Franklin County, WA Ordinances (2026)

Franklin County lets developers earn extra density in the R-2 and R-3 residential zones by meeting design standards under Chapter 17.62. The lot-area-per-dwelling-unit ratio can shrink…

Franklin County has no breed ban; instead an animal control officer can declare any dog dangerous or potentially dangerous based on its conduct, not its breed. A declared dog must be…

Keeping a lion, wolf, coyote, fox, lynx, poisonous reptile or other dangerous wild animal is flatly illegal in any residential area of unincorporated Franklin County. Outside…

Franklin County has no cat-licensing chapter, but its rabies-quarantine rule names cats directly: a cat suspected of rabies must be quarantined up to ten days and cannot run at large…

Veterinary clinics are a permitted, by-right use on lots zoned AP-20, AP-40 and RR-5 in unincorporated Franklin County, but only a conditional use requiring a special permit in the…

Franklin County Code § 6.04.010 requires a dog off its owner's property to stay on a leash or chain no longer than 6 feet, held by someone able to control it, or it counts as 'at…

Franklin County treats poultry as part of its residential 'animal unit' system rather than a stand-alone chicken ordinance. In the RS-12 suburban zone, chickens, fowl or rabbits kept…

Manufacturing, selling, transporting, discharging, storing or using fireworks anywhere in unincorporated Franklin County is prohibited unless it falls under a narrow exception, and any…

Unincorporated Franklin County splits into an urban zone (Pasco and urban growth areas) and a nonurban zone for open-burning purposes under § 8.28.010. Nonurban burning is fee-free and…

In unincorporated Franklin County, the county has designated every residentially zoned parcel as a geographic limit area under the International Fire Code's Section 6104.2, the…

Franklin County's amended fire code sets exact clearance distances for storing hay, straw, and similar agricultural products near buildings and combustibles in unincorporated Franklin…

Throwing, dropping or depositing litter on any road, street, alley, sidewalk, other property or waters in unincorporated Franklin County is a misdemeanor with fines that escalate from…

Unincorporated Franklin County does not fix collection days by ordinance: Franklin County Code § 8.36.020 leaves the collection schedule to annual resolution of the Board of County…

A resident of unincorporated Franklin County can bar handbill distribution and peddling by posting a conspicuous sign at the entrance reading 'No Trespassing,' 'No Peddlers or Agents,'…

Anyone going door to door in unincorporated Franklin County taking orders for future delivery of goods or services must register as a solicitor with the Planning and Building…

In unincorporated Franklin County, any swimming pool must be entirely enclosed by a fence, wall or building at least four feet tall with no gaps wider than four inches. The gate has to…

An in-ground pool in unincorporated Franklin County needs a $300 building permit, and an above-ground pool or hot tub needs a $100 permit. Every pool must have a four-foot enclosure…

Playing a radio, car stereo, musical instrument or amplifier in a residential area of unincorporated Franklin County so it emanates frequently, repetitively or continuously and…

In unincorporated Franklin County, a car stereo, portable audio device, sound amplifier, whistle or internal-combustion engine that emanates frequently, repetitively or continuously…

Franklin County has no countywide ordinance against a barking dog in a residential neighborhood: the general noise law, § 8.24.010, expressly excludes noises governed by Chapter 6.04…

Unincorporated Franklin County exempts noise from home repair and maintenance projects only between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. Franklin County Code § 8.24.020(N) protects sound from temporary…

Franklin County's noise ordinance exempts aircraft-in-flight and airport flight-operation sounds outright under § 8.24.020(B), but non-flight aircraft engine testing and maintenance is…

In unincorporated Franklin County, only one inoperable vehicle may sit outside on a residential lot unless it's inside a fully enclosed building or behind a six-foot site-obscuring…

In unincorporated Franklin County, a residential lot can host at most one commercial semi-tractor/trailer over 14,000 pounds GVW, and only if the lot is at least 2.5 acres, the vehicle…

