Effingham County, GA Ordinances (2026)

In unincorporated Effingham County, a motor vehicle burglar alarm must terminate within 15 minutes of activation, and a false or accidental activation more than twice in a calendar…

Unincorporated Effingham County requires any noise-creating blower, power fan, or internal combustion engine, including portable generators, to be muffled so combustion or…

Unincorporated Effingham County bars unreasonably loud and excessive noise from loading or unloading a vehicle, or from opening and destroying bales, boxes, crates, and containers…

In unincorporated Effingham County, yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling, or singing in residential or noise-sensitive areas between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. is a code violation, and…

Unincorporated Effingham County exempts muffler-equipped lawn, garden, and tree-trimming equipment, including leaf blowers, from its construction-noise rules only between 7:00 a.m. and…

Unincorporated Effingham County bars discharging engine or motor-vehicle exhaust into the open air without an effective muffler, and separately treats loud car horns, defective…

Effingham County bars using loudspeakers, amplifiers or similar sound equipment on the public streets to attract attention to a building or business without a special permit from the…

Effingham County caps outdoor sound at the receiving property line under Code § 30-37's Table 1: 60 dBA by day and 50 dBA at night for residential, public, institutional and…

Effingham County makes it a noise violation for animals or birds kept in a residential area to unreasonably disturb the peace, quiet or comfort of neighbors, under Code § 30-38(5)…

Land-disturbing activity in unincorporated Effingham County requires a permit and an approved best-management-practices erosion, sedimentation, and pollution control plan, a…

New development or redevelopment creating 5,000 square feet or more of impervious cover, or disturbing an acre or more, in unincorporated Effingham County must get an approved…

Building anything in an unincorporated Effingham County flood hazard area starts with a development permit from the county engineer, and every new structure or substantial improvement…

New construction and substantial improvements in an unincorporated Effingham County flood hazard area must have the lowest floor elevated at least one foot above the base flood…

In unincorporated Effingham County, marinas, docks and boat houses are a conditional use, never a use permitted by right, wherever the county's Table of Permitted Uses allows them at…

Anyone who wants to sell goods or services house to house in unincorporated Effingham County must register with the Sheriff's Office and pass a background check before soliciting. Sec…

Sec. 42-10 requires anyone door-to-door soliciting or canvassing in unincorporated Effingham County to register and get a permit from the sheriff's office, wear a visible ID badge, and…

In unincorporated Effingham County a tree qualifying as landmark, specimen, or champion cannot be removed except when a certified arborist confirms it is a hazard or no feasible…

Development in unincorporated Effingham County must plant street trees no farther than 50 feet apart, prioritize native and non-invasive species, and keep at least 75 percent of…

Effingham County protects specific tree species once they hit a minimum trunk diameter: Tier 1 species like live oak and longleaf pine at 16 inches DBH, Tier 2 species like white oak…

Cutting down a protected, specimen, landmark, or champion tree in unincorporated Effingham County requires a permit from the county manager first. Development-related removal needs one…

In flood-prone parts of unincorporated Effingham County, planting plans must draw from the county's list of flood-tolerant native species, from bald cypress to buttonbush, and…

Unincorporated Effingham County lets property owners and occupants compost on their own premises without a permit, but Sec. 66-38(b) conditions that right on the pile not creating a…

Outdoor irrigation in unincorporated Effingham County is restricted to overnight hours and an odd/even address schedule under Sec. 75-102. Watering is allowed daily only between 4:00…

Anyone who wants to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish or change the occupancy of a building or structure in unincorporated Effingham County must first apply to the…

Effingham County's building official inspects every stage of permitted construction under Code § 14-57, from foundation through final walkthrough, before issuing a certificate of…

Effingham County adopts the National Electrical Code, with state and local amendments, to govern every electrical installation in the unincorporated county. Sec. 14-56 requires anyone…

Effingham County applies the International Plumbing Code, with state and local amendments, to every plumbing installation in the unincorporated county. Sec. 14-56 requires an owner…

Effingham County's Article III unfit-buildings code, Sec. 14-71 through 14-81, lets the county force repair, closing or demolition of any dwelling, building, structure or property in…

In unincorporated Effingham County, each residential unit is issued a single 90-gallon cart for weekly collection. Code Section 66-37(a) sets a roadside window: carts must be staged…

Commercial and institutional generators of more than 100 pounds of waste weekly in unincorporated Effingham County cannot use the county's cart-based hauler; Sec. 66-37(b) requires…

In unincorporated Effingham County, curbside and drop-site recycling only holds materials the Board of Commissioners has designated as recyclable. Sec. 66-37(l) bars dumping waste…

In unincorporated Effingham County, every residential unit must use the county's contracted residential service provider for weekly curbside pickup and pay an annual service fee before…

