Bartow County, GA Code Violation Reporting: Common Violations (2026)
Key Facts
- Debris rule
- Property must be free of junk, debris, trash
- Vehicle rule
- No unlicensed/junk vehicles outside an enclosed building
- Citation
- Zoning Ordinance §§ 6.11.1, 6.12.1
- First offense fine
- $350 plus $75 per vehicle
- Removal timeline
- 5 days public property, 30 days private
- Enforced by
- Zoning Administrator, code enforcement
Summary
The two complaints unincorporated Bartow County's code enforcement fields most often are junk and debris left in the open and inoperable or unregistered vehicles parked outside an enclosed building. Both are addressed by the zoning ordinance's property-appearance article, which lets the county cite, fine or remove a vehicle after a set number of days.
All property (other than where explicitly permitted, such as a junk yard or salvage yard) must be free of the following: scrap metal; junked, inoperative or broken appliances (including engines and vehicles or parts of vehicles); junked, inoperative or broken equipment (such as lawn mowers, bicycles, machines); construction or demolition debris; other waste, garbage or refuse such as old tires, discarded carpet, discarded household furniture, bottles, cans, or similar; stumps, branches, dirt, and other debris from land disturbance and grading (except incident to a permit under the Bartow County Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Ordinance for the subject property and/or pursuant to lawful construction on the subject property); and household trash (except in a trash container). Such items may be kept in an enclosed building or enclosed garage erected pursuant to a building permit or otherwise lawfully permitted, but may not be kept in the open.
Full Breakdown
Bartow County Zoning Ordinance Sec. 1, Appearance of property, requires every property to stay free of scrap metal, junked or broken appliances and equipment, construction or demolition debris, old tires, discarded furniture, and household trash kept outside a proper container, unless the items are stored inside an enclosed building or garage. A companion provision, Sec. 12, separately targets junk, abandoned, inoperable or unregistered vehicles: no unlicensed automobile, motorcycle, ATV, boat, jet ski or trailer may be parked or stand on any residentially-zoned property unless it is inside a completely enclosed building, and no inoperative or junked vehicle may sit out unless it is on a lawfully operated repair business or an enclosed structure.
A. Chapter 40-11 after five days if it's on public property or 30 days if it's on private property. Sec. 5 makes clear this vehicle rule is supplemental to, not a substitute for, the county's general nuisance law, so a property can be cited under both the appearance-of-property standard and the junk-vehicle standard for the same pile of debris or the same derelict car.
Violations & Fines
Both the debris standard and the junk-vehicle standard are Article VI provisions enforced by the Zoning Administrator or designated code enforcement officers under Sec. 13.2, who can issue a criminal citation to magistrate court or pursue a civil fine and injunction in superior court. Sec. 13.3 sets the fine at $350 for a first offense (plus $75 per vehicle where vehicles are involved), $750 for a second offense (plus $100 per vehicle), and $1,000 for a third or later offense (plus $150 per vehicle). Multiple junk vehicles on one property count as one violation, though the per-vehicle fee still applies to each.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most common code violations reported in unincorporated Bartow County?
Can the county remove a junk car from someone else's yard?
Is storing a broken appliance or old furniture in my yard illegal?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bartow County
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