In unincorporated Franklin County, heavy trucks are barred from residential-zone roads and limited to two hours in commercial or industrial zones. Vehicles may stop in a marked loading…

Franklin County ties on-street parking directly to road width: Franklin County Code § 10.12.050(D) bars any on-street parking on county roads narrower than 32 feet, allows one side on…

In unincorporated Franklin County, boats, motor homes, camp trailers, travel trailers, fifth wheels, pickup campers, snowmobiles, and utility trailers cannot be stored on any public…

Franklin County Code § 10.12.060 bans parking at all times, day or night, on the stretches of Argent Road, Court Street, and Road 68 within unincorporated Franklin County wherever…

Gravel driveways cannot touch the public street in unincorporated Franklin County. Franklin County Code Section 17.78.090(A) requires the first five feet on each side of a driveway…

In unincorporated Franklin County, fences on residential, retail business and office-zoned lots are capped at four feet in the front yard and six feet in side and rear yards, with a…

Stack a fence or hedge on top of a retaining wall in unincorporated Franklin County and the combined height cannot exceed nine and one-half feet. Franklin County Code Section…

Barbed and razor wire fencing is banned in every residential district in unincorporated Franklin County, and electrified fences are barred there too except as a secondary security…

In unincorporated Franklin County, you can service, repair or restore a vehicle at home in any residential zone, but only one vehicle at a time, only your own or family's registered…

Franklin County only allows towing operators appointed by the Board of County Commissioners, or by the TRAC general manager for TRAC lots, to remove illegally parked vehicles. Franklin…

Pawn brokers and secondhand dealers in unincorporated Franklin County must register annually with the Planning and Building Department for $150, plus square footage charges. Zoning…

Franklin County's zoning code defines a tattoo parlor as an enclosed building for tattooing customers, then bars them from the C-1, B-P, O and C-R commercial zones and every…

Franklin County confines sexually oriented businesses to the Industrial (I-1) zone and keeps them at least 1,320 feet from churches, schools, day cares, parks and residential areas…

Pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers in unincorporated Franklin County must register as a business and pay a $150 annual fee under Franklin County Code § 5.04.110(C)(23), and they may…

In unincorporated Franklin County, a home business must stay subordinate to the residential use, be conducted entirely inside a permanent structure, and can't take up more than 20…

In unincorporated Franklin County, a home occupation cannot require a customer or client to be present while the work is performed, and no more than six customer vehicles may visit the…

In unincorporated Franklin County, a home occupation cannot display any sign, advertisement or other display on the property, and off-premises advertising or media cannot give the…

Franklin County allows home-based day-care in any home in unincorporated Franklin County regardless of its zoning classification, so long as the home is pre-approved by the…

Franklin County limits tent or canvas-covered storage sheds to 480 square feet in urban growth area residential zones and the rural community 1 zone, and caps at two the number of…

Franklin County allows one attached accessory dwelling unit per single-family home, capped at 800 square feet and 40 percent of the main house's floor area, or one detached ADU on a…

Franklin County requires one of the two dwellings on a lot with an attached accessory apartment to be owner-occupied for at least eight months of the year. The rule, set in Section…

Franklin County bars renting out rooms for lodging in a single-family home that already has an accessory dwelling unit, and separately bars renting a detached ADU or its rooms at all…

In unincorporated Franklin County, leasing an individual parcel for a tiny house or tiny home with wheels (as defined in RCW 35.21.686) is only allowed through the binding site plan…

Unincorporated Franklin County bans marijuana production, processing and retailing outright. Section 17.66.025 of the zoning code prohibits these uses in every zoning district in the…

Franklin County allows compost boxes or piles as an accessory use in any residential zoning district, but only in rear yards, kept at least five feet from any adjoining property line…

Franklin County requires outdoor residential lighting in all residential zoning districts to be arranged so it does not become a nuisance to passing traffic or adjoining residential…