In unincorporated Effingham County, curbside trash pickup runs on exact windows: containers can't go out earlier than the day before collection, must come back in within 24 hours…

Effingham County's contracted hauler collects residential trash between 7:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, in unincorporated Effingham County, but Sec. 66-104(a)(6)b…

Unincorporated Effingham County doesn't guarantee curbside recycling to every household; residential recovered materials are collected only when the county's contract with its waste…

Large discarded items over three feet in any dimension or 50 pounds, from mattresses to refrigerators, only get curbside pickup in unincorporated Effingham County if the homeowner's…

Yard trimmings in unincorporated Effingham County must be kept separate from household trash and can't sit at the curb more than seven days. Sec. 66-104(a)(4) also caps bundles at four…

Sec. 42-4 of the county code bars dumping, depositing or throwing litter, including construction-site waste like concrete washout, chemicals or debris, on any public or private…

Every business operating in unincorporated Effingham County must declare a single dominant line of business on its occupation-tax registration under Sec. 70-43, and Sec. 70-44 sets how…

Every park and recreation area in unincorporated Effingham County becomes a no-smoking zone once the Board of Commissioners posts the signs. Sec. 46-51 bans lit tobacco…

Sec. 42-6(12) of the county's disorderly conduct ordinance makes it unlawful in unincorporated Effingham County to congregate with others on a public way so as to halt vehicular or…

Sec. 42-6(13) of the county's disorderly conduct ordinance makes it unlawful in unincorporated Effingham County to defecate or urinate on streets, lanes or sidewalks, in the halls or…

In unincorporated Effingham County, off-street parking spaces can never sit on the right-of-way of a public road, street, alley, or walkway, and no vehicle may overhang into it. The…

In unincorporated Effingham County, owners of travel trailers, pick-up coaches, motorized homes, and boat trailers may park or store that equipment on private residential property, but…

Effingham County's Zoning Ordinance requires large commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings to provide dedicated off-street loading space rather than using public streets…

Unincorporated Effingham County bars trucks and trailers over one ton of capacity from being parked for storage, including overnight, on any public right-of-way within a residential…

Effingham County limits on-street parking in the unincorporated area to local streets, and how many sides of the road may be used for parking depends on pavement width. Streets at…

In unincorporated Effingham County, an inoperative or unlicensed vehicle cannot sit on the right of way or on private property for more than 30 days in any 120-day stretch under the…

Effingham County's Table of Permitted Uses treats electric-vehicle charging as two separate uses: government-owned stations are permitted by right in every commercial, mixed-use and…

Unincorporated Effingham County parks and recreation areas open and close on hours the Board of Commissioners sets and posts. Sec. 46-52 makes it unlawful to enter or stay in a county…

Before doing commercial or construction work on, over, or under a road, ditch, or easement the county maintains in unincorporated Effingham County, a person must obtain a permit from…

Outdoor advertising signs abutting or visible from Interstate 16 or Interstate 95 in unincorporated Effingham County answer to Chapter 62's Article II. Sec. 62-31 layers county rules…

Effingham County's sign ordinance lists political and election signs among those exempt from most sign regulation, but multiple similar signs, including real estate or political signs…

In unincorporated Effingham County, digital and electronic billboards must display each message for at least ten seconds before changing, switch images in two seconds or less, and run…

Within the Corridor Overlay District along Highway 21's Chamber of Commerce Gateway and Hodgeville Road, Zoning Ordinance Appendix F Section XII.3 caps permanent and temporary window…

In unincorporated Effingham County, Sec. 10-71 makes it unlawful for owners to let a dog or cat run at large, stray from home, or trespass onto another person's property. Hunting dogs…

Effingham County has no breed-specific dog ban. Instead, Sec. 10-75 targets any animal, regardless of breed, that "constitutes a physical threat to human beings or other animals."…

Effingham County's "chicken ordinance," Sec. 10-112, lets AR-1 landowners keep any permitted fowl outright, while R-1 lots and platted non-conforming AR-1 subdivisions may keep only…

Effingham County does not license cats, but Sec. 10-71 still bars owners from letting a cat run at large or stray onto a neighbor's property. Sec. 10-118 makes trap-neuter-return the…

In unincorporated Effingham County, a veterinary clinic is a permitted use by right in the AR-1 and AR-2 agricultural districts and the B-1, B-2 and B-3 commercial districts, plus the…

Effingham County's Zoning Ordinance bars direct glare visible from any residential district caused by unshielded floodlights or other high-intensity lighting sources. A parallel…

Illuminated billboards in unincorporated Effingham County must use base-mounted lights only, with no additional lighting allowed, and the light source cannot be visible from a vehicle…

