Benton County, OR Ordinances (2026)

Plumbing work in unincorporated Benton County runs under the Oregon Plumbing Specialty Code, enforced locally under Benton County Code Chapter 11. The Community Development building…

Electrical work in unincorporated Benton County is governed by the Oregon Electrical Specialty Code, enforced under Benton County Code § 11.220. The building official reviews the…

The Benton County Building Code (Chapter 11) requires a permit application, plans and fees before the building official will authorize construction, alteration or repair work in the…

Under Benton County Code § 11.145, it's the permit holder, not the county, who must request every required inspection, keep the job site accessible, and post an inspection record card…

Benton County will not issue a building permit for a tiny house on wheels, classified as a Group R-5 wheeled residential structure under the 2018 Oregon Reach Code. Instead, placement…

In unincorporated Benton County, an accessory dwelling unit is allowed only where zoning permits it inside an urban growth boundary, and only alongside one legally established detached…

Once a property in unincorporated Benton County has an accessory dwelling unit, neither the ADU nor the primary house may be rented short-term. BCC § 91.050(11) defines short-term as…

In the Rural Residential zone of unincorporated Benton County, BCC § 63.405(5) lets a shed or other non-residential structure of 120 square feet or less sit with no setback at all, and…

Unsafe or dilapidated buildings in unincorporated Benton County are declared public nuisances under the county's Dangerous Buildings Code, which adopts the 1994 ICBO Uniform Code for…

At a permitted social gathering in unincorporated Benton County, amplified sound counts as interference once it exceeds 70 decibels before 10 p.m. and 50 decibels after 10 p.m…

Amplified sound at a permitted social gathering in unincorporated Benton County cannot interfere with a nearby school, church, residence or other place of habitation unless everyone…

Off-road vehicles operated in unincorporated Benton County must run a muffling device that keeps exhaust and motor noise at 82 decibels or below, measured at 100 feet, and cannot make…

Unincorporated Benton County bans owning, keeping or harboring a barking dog under County Code § 9.206, part of the public nuisance section that also covers dogs in heat and dogs that…

Benton County does not have a separate parade ordinance, but any outdoor social gathering of more than 300 people held in the unincorporated county needs a Board of Commissioners…

Any activity in a Benton County natural area, park, campground or cemetery that goes beyond what the site was designed for, or that is an exception to Chapter 15's rules, needs a…

In Benton County's own natural areas and parks, open fires are banned except in a stove, pit, or fireplace the Natural Areas and Parks Department has installed for that purpose…

Benton County bars igniting or discharging any fireworks, as defined by state law, on any county-managed park, natural area, campground or Crystal Lake Cemetery site unless the Natural…

New structures in the Forest Conservation Zone, which covers much of unincorporated Benton County's timbered land, must be sited to reduce wildfire risk under BCC 60.405. The standard…

Benton County sets regular open hours for its natural areas, parks, and Crystal Lake Cemetery at dawn to dusk. Staying in a county site after closing, outside an established…

Benton County bars smoking within 10 feet of the doors, windows, vents, service lines and accessibility ramps of any public place or place of employment in the unincorporated county…

Every retailer selling tobacco or vape products in unincorporated Benton County must hold a county license for each sales location, renewed annually by June 30, and no license may…

Benton County has no separate permit track for a residential auto repair business; it runs as a home occupation under BCC §§ 91.205-91.215. On a one-to-five-acre lot, that means no…

Benton County treats a vehicle without a valid license plate, or one that is inoperative, wrecked, dismantled or junked, as 'discarded vehicle' solid waste. Storing or displaying it on…

Under BCC § 91.625, a new or 50%-plus-enlarged structure in unincorporated Benton County that receives or ships goods by truck must provide off-street loading berths sized for the use…

In unincorporated Benton County, the Development Code requires every off-street parking area, including a single-family driveway, to be hard-surfaced with asphaltic concrete, portland…

Storing, collecting or displaying solid waste on private property in unincorporated Benton County so it is offensive, hazardous, or creates unsightliness or odor violates BCC § 21.105…

In unincorporated Benton County, recycling or reuse collection service runs through a county-issued franchise or a more limited permit under BCC § 23.220. The Board of Commissioners…

Franchised haulers in unincorporated Benton County must collect solid waste at least once a week under BCC § 23.410, and cannot refuse service to a paying resident except for specific…

In Benton County's Philomath Light Industrial zone, BCC § 73.040(10)(e) requires dumpster stations to be visually screened from public rights-of-way, part of a broader landscaping…

Home occupations in unincorporated Benton County are zoned by parcel size under BCC §§ 91.200-91.215: floor area caps run from 500 to 2,000 square feet as lots get bigger, and any…

Every home occupation in unincorporated Benton County, no matter the parcel size, is capped at 10 vehicle trips per day generated by the business, under BCC § 91.205(3) and its…

A home occupation in unincorporated Benton County can't display any external evidence of the business except a sign meeting BCC §§ 91.805-91.820. In residential zones, sign face area…

In unincorporated Benton County, family day care for fewer than 13 children is a permitted outright use in residential zones, no conditional use permit required. Day care centers…

Benton County's sign code, BCC § 91.820, bans any rotating beacon or flashing light designed to grab attention on a sign anywhere in unincorporated Benton County, and bars a sign from…

Within Benton County's Airport Industrial Park (AIP) zone, BCC 81.240(12) requires street and area lighting to be fully shielded, full-cutoff fixtures emitting zero percent of their…

