Cherokee County, GA Ordinances (2026)

Special events facilities in unincorporated Cherokee County cannot exceed 55 dBA/60 dBC by day or 40 dBA/50 dBC at night, measured at the residential receiving property line, under the…

Cherokee County bars willfully making excessive, unnecessary or unusually loud noise that disturbs the peace between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. daily, with extended weekend quiet hours…

Cherokee County bans engine brakes and compression brakes on two segments of Knox Bridge Highway, with signage marking the restriction, and separately prohibits non-warning vehicle…

Cherokee County bans mounted loudspeakers and sound-amplifying equipment used to broadcast or advertise during the county's quiet hours unless the operator holds a permit from the…

Operating construction equipment or doing outside repair work on buildings, structures or roads between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. is unlawful in unincorporated Cherokee County unless the…

Cherokee County treats a dog as a public nuisance animal if it vocalizes for more than 15 minutes without interruption, or more than 30 minutes if intermittent, under Code of…

Cherokee County requires every swimming pool to have a five-foot continuous barrier under Appendix G of the International Residential Code, adopted by county resolution in 2005, and…

Unincorporated Cherokee County requires a building permit before a residential swimming pool goes in the ground. County Code Section 14-1 adopts the International Swimming Pool and Spa…

Cherokee County closes its parks and recreation facilities each night at 11:00 p.m., running from sunrise, under Code § 42-49. Being in a park outside its posted hours without a permit…

Minors under 18 cannot loiter in any public place in unincorporated Cherokee County between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. under Sec. 38-82. Exceptions cover minors on parental errands…

Cherokee County enforces the International Plumbing Code, with local water-efficiency amendments, for all plumbing work in the unincorporated county. Building Development Services…

Cherokee County enforces building permits by adopting the International Building Code's administrative chapter wholesale under Code of Ordinances § 14-1, along with the Residential…

Cherokee County requires an operational carbon monoxide detector outside each bedroom rented in a licensed short-term rental, meeting the adopted residential building code and kept in…

Cherokee County adopts the National Electrical Code for all electrical work in the unincorporated county, administering permits under the same administrative chapter it uses for the…

Cherokee County outlaws parking any commercial, industrial or heavy vehicle or equipment on residentially zoned property outright, with narrow carve-outs for loading, agricultural use…

Cherokee County bans parking on any signed no-parking street and lists 15 named roads that are entirely off-limits to non-emergency parking under § 38-61. A violation draws a fine up…

Cherokee County caps front-yard parking in residential districts to two recreational vehicles or school buses, or one of each, and only if they sit more than 20 feet from the road…

Cherokee County bans keeping a junk vehicle anywhere it is visible from a road or neighboring property in the unincorporated county under § 14-179, unless it sits inside a carport or…

Cherokee County bars parking recreational vehicles or school buses in a residential front yard unless the vehicle sits more than 20 feet from the road right-of-way, and it caps the…

Any Cherokee County building that expands its floor area by 25 percent or more must add off-street loading space under Zoning Ordinance § 12.5, sized by a use table in Table 12.2, and…

Cherokee County's Rat Infestation Control division requires business buildings to be rat-proofed and kept that way, and lets the marshal order harborage eliminated once conditions on a…

Cherokee County requires a special event permit before anyone can hold a block party on public property or a street likely to be obstructed, capped at 21 days, with insurance and a…

Restricted uses in a Cherokee County park or recreation facility, including athletic field rentals, pavilion bookings, and commercial or gathering activity, require a permit approved…

Cherokee County's local amendment to the plumbing code, Section 1304.3.2, lets permitted reclaimed water serve toilets, urinals, and industrial uses in commercial and multifamily…

Cherokee County caps grass, underbrush, and weeds at 12 inches above ground level under its Property Maintenance Ordinance, with exemptions for agricultural land, designated green…

Cherokee County requires a land disturbance permit before removing trees on most unincorporated property, reviewed by the county Arborist under the Tree Preservation and Replacement…

Cherokee County makes it unlawful to rent out a dwelling or building that is unfit for human habitation, and gives a tenant who discovers the unfitness after signing a lease 72 hours…

Cherokee County makes aggressive panhandling and solicitation within 15 feet of any bank, ATM, or check-cashing business unlawful. Ordinary unauthorized solicitation is a misdemeanor…

Cherokee County bans smoking, vaping, and burning any combustible substance within 25 feet of a playground, picnic pavilion, athletic field or court, or outdoor pool at any county…

