Columbia County, GA Ordinances (2026)

Columbia County's Chapter 90 sign ordinance regulates yard signs content-neutrally, but O.C.G.A. §16-7-58 protects political signs on private property from county limits on their…

Columbia County caps window signage at half the glass: section 90-135(v)(7) says window signs placed on, inside, or outside a window may not obstruct more than 50 percent of the window…

Columbia County requires every mobile food, retail or service unit operating more than two consecutive days at one location to hold a posted mobile vending permit, plus a Health…

Columbia County requires a permit for any parade or public assembly that disrupts traffic or is held on county property. Applications go to the permit official at least 14 days ahead…

Any gathering expected to block a Columbia County street, including a neighborhood block party, needs a public assembly permit under Code of Ordinances § 82-213 before it can close the…

Columbia County defines a festival as an outdoor concert, fair or similar commercial/recreational event, and requires organizers who plan alcohol service, live music stages or retail…

Outdoor seating at a restaurant or coffee shop is a limited accessory use under Columbia County Code § 90-147(i)(8), allowed in most commercial districts subject to traffic, parking…

New homes and substantial improvements in Columbia County's special flood hazard areas must have the lowest floor elevated at least three feet above base flood elevation…

Any land-disturbing activity in unincorporated Columbia County must follow the county's Soil Erosion, Sedimentation and Pollution Control Ordinance, Code of Ordinances § 34-69, which…

Columbia County bans discharging anything but clean stormwater into its MS4 storm-drain system under Code of Ordinances § 34-148, and requires an approved stormwater management plan…

Any development in Columbia County's mapped special flood hazard areas needs a land disturbance permit under Code of Ordinances § 42-42, and new or substantially improved residential…

Columbia County bans smoking in enclosed public places, workplaces and sports arenas countywide, plus within ten feet of doors into smoke-free buildings. Outdoor dining areas open on…

Columbia County makes it a criminal offense to loiter or prowl in a place, at a time, or in a manner not usual for law-abiding people, when the circumstances create a justifiable and…

Columbia County bars anyone from leaving a building where alcohol is sold with an open container, and bans loitering or drinking outside such buildings anywhere in the county. The…

Columbia County bans aggressive panhandling and layers on strict no-solicit zones: no begging within 30 feet of an ATM, bank, or outdoor dining area, within 10 feet of a building…

Any wrecker operator working in Columbia County must hold a county towing permit before joining the sheriff's rotating call list, and cannot chase or solicit business at accident…

Anyone buying precious metals or gems for resale at a permanent Columbia County location must pay the occupational tax under Sec. 22-101 and then follow Sec. 22-117's recordkeeping…

Adult bookstores, adult entertainment establishments, and adult theaters may locate only in C-2 and C-3 zoning under section 90-138, and even there they must sit at least 500 feet from…

Body art establishments and artists in Columbia County must hold a current body art license from the board of health and pay an annual inspection fee. Implants, 3-D procedures and…

Any pawnbroker or pawnshop doing business in Columbia County must pay the occupational tax and hold a certificate under Sec. 22-101 before opening, then follow the Sheriff's Office…

Columbia County flatly bars vehicle repair, along with car washes, vehicle sales, and vehicle leasing, from operating as a home occupation under section 90-142(e)(1); no permit or…

Columbia County requires anyone offering massage services in the unincorporated area to hold an operator's license under Code of Ordinances § 22-77 before opening. Applicants must be…

Columbia County's noise-nuisance code bans excessive horn use, unmuffled exhaust and vehicles 'so out of repair' that they grate, grind or rattle loudly, listing each as a nuisance…

Columbia County folds barking dogs into its general noise-nuisance ordinance rather than a separate leash law. Code § 34-32(6)b.5 makes it unlawful to keep any animal or bird whose…

Columbia County treats excessive, unnecessary or unusually loud noise as a nuisance under Code § 34-32(6). There is no decibel meter, but a radio or device plainly audible 50 feet away…

Columbia County limits noisy building work to between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. under Code § 34-32(6)b.9. Outside those hours it is a prohibited noise, though the county can grant a permit of…