Franklin County Code § 8.24.010(B)(2) makes sound from a horn or siren attached to a motor vehicle a public noise disturbance in unincorporated Franklin County, unless it is warning of…

Building or altering anything within a mapped special flood hazard area in unincorporated Franklin County requires a development permit first. The county building official, acting as…

New and substantially improved homes in Franklin County's mapped flood zones must sit at least one foot above base flood elevation where a BFE is set, or two feet above the highest…

Where a proposed home in unincorporated Franklin County sits more than 500 feet from a working fire hydrant or approved suppression system, Franklin County Code § 8.40.080 requires…

In unincorporated Franklin County, all storm drainage generated by new development must stay on the site. Franklin County Code Section 17.72.060 requires builders to control runoff…

Unincorporated Franklin County has no stand-alone grading and erosion ordinance; erosion control comes through SEPA environmental review. Franklin County Code Section…

Franklin County adopts the 2021 International Building Code and International Residential Code, and requires a building permit from the Planning and Building Department before covered…

Franklin County adopts the 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code, with Washington's amendments, to govern plumbing work in the unincorporated county. A plumbing permit costs a $40 base fee plus…

Before Franklin County issues a certificate of occupancy, every required inspection under the adopted International Building, Residential, Plumbing, Mechanical, Fuel Gas, and Fire…

Franklin County enforces dangerous and blighted buildings through the 1997 Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings, adopted by reference countywide. Violating the…

Installing residential solar panels in unincorporated Franklin County without structural alterations costs a flat $100 permit fee under the county's building permit fee table…

No adjoining property owner may use any part of a Franklin County road right-of-way without Board of County Commissioners permission. Franklin County Code § 10.18.040 requires that…

In unincorporated Franklin County, no one may block or occupy county right-of-way, which includes any sidewalk area between the curb and the adjacent property line, without a…

The Franklin County Parks Department sets separate open and closing hours for each county park under Franklin County Code § 12.12.030, posted at the park entrance and the department…

Anyone who wants exclusive use of a Franklin County park facility must reserve it through the park caretaker or the Parks Department office under Franklin County Code § 12.12.040…

In the RR-1 rural residential zone of unincorporated Franklin County, buildings and structures may cover no more than 40 percent of a one-acre minimum lot. RR-5 rural residential lots…

In the AP-20 agricultural production zone of unincorporated Franklin County, primary buildings must sit at least 25 feet from the road right-of-way, or 55 feet from the road centerline…

Franklin County caps primary and accessory structures at 35 feet in the AP-20 agricultural production zone, but exempts barns, silos, water towers and other farm buildings from the…

Franklin County Code Chapter 3.08 authorizes card rooms in the unincorporated area only when they operate under a Washington State Gambling Commission license, then taxes their gross…

Chapter 3.15 of the Franklin County Code levies a 4 percent excise tax on lodging charged by hotels, rooming houses, tourist courts, motels and trailer camps in the unincorporated…

Anyone selling food or merchandise from a vehicle on public streets, alleys or public ways in unincorporated Franklin County must register as a 'mobile vendor' with the Planning and…

Franklin County Code Chapter 5.12 shields agricultural activities on farmland and forest practices in the unincorporated county from nuisance lawsuits, presuming them reasonable unless…

Unincorporated Franklin County has no separate landmarks ordinance; the only local historic preservation rule is a special zoning permit. Franklin County Code Section 17.82.030 lets…

Franklin County doesn't limit how many garage sales you can hold, but it caps how long you can advertise one: yard, garage and estate sale signs may run no more than six consecutive…

Franklin County lets residents post political signs in every zoning district without a sign permit, capping them at thirty-two square feet (sixty-four for dual-faced signs) and six…

In unincorporated Franklin County, it's a zoning violation to build, alter, or use land without required permits, to ignore permit conditions or county notices, or to deface a posted…