Cherokee County bans possessing or drinking an open container of alcohol on unincorporated-area streets, sidewalks and other public places under Code of Ordinances § 6-21(b). Consuming…

It is unlawful in unincorporated Cherokee County to loiter, loaf, wander, or remain idle in a public place in a way that hinders traffic or interferes with business. Anyone told by law…

Cherokee County limits skateboards, scooters, skates and bicycles in county parks and recreation facilities to areas the parks director designates for that use. Riders under 16 must…

A Cherokee County property owner or occupant who lets a gathering continue while knowing an underage guest is drinking is a "social host" under Sec. 38-9 and must take reasonable steps…

Cherokee County caps overnight guests at a licensed short-term rental to two per bedroom, and total occupancy, including day guests, cannot exceed 16 people on the property, with…

Short-term rental owners in Cherokee County must collect and remit an 8 percent excise tax on gross rent from every guest, on top of the annual short-term rental certificate fee, with…

No one may rent out a home in unincorporated Cherokee County as a short-term rental without an annual certificate from the Development Services Center; the county reviews applications…

Cherokee County does not require sterilization of pets generally, but any animal adopted from the county shelter must be spayed or neutered under Code of Ordinances § 10-34(c). Adult…

Cherokee County pet shops cannot sell, exchange, barter or transfer dogs or cats at all; they may only host adoptions for licensed animal control facilities or 501(c)(3) rescue…

Cherokee County's livestock rule, Code of Ordinances § 10-38, applies to chickens and other fowl too: the chapter's definition in § 10-26 expressly includes fowl and rabbits within…

Cherokee County requires every dog to be under restraint under Code of Ordinances § 10-29. A dog is not restrained if it is running at large; owners must secure it in a locked…

Cherokee County does not ban dogs by breed; instead Article III of the Code of Ordinances classifies individual dogs as "dangerous" or "vicious" based on behavior under § 10-73, then…

Cherokee County requires an annual adult entertainment license before operating in the unincorporated area, bars the same premises from also holding an alcohol license, and confines…

Cherokee County requires anyone operating as a pawnbroker in the unincorporated area to first file an application with the county development service center and hold a county permit…

Cherokee County requires every wrecker service operating in the unincorporated county to hold a business license, carry $1,000,000 in liability and garage-keepers insurance, and follow…

Cherokee County limits tobacco, e-cigarette, and vapor product retailers in the unincorporated county to selling between 11:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., bars sales to and possession by…

Cherokee County lets residents perform a major vehicle overhaul at home only if they occupy the property and own the vehicle, and only inside a garage under § 14-180. Work done outside…

Cherokee County requires a separate business license for each massage establishment location plus an individual massagist's permit, both gated by fingerprinting, a background check…

Anyone buying used gold, silver, platinum, or gems for resale in unincorporated Cherokee County must hold a dealer permit from the county Development Service Center under Code § 38-102…

Cherokee County bars anyone from obstructing a public sidewalk, street, or highway by hindering or impeding the free passage of pedestrians, vehicles, or traffic. The rule sits in the…

Cherokee County requires written notice to the public works department, building official or administrator before anyone installs a permanent culvert or drainage structure in a public…

Cherokee County defines a window sign as any sign placed inside or upon a window and intended to be seen from outside (Zoning Ordinance § 11.4), and in the commercial and industrial…

Cherokee County exempts low-wattage holiday decoration lights from every requirement of its Outdoor Lighting and Road Glare ordinance. Unlike commercial and security lighting, which…

Cherokee County's zoning code has no sign category labeled 'garage sale,' but its weekend-sign rule at § 11.7(8)(c) is the exempt-sign provision that covers a Friday-through-Monday…

Digital signs are tightly boxed in unincorporated Cherokee County: Zoning Ordinance § 11.5-5(i) bans them from residential zones outright, allows them only as freestanding signs on…

Cherokee County's Illicit Discharge and Illegal Connection Ordinance bars dumping anything but stormwater into the county's separate storm sewer system. Sections 62-81 through 62-88…

Land-disturbing activity in unincorporated Cherokee County must use best management practices under the county's Soil Erosion, Sedimentation and Pollution Control Ordinance, including…

New residential construction in Cherokee County's future-conditions floodplain must have its lowest floor, including any basement, elevated at least three feet above the base flood…

Cherokee County regulates every Area of Special Flood Hazard and Area of Future-Conditions Flood Hazard under Chapter 30 of the county code. No development activity, including grading…