Columbia County treats unmuffled gas blowers and power fans as a declared nuisance-noise violation under Code of Ordinances § 34-32(6)b.12, part of the county's broader noise-nuisance…

Amplified music in unincorporated Columbia County is a nuisance noise under § 34-32(6). A radio, instrument or device plainly audible 50 feet away between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. is prima…

Columbia County enforces the state-mandated International Building, Residential, Mechanical, Fuel Gas, Plumbing, Electrical, Fire and Energy codes on every construction project in the…

Columbia County enforces the National Electrical Code on all wiring work under § 18-31(a)(5), and requires every electrical contractor to be licensed under § 18-92. Before pulling a…

Columbia County enforces the International Plumbing Code on every plumbing installation under § 18-31(a)(4), and bars master plumbers from self-inspecting their own water and sewer…

An ancillary dwelling, Columbia County's term for a garage apartment or accessory dwelling unit, needs a lot of at least 20,000 square feet, is capped at 1,800 square feet on tracts up…

A shed or accessory building of 400 square feet or less needs only a 5-foot setback from any property line under Code of Ordinances § 90-144(b), but anything larger must meet the same…

On county-designated bicycle paths, Columbia County bans operating any motorized vehicle, including mopeds, motorcycles, golf carts, go-carts, and electric scooters, under section…

Dumping litter, waste, or scrap tires anywhere in unincorporated Columbia County is unlawful unless it goes to a state-permitted landfill or transfer station, or into a receptacle…

Every dumpster or waste container in unincorporated Columbia County must stay sanitary and closed, under section 70-7, with no burning materials, dead animals, appliances, mattresses…

Columbia County bars mixing yard trimmings, grass clippings, leaves, pine straw, shrubbery, and limbs, into regular solid waste and keeps them out of lined landfill cells; section…

Columbia County runs no county-wide curbside garbage service. Unincorporated residents in Evans, Martinez, and the rural areas must contract a licensed private hauler or self-haul. The…

Trash placed in a Columbia County receptacle can't be allowed to overflow or block the lid from closing, and it must reach a permitted landfill or transfer station within 14 days of…

Columbia County offers no county-wide bulk curbside pickup. Large items like appliances and furniture go through your private hauler or are self-hauled. County code bars stuffing…

Columbia County requires a tree survey, a tree protection plan, and a land disturbance permit before most development can remove trees, and a specimen tree, meaning 16-inch caliper…

Columbia County follows Georgia's statewide watering schedule, not metro-Atlanta district rules. Under the 2010 Water Stewardship Act (O.C.G.A. §12-5-7), outdoor watering is allowed…

Anyone building permanent or temporary access into a Columbia County road right-of-way needs an encroachment permit under § 18-90(a), issued according to the driveway encroachment…

Columbia County does not require every dog or cat owner to spay or neuter their pet. The mandate in §§ 14-101 and 14-102 applies only to animals leaving the county shelter: the animal…

Columbia County refers wild-animal matters to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources under Code Sec. 14-7. Keeping exotic or wild animals requires a state DNR Wild Animal License…

Columbia County bars animals from running at large in the unincorporated county under Code Sec. 14-6 and requires a dog off its owner's property to be leashed, crated, or securely…

Columbia County zoning allows up to six chickens on parcels under one acre as small-scale agriculture, bars commercial poultry houses, and requires livestock to be fenced with a…

Columbia County has no ordinance prohibiting the feeding of deer, coyotes, or other wildlife. Under Code Sec. 14-7, wild-animal matters are handled by the Georgia Department of Natural…

Columbia County has no breed-specific ban. Dangerous and vicious dogs are handled by behavior under Code Sec. 14-14, which defers to Georgia's Responsible Dog Ownership Law (O.C.G.A. §…

Columbia County has no dedicated short-term rental permit or registration ordinance. STRs are legal in unincorporated Evans and Martinez, subject only to a county occupation-tax…

Columbia County short-term rentals owe a 5% county hotel/motel excise tax under § 78-66, plus Georgia's 4% state sales tax, local option sales tax and the $5-per-night state lodging…

Columbia County short-term rental guests must obey the county nuisance-noise ordinance, § 34-32(6). With no STR permit to revoke, enforcement runs through the Sheriff's Office and…