Inside the Corridor Overlay District along the Chamber of Commerce Gateway (Highway 21) and Hodgeville Road, Zoning Ordinance Appendix F Section IX requires full cut-off IESNA…

Effingham County's Zoning Ordinance allows retaining walls on private property so long as they do not disrupt the natural flow of surface water or harm adjacent properties, but every…

Effingham County's zoning ordinance caps fences at ten feet everywhere outside manufactured home communities, industrial districts, and commercial districts, and limits any front-yard…

A fence anywhere in unincorporated Effingham County tops out at ten feet outside industrial, commercial, and manufactured-home-community districts, but the front yard has its own…

In the county's R, PD-R, AR-1, AR-2, and AR-3 residential districts, a shed or other accessory structure tops out at 25 feet to the roof ridge in R and PD-R, or 35 feet in the AR…

Accessory dwelling units are allowed in every Effingham County residential and agricultural-residential district that permits detached single-family homes, capped at one ADU per lot…

Effingham County lets homeowners convert an existing garage or other accessory structure into an accessory dwelling unit, but only if the building is brought into full current…

Effingham County allows accessory dwelling units to be rented out for long-term residential occupancy without restriction, and a short-term rental of an ADU is permitted too, but only…

Unincorporated Effingham County allows tiny homes only inside R-4 planned manufactured home community districts, as a distinct subdivision type alongside mobile home parks and RV…

A home occupation in unincorporated Effingham County cannot host any customers or clients on the property at all under section 3.15.2(j). A residential business, the county's other…

Effingham County allows a home occupation in every zoning district, but only after written approval from the zoning administrator and only if it stays inside the house or an accessory…

A home occupation in unincorporated Effingham County cannot post any signage on the property, full stop, under section 3.15.7(e), and there can be no exterior visibility of the…

Effingham County's Table of Permitted Uses lists 'Family Childcare Homes' as a conditional use in the AR-1 and AR-2 agricultural-residential districts and a use permitted by right in…

Effingham County bars vehicle and equipment repair as a home-based business under section 3.15.7(a) and again under 3.15A(e), which names automotive, boat, motorcycle, small-engine…

Effingham County repealed its own local tattooing and body-piercing ordinances by Ord. No. 2024-491 in October 2024 and instead regulates body art solely by adopting the state's…

Effingham County's zoning ordinance protects working farmland from home-based businesses that spring up nearby: under section 3.15A(d.10A)(7)(b), a county-approved agricultural-related…

Effingham County's AR-1 Agricultural Residential district is built to protect the county's rural and farming character: land in AR-1 needs a minimum of five acres, allows up to two…

Anyone building a private swimming pool in unincorporated Effingham County needs Development Services approval before construction. Pools deeper than 1½ feet are barred outright in the…

Private pools in unincorporated Effingham County must be enclosed by a fence at least four feet high with a self-latching, lockable gate that swings away from the pool so children…

Every hotel, motel, inn, campground, or other place that regularly furnishes rooms or lodgings for value in unincorporated Effingham County must collect a 5 percent excise tax on…

In unincorporated Effingham County, new R-2 and R-5 subdivision street trees may never come from a species the University of Georgia Extension Service lists as invasive. Zoning Code…

Holding a parade, procession, or public assemblage in a street, square, or park in unincorporated Effingham County requires permission from the county commission first. Sec. 42-8 makes…

Unincorporated Effingham County has no ordinance written for "short-term rentals" by name, but Airbnb-style hosts fall under Sec. 70-221's broad definition of a "public accommodation"…

Short-term rentals in unincorporated Effingham County are taxed the same as any hotel: Sec. 70-223 requires the operator to collect a five percent excise tax on lodging charges from…

New major subdivisions and commercial or industrial projects served by sewer in unincorporated Effingham County must install purple-pipe reuse lines and design an approved reuse…

In unincorporated Effingham County, Sec. 36-44 bars open burning during red flag warnings, burn bans, sustained winds over 10 mph, humidity under 30 percent, or other hazardous…

Effingham County defines a backyard fire pit as a 'campfire or recreational fire' under Sec. 36-42, capped at three feet in diameter and two feet in height. Sec. 36-45 requires it sit…

Effingham County's open-burning ordinance defines an 'outdoor fire containment device' to expressly include a smoker, along with pits, barrels, chimineas and gas-fueled flame features…

Effingham County's R-1-A single-family district caps principal-building height at 35 feet, five feet taller than the standard R-1 district's 30-foot limit, under the zoning ordinance's…

In Effingham County's R-1-A single-family district, an alternative to the standard R-1 zone, principal buildings need a 35-foot front yard, a 25-foot rear yard, a 15-foot interior side…

Effingham County caps building and lot coverage at 30 percent of the parcel in its R-1-A single-family district, one of the numeric dimensional limits set out in the district's…