Cherokee County makes it illegal to throw or deposit litter on any private property, whether you own it or not, under § 14-141(b), and § 14-151 lets the marshal presume you dumped it…

Cherokee County's Code of Ordinances requires every dwelling's garbage cans to be rat-proofed, insect-proofed, watertight and fitted with tight-fitting covers under § 14-98, and any…

Cherokee County keeps yard trimmings, leaves, brush and prunings separate from household garbage: they cannot go into municipal solid waste, are barred from lined landfills, and must…

Cherokee County bans mixing yard trimmings, leaves, brush, grass clippings and Christmas trees into household trash or lined municipal landfills, and requires them to be sorted for…

Cherokee County requires every dumpster and drop box to carry a lid that stays closed except when in use, keeping animals and wind-blown trash out under County Code § 14-144. A single…

Yard setbacks in unincorporated Cherokee County vary by zoning district under Table 7.1A of the Zoning Ordinance, running from a 40-foot front setback in the rural AG district down to…

Cherokee County caps how much of a lot can be covered by buildings, from 20 percent in the rural AG district up to 60 percent in the RTH townhouse district. Table 7.1A of the Zoning…

Cherokee County's urban camping ordinance bans camping, sleeping, storing personal belongings, or sitting or lying down on any public street or in a county park, but exempts medical…

Cherokee County's urban camping ordinance, Code § 38-85, bans camping or storing personal property in county parks and bans camping, sleeping, sitting, or lying down on public streets…

Cherokee County levies an 8 percent excise tax on the gross rent charged for occupancy of any hotel guest room in the unincorporated special taxing district. Section 54-68 sets the…

Cherokee County has no separate right-to-farm ordinance, but its General Agricultural (AG) zoning district is built to protect farming as the primary use of the land. Zoning Ordinance…

Cherokee County's Zoning Ordinance caps how much light can cross onto a neighbor's land: no more than 0.1 footcandle at three feet high along a residential or nature-preserve property…

Cherokee County's outdoor lighting ordinance requires full cutoff, shielded luminaires in parking lots, outdoor recreation facilities, construction yards and security lighting, capping…

Cherokee County allows home occupations as an accessory use in every residential and AG zoning district, but Zoning Ordinance § 9.3 caps the operation at 1,000 square feet of floor…

Cherokee County's home-occupation rules cap the traffic a residential business can generate: Zoning Ordinance § 9.3-6 bars any home occupation from increasing the normal flow of street…

A family day care home caring for up to six children is a permitted home occupation in Cherokee County's AG, R-80, R-60, R-40, R-30, R-20, R-15 and PUD districts under Zoning Ordinance…

No permit is needed for a recreational fire in unincorporated Cherokee County, but it must sit at least 25 feet from any structure or combustible material and stay attended at all…

Cherokee County bans burning garbage, petroleum-based products, and barrel burning outright, plus all outdoor burning on high-wind, low-humidity or smoke-trapping days, and enforces…

Cherokee County requires a working smoke detector in every bedroom, just outside each bedroom, and on every story of a licensed short-term rental, installed to the adopted residential…

Cherokee County bars launching, flying, or landing any drone or unmanned aerial system in a county park or recreation facility except at director-designated areas and under…

Cherokee County's zoning code caps a fence or free-standing wall at eight feet anywhere in the unincorporated county, dropping to six feet where a fence sits inside the required front…

Retaining walls in unincorporated Cherokee County are exempt from the zoning code's eight-foot fence height cap, but they are not exempt from permitting. County Code Section 26-68…

Cherokee County makes it unlawful to operate any motorized cart, scooter, skateboard, cycle or similar gas-powered vehicle on a public sidewalk anywhere in the unincorporated county…

Cherokee County defines a lengthy list of structural, wiring, and utility defects that make a building legally unfit for human habitation, drawing on the county's O.C.G.A. § 41-2-7…

Cherokee County's Board of Commissioners designates individual heritage trees on the Arborist's recommendation, and the homeowner exemption that otherwise lets residents remove trees…

A shed in unincorporated Cherokee County is regulated as an accessory structure under Zoning Ordinance Section 5.6. It cannot exceed 25 feet in height, its footprint is capped at 50…

Cherokee County's zoning code does not create an accessory dwelling unit category. Zoning Ordinance Section 5.6 instead allows 'guest quarters' built into an accessory structure for…

Anyone soliciting orders house to house in unincorporated Cherokee County needs a permit from the license bureau first, complete with a background check, a fee, a visible badge, and a…