A home business in unincorporated Columbia County cannot change how the house looks. Section 90-142 requires no change to the exterior appearance from that of a residence, so an…

Columbia County caps every home occupation at 12 additional vehicle trips to the residence per day under section 90-142(b)(2), and the operator must live at the address and keep the…

Georgia's HB 398 removed the state cottage food license and the sales cap, so you can bake and sell non-hazardous foods from a Columbia County home kitchen with no state permit. Direct…

A home daycare in Columbia County is capped at six pupils at a time under section 90-142(f)(4), and unlike other home occupations it's allowed to occupy more than 20 percent of the…

You can run a business from a Columbia County home if it stays incidental to living there: it occupies under 20 percent of the dwelling, adds no more than 12 vehicle trips a day, and…

Columbia County's zoning code, Sec. 90-144, limits backyard fences to six feet in most subdivisions, front-yard fences to three feet, and allows up to eight feet on larger R-A and R-1…

Columbia County's zoning sets no general fence-material ban, but bars wire and chainlink on street-facing fences in its suburban districts under Sec. 90-144. HOA covenants usually…

Columbia County limits permitted solicitors to 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and runs no formal no-knock registry. A posted no-soliciting sign, backed by a call to the Sheriff's Office, is a…

Columbia County requires anyone peddling goods door to door, or soliciting magazine and subscription sales, to hold a permit under Sec. 22-130 before operating. Applicants file a…

Columbia County enforces real property-maintenance standards. It has adopted the 2012 International Property Maintenance Code and treats trash, overgrowth, and junk vehicles as…

Owners of vacant lots in Columbia County must keep grass and weeds under ten inches and free of trash and dumping. The county can mow and clean non-compliant lots after notice and lien…

Columbia County caps how much of a residential lot can be covered by the house and accessory structures under Code of Ordinances § 90-53(b), ranging from a strict 20 percent in the…

Every one of Columbia County's ten residential zoning districts, from the rural R-A district to the densest A-R10 apartment district, shares an identical maximum building height of 55…

Front, side and rear yard setbacks in Columbia County's residential districts are set by the § 90-53 lot and structure requirements table, running from a 125-foot front setback on an…

Columbia County sets no foot-candle limit on residential outdoor lighting. Its only zoning light-trespass rule targets signs: sign illumination may not cast light onto adjacent…

Columbia County's node protection overlay district requires full cut-off outdoor light fixtures and caps fixture height under Code of Ordinances § 90-100, specifically to minimize…

Columbia County recognizes historic and heritage trees in its development code. When a required parking layout would force removal of a historic or heritage tree, the administrator can…

Columbia County parks close at posted hours, and being in a park after closing is enforced as trespassing. Wildwood Park and Savannah Rapids Park set their own gate and access times…

Columbia County bars parking a boat, camper trailer, motor home, trailer or wrecker on any public right-of-way except brief loading or unloading, and caps living in a motor home or…

Columbia County requires every off-street parking space, including a driveway or lot serving a permitted use, to be improved with an asphalt or concrete surface under section…

Columbia County enforces open burning through what its code calls the 'Columbia County Open Burning Code,' Code of Ordinances § 38-33, which folds in the state EPD's air-quality…

Columbia County requires a hard-wired smoke detector, approved by the fire marshal, in every hotel and motel guestroom under § 22-179(a). Residential dwellings fall under the county's…

Columbia County exempts recycled treated wastewater from its outdoor watering-schedule limits for both landscapes and golf courses, and lets EPD-permitted reclaimed wastewater users…

Columbia County created a dedicated D-C zoning district for data centers under Ord. No. 25-07, and every facility sited there must hold noise to 70 decibels at the property line and…

Columbia County caps noise from data centers and research-and-development facilities at 70 decibels measured at the exterior property line, and requires a pre-rezoning ambient sound…

Columbia County safeguards farmland with its R-A residential-agricultural zoning district, created under Code of Ordinances § 90-41 for rural and very-low-density development. New lots…

Columbia County sets no ordinance hours for household yard sales, so daytime hours are the norm and noise must stay reasonable. The clearest time limit is on signs: temporary signs may…