Benton County, WA Ordinances (2026)

In unincorporated Benton County's Community Center Residential (CCR) District, dwellings need a 55-foot setback from a public road centerline (or 25 feet from the right-of-way line…

In unincorporated Benton County's GMA Agricultural District, no residential building may rise higher than 35 feet. The limit sits inside the same zoning chapter that sets the…

Parcels in unincorporated Benton County's Community Center Residential (CCR) District are capped at 40 percent lot coverage, with a companion limit of 10 percent for impervious surface…

Benton County has no numeric curfew list; instead its noise exemptions do the work. Unamplified voices and lawn or garden equipment are protected only from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m…

Construction noise in unincorporated Benton County is exempt from WAC 173-60 limits while work is underway, but that exemption disappears in residential areas between 10 p.m. and 7…

Benton County's public nuisance noise ordinance expressly names continuous or repeated dog barking as a public nuisance noise. It's unlawful under BCC 6A.15.040 if plainly audible…

Benton County's only local decibel standard is tied to home occupation permits: BCC 11.49.030(e) caps noise from a permitted home-based business at 65 decibels at any property line…

Benton County has no decibel meter for amplified music; instead BCC 6A.15.040 bans any public nuisance noise, amplified or not, that's plainly audible in a neighbor's home or within…

Short-term-rental guests in unincorporated Benton County follow the same rules as everyone: WAC 173-60 property-line limits and the BCC 6A.15 nuisance standard, with a 45 dBA ceiling…

Short-term stays in Benton County owe Washington retail sales tax and B&O tax on the rental, plus a 2% Tri-Cities-area special lodging tax. Airbnb and Vrbo collect many of these…

Unincorporated Benton County bans outdoor and agricultural burning whenever the Fire Marshal rates fire danger High, Very High or Extreme, whenever wind speeds top 20 mph, during any…

Bulk liquefied petroleum gas storage is restricted countywide in unincorporated Benton County under BCC 3.16.025, which adopts the geographic limits of IFC Section 6104.2 without…

Consumer fireworks may only be sold and set off in unincorporated Benton County during two short windows each year, June 28 through July 4 and December 27 through 31, under BCC…

Benton County treats wrecked, inoperable, or unlicensed vehicles left in public view as a junk-vehicle nuisance. Abandoned vehicles on public roads are tagged and towed under RCW…

Benton County classifies an electric vehicle charging station as a permitted, stand-alone land use, allowed outright alongside automobile fueling stations in the General Commercial…

Rural Benton County is farm and rangeland, so backyard hens and livestock are broadly allowed on appropriately zoned land, and Washington's Right to Farm Act shields established…

Benton County and its cities require dogs to be leashed or controlled in public, with licensing and rabies shots. Under RCW 16.08.040 an owner is strictly liable when their dog bites…

Benton County declares a dog "potentially dangerous" or "dangerous" under BCC Chapter 2.20 after a bite, menacing charge, or severe injury to a person or animal, then requires the…

Beekeeping is welcome across rural Benton County, and its irrigated farmland and wine-country bloom support strong colonies. Anyone keeping hives must register yearly with the state…

Washington bans keeping dangerous wild animals such as big cats, bears, wolves, primates, and venomous snakes as pets under RCW 16.30. Benton County enforces that state law, and the…

In unincorporated Benton County's Rural Lands Five Acre District (RL-5), a veterinary facility is not a by-right use: BCC 11.11.060(v) requires a conditional use permit issued by the…

Benton County lists pet grooming as its own permitted land use, allowed by right in the General Commercial (GC) and Community Commercial (CC) zoning districts across unincorporated…

Benton County makes noxious-weed control mandatory. Under state law and the Benton County Noxious Weed Control Board, owners must eradicate Class A weeds and control listed Class B and…

Water is Benton County's defining constraint. Washington follows prior appropriation, and the Yakima River Basin is fully adjudicated. Irrigation districts deliver seasonal water by…

Benton County's high desert makes native and drought-tolerant landscaping a natural fit, and no local rule forces a grass lawn on an existing lot. You may plant shrub-steppe natives…

