 1,000 feet of a road right-of-way without the county license is itself declared a public nuisance under Section 45-41-170.03, which routes the operator into the same Circuit Court civil abatement process as any other nuisance under Section 45-41-170.04: an injunction, the full cost of abatement, and the county's attorney's fees and court costs, rather than a simple fine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a county license to run a salvage yard in Lee County?
What does the county require before it will issue the license?
Are any businesses exempt from the junkyard license?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lee County
Compare Lee County to another location·View the Alabama business licensing & operations overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.