Benton County treats a short-term rental of an ordinary dwelling as a home occupation under BCC § 51.020(12), which pulls in the home occupation rule that the use must produce no…

Benton County's transient lodging tax reaches short-term rentals countywide, even inside Corvallis, Philomath, and other city limits. Anyone renting a house, condo, or apartment for…

In unincorporated Benton County, renting out a dwelling for less than a month is not treated as ordinary residential use: County Code classifies any short-term rental as a home…

Benton County's Planned Unit Development chapter lets a project cluster smaller parcels or lots than the base zone's minimum size as long as the PUD's overall density stays at or under…

Connecting a private driveway or road to a public road in unincorporated Benton County takes a road approach permit before construction starts, under BCC § 99.510: Benton County issues…

Any new development or redevelopment in unincorporated Benton County that creates or replaces a quarter acre (10,890 square feet) or more of impervious surface needs a…

Construction that disturbs soil in unincorporated Benton County falls under the county's illicit-discharge ordinance: BCC § 36.215 requires anyone covered by an NPDES stormwater permit…

Every new structure in unincorporated Benton County's Forest Conservation Zone must carry a defensible-space clearing around it. BCC 51.020(17) defines a "fire break" as a minimum…

Unincorporated Benton County requires the lowest floor of new or substantially improved residential structures in a special flood hazard area to sit at least 18 inches above the Base…

Any construction, substantial improvement, manufactured dwelling placement, or grading within a Benton County special flood hazard area requires a floodplain development permit under…

In unincorporated Benton County, BCC § 21.105 bans storing, collecting, or displaying solid waste on private property that is offensive, hazardous, or creates a condition of…

In unincorporated Benton County, anyone can trigger a solid-waste nuisance investigation by filing a written complaint with the Benton County Health Administrator under BCC § 21.110…

Complaints against a property in unincorporated Benton County move through an escalating process under BCC § 31.020: verbal notice, then a written Notice of Violation, a Notice to…

Every food service worker in unincorporated Benton County must get a food service worker's permit from the Health Department within 5 days of starting work, under BCC § 22.105. Permits…

In unincorporated Benton County, dog owners are prohibited from letting a dog be at large: off the owner's property and out of a competent person's immediate control. County Code §…

Unincorporated Benton County bans using wild or exotic animals, listed exhaustively in County Code § 9.805(4) from elephants and big cats to bears and primates, in traveling circuses…

Benton County does not license wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facilities itself; instead, County Code § 9.810(2)(b) exempts any veterinary clinic or wildlife rescue and…

Unincorporated Benton County allows commercial kennels as an accessory use to a veterinary clinic or pet shop in any zone under BCC 91.405(4), while a hobby kennel accompanies any…

Benton County's Sensitive Fish and Wildlife Habitat Overlay Zone (/FW) protects Northern Bald Eagle, Osprey, and Spotted Owl nests with a quarter-mile development review buffer, and…

In the High-Protection Floodplain areas of unincorporated Benton County within the Corvallis Urban Fringe, Benton County Code § 83.700(3)(a) bars removing vegetation from the…

In unincorporated Benton County's Urban Commercial zone, BCC § 68.410(7) caps vegetation, structures and embankments in the vision clearance area at 2 feet above the center of the road…

Benton County Code Chapter 30, the Farm Practice Ordinance, channels nuisance complaints against generally accepted farm practices through a Peer Review Board instead of straight to…

Farming is the protected, primary use across most of unincorporated Benton County's resource land. BCC 55.005 sets the Exclusive Farm Use Zone's purpose as preserving land for…

Hotels, motels, and inns in Benton County, including inside the city limits of Corvallis, Philomath, Albany, Adair Village, and Monroe, collect a 3% transient lodging tax on rent from…

If your subdivision has private covenants, conditions, and restrictions, Benton County Code § 51.015 says the county will not enforce or interpret them. The Development Code doesn't…

In the Rural Residential zone of unincorporated Benton County, BCC § 63.405 sets minimum yard setbacks: 25 feet from a road right-of-way (40 feet from the roadway edge), 8 feet on the…

In the Rural Residential zone of unincorporated Benton County, BCC § 63.405(10) caps structures at 40 feet in height. Chimneys, spires, domes, towers, flagpoles and similar features…

In unincorporated Benton County's Philomath General Commercial zone, BCC § 69.030(2) allows full lot coverage, no percentage cap, as long as the required setbacks and off-street…

Unincorporated Benton County zones commercial marijuana growing, processing and wholesaling into its Agricultural Industrial zone, but excludes marijuana retail from Village…

Filming on farmland in unincorporated Benton County splits on a 45-day line. On-site filming and its accessory activities that run 45 days or less in the Exclusive Farm Use Zone are a…

Spreading recycled water on farmland is a permitted use in unincorporated Benton County's Exclusive Farm Use Zone, not a variance-level request. BCC 55.106(2)(d) allows land…

A commercial solar facility on farmland in unincorporated Benton County needs a Planning Commission conditional use permit, not a simple building permit. BCC 55.210(13) lists…

Benton County bans removing vegetation from riparian areas and Systems-Critical Wetlands under BCC 88.320(1), but carves out a specific exception for non-native, invasive, and noxious…

Benton County's Development Code names mobile food carts as a permitted eating-establishment use only inside the Corvallis Municipal Airport Industrial Park (AIP) special-use zone in…

Benton County protects cultural and historic sites through the Benton County Register of Historic Resources, created at BCC 89.205, and administered by the Historic Resources…