Washington lets you sell certain homemade shelf-stable foods from a Benton County kitchen under a WSDA Cottage Food Operation Permit. Unlike many states, Washington requires a…

A home-based day care in unincorporated Benton County caring for 12 or fewer children is a Child Day Care Facility, Type A, and needs a Planning Administrator registration, not a…

Benton County requires a home occupation permit from the Planning Department before running a business out of a house in the unincorporated area. BCC 11.49.030 caps the operation at…

A Benton County home occupation permit under BCC 11.49.030(d) allows only one non-illuminating sign of up to four square feet, standing no taller than six feet above grade, and it must…

Door-to-door sellers in Benton County's cities, including Kennewick, Richland, and Prosser, generally need a peddler or solicitor license from that city. Everywhere in the county…

Benton County keeps no county-wide do-not-knock registry. A posted "No Soliciting" or "No Trespassing" sign carries legal weight: a solicitor who enters or stays after that notice can…

Recreational cannabis is legal to buy and use in Washington, but growing it at home is illegal statewide, including in Benton County. Only qualifying medical patients may cultivate…

Benton County prohibits retail marijuana sales in every unincorporated zoning district under BCC 11.42.130(c); marijuana production and processing are barred too, except that…

A residential pool, spa, or hot tub in unincorporated Benton County must be enclosed by a barrier at least 48 inches high, with no opening a 4-inch sphere can pass and gates that…

An above-ground pool holding water over 24 inches deep needs a Benton County building permit and must meet the 2021 ISPSC barrier rules, though a pool wall at least 48 inches high can…

Benton County runs disposal, not curbside pickup. Kennewick uses Waste Management, Richland runs its own utility, and West Richland, Benton City, and Prosser use Basin Disposal…

Washington does not force households to recycle, but state law (RCW 70A.205) requires Benton County's solid-waste plan to offer recycling. Access across the arid Tri-Cities is thinner…

Unincorporated Benton County bans dumping garbage, offal or manure into any ditch, ravine, river, stream, lake, pond or bare ground on public or private land. Garbage found with an…

Benton County bars depositing car bodies, large trees and limbs, and similar oversized items at any public disposal site the county authorizes, and requires all garbage to go into the…

Vacant lot owners in Benton County must control noxious weeds and clear debris. State law (RCW 17.10) makes every owner responsible for eradicating and controlling listed weeds…

Unincorporated Benton County enforces dangerous and substandard buildings under BCC 3.04.010(c), which adopts the 1997 Edition of the Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous…

In the denser fringes of unincorporated Benton County, anyone occupying premises abutting a sidewalk must clear it of snow and ice within 18 hours after a snowfall ends. BCC 6.20.020…

Benton County Code 6.28.010 makes it a misdemeanor for anyone under eighteen to be on the streets, roads or other public places in unincorporated Benton County between 10:30 p.m. and…

Two Rivers Park and Horn Rapids Park in Benton County close from a posted hour each night until 6:00 a.m., and anyone in the park after closing who isn't registered in a designated…

Land-disturbing work in Benton County requires erosion and sediment control, and the arid, windy climate adds a fugitive-dust problem. Grading permits carry an erosion control plan…

Benton County has no ocean coast, but the Columbia and Yakima rivers are shorelines of the state. Under the Shoreline Management Act, development within 200 feet of these rivers needs…

Benton County enforces floodplain rules along the Columbia and Yakima rivers. In FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas, new homes must be elevated above base flood elevation, and building in…

Benton County requires the lowest floor of any new or substantially improved residential structure in a mapped special flood hazard area to sit at least one foot above base flood…

Benton County requires building and electrical permits for solar installations. The sunny Columbia Basin favors solar, and rooftop arrays interconnect with the local utility under…

Homeowners in Benton County HOAs are protected by Washington's solar rights law. Under RCW 64.38.055, HOA governing documents may not prohibit rooftop solar panels, though the…

Washington requires just cause to evict. In Benton County a landlord may not end a tenancy or refuse renewal except for a reason listed in RCW 59.18.650, nonpayment, a lease breach, or…

Since May 7, 2025, Washington caps annual rent increases statewide under HB 1217. In Benton County a landlord may raise rent no more than 7% plus CPI or 10%, whichever is less, 9.68%…

Political signs are allowed on private property throughout Benton County with no permit, protected as free speech. Signs staked in a county road or state highway right-of-way are…

Garage-sale signs are fine on your own property in Benton County, but directional signs staked in a road right-of-way, median, or on utility poles are prohibited and removed. A sign in…

In unincorporated Benton County, outdoor advertising signs near highways fall under the Highway Scenic District ordinance, BCC Chapter 11.38. A designated highway scenic district bars…

Washington's HB 1337 (RCW 36.70A.681) requires Benton County to allow at least two accessory dwelling units on single-family lots inside its urban growth areas, cannot cap ADUs below…

In the Community Center Residential District, Benton County caps a parcel's total lot coverage at 40 percent and holds detached sheds and other accessory buildings to a 10-foot setback…

Benton County Code Chapter 4.16 defines a secondhand dealer as anyone engaged primarily in buying or selling used personal property, metal junk, or melted metals, and requires every…

Benton County Code Chapter 4.16 requires every pawnbroker operating in unincorporated Benton County to keep a legible English-language transaction book recording each loan, sale, or…

Benton County requires a separate Adult Use Business permit from the Planning and Building Director before any adult arcade, bookstore, theater, panoram establishment or live…

Benton County bars auto repair, bodywork or painting as a home occupation whenever the customer doesn't live on the property. BCC 11.49.050(a) prohibits repair, bodywork or paint work…

Benton County amends Section 903.2 of the 2021 International Fire Code under BCC 3.16.042 to require approved automatic sprinkler systems in new buildings and structures in the…

Benton County requires every Building Department inspection called for by the adopted International Building and Residential Codes to be requested and approved before the county will…

Benton County adopts the 2021 Edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code under BCC 3.08.010, requiring every plumbing installation, alteration or repair in unincorporated territory to…

Benton County requires a fully complete building permit application under BCC 3.04.018, tracking RCW 19.27.095, before the Building Department will process a project in unincorporated…

A Benton County child day care serving 13 or more kids, or housed in a non-dwelling building, is a Type B facility under BCC 11.42.060 and needs a Hearings Examiner conditional use…

Before Benton County will issue a building or placement permit, BCC 3.04.052 requires anyone constructing a road approach to first obtain a road encroachment permit from whichever…

Benton County Code Chapter 14.05 shields farming and forest practices in unincorporated areas from nuisance lawsuits. Activities that follow good agricultural practices and predate…

Unincorporated Benton County protects farmland through the GMA Agricultural District, a zoning classification with a 20-acre minimum parcel size that limits non-farm uses. The chapter…

Benton County bars anyone from holding a meeting, assembly, entertainment, or business transaction in a county park without the Park Board's written consent. BCC 7.28.010(k) covers…

Anyone holding an outdoor music festival or concert in unincorporated Benton County, defined as a gathering expected to draw 1,000 or more people or run three hours or longer, needs a…

Benton County's code carries no general anti-loitering ordinance for the unincorporated area; the only loitering prohibition on the books targets teen-age dances. Under BCC 7.08.060…

Benton County bans alcohol outright in every county park. BCC 7.28.020(b) makes it unlawful to consume or possess any alcoholic beverage on park property, and the ordinance classifies…

Benton County Code 6.30.020 makes it a civil infraction, capped at a $100 fine, for anyone to urinate in a public place in unincorporated Benton County outside an enclosed restroom…

Benton County bans wheeled all-terrain vehicles from bicycle lanes, bike paths and walking paths on unincorporated county roads. Benton County Code 10.14.100(c) makes it unlawful for a…

In unincorporated Benton County, a yard sale is only an allowed accessory use if it stays short and infrequent: no more than three consecutive days, and no more than two separate sales…

Regardless of height or permit status, Benton County bans building a fence out of tires, pallets, tarps, sheet plastic, bed springs, corrugated sheet metal, wheel rims and similar…

Benton County only requires a building permit for a fence once it exceeds 7 feet in height; anything 7 feet or under is exempt, under BCC 11.42.070(a). Fences of any height in a mapped…