Grant County, WA Ordinances (2026)

In unincorporated Grant County, the Grandview North and Grandview South roadways and culs-de-sac west of SR 17 near Moses Lake are a designated "no parking area" between 10:00 p.m. and…

Grant County Code Section 11.32.020 bars any driver from stopping, parking or leaving a vehicle standing, attended or unattended, on the roadway or right-of-way of a designated "no…

In unincorporated Grant County, boats, travel trailers, RVs, and similar recreational equipment over 6 feet tall cannot sit in a required front or side yard setback unless they are in…

Grant County treats EV charging stations as an accessory use tied to an already-permitted use across the Unified Development Code's zoning tables. Note 34 to UDC Tables 3, 4 and 5…

Unincorporated Grant County caps unlicensed or inoperable vehicle storage at two per lot and bans storing vehicles or articles in public rights-of-way. Grant County Code § 23.04.050(f)…

Grant County requires one off-street loading space for any non-residential building of 10,000 square feet or more, with a 10-by-30-foot minimum size, and mandates noise mitigation when…

In unincorporated Grant County, GCC Unified Development Code Section 23.08.020(i) sets the rules for parking or storing an RV, boat, trailer, tent trailer, houseboat or horse trailer…

In unincorporated Grant County, a code violation case opens when a citizen or employee files a complaint with the county or when a county employee personally observes a violation, per…

Anyone cited for a code violation in unincorporated Grant County has fifteen calendar days to respond under GCC 1.32.110, and a contested citation must get a Grant County District…

Grant County Code Chapter 1.32 lists six categories of code violations the county enforces countywide in unincorporated Grant County, from unpermitted work to ignored stop-work orders…

Unincorporated Grant County has no breed ban. Under Grant County Code Chapter 9.07, the Sheriff's Office (acting as animal control authority) declares a dog "dangerous" or "potentially…

In Grant County's designated dog control areas, a list of specific unincorporated subdivisions like Desert Aire and Pelican Point, GCC 9.06.050 requires every dog to be on a leash or…

Unincorporated Grant County caps backyard fowl and small livestock by lot size under GCC UDO Section 23.08.020(h). You can keep up to fifteen fowl or rabbits per 5,000 square feet, and…

Unincorporated Grant County limits dogs, cats and similar household pets to three per 5,000 square feet of lot area, under GCC UDO Section 23.08.020(h)(3). Animals under six months old…

Grant County's Unified Development Code lets veterinary clinics and hospitals locate outright in some zoning districts and only by conditional use permit in others, and it bars…

In unincorporated Grant County it is unlawful for anyone under eighteen to remain in a public place or business establishment during curfew hours: 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on school nights…

Property owners and occupants in unincorporated Grant County must keep the sidewalks, trails, and footpaths along their county-road frontage clear and usable under Grant County Code…

In unincorporated Grant County, gas barbeques and charcoal-start grills are exempt from the county's summer burn ban under Grant County Code § 6.10.070(1)(f), but only if used safely…

New one- and two-family homes and townhouses in unincorporated Grant County need an automatic fire sprinkler system under Grant County Code § 14.04.030(1)(j) whenever the home will…

Grant County requires a building permit for construction under the adopted International Building and Residential Codes at GCC 14.04.030, administered by the Development Services…

Plumbing work in unincorporated Grant County falls under the Uniform Plumbing Code, adopted by reference at GCC 14.04.030(d), except for the code's own sewer and fuel-gas piping…

No structure in unincorporated Grant County can get final approval or a certificate of occupancy without passing every required inspection. GCC 14.04.050 voids and revokes a permit if…

In unincorporated Grant County, § 6.24.020 bans motor vehicles without a working muffler and stereo systems audible more than seventy-five feet away. Section 6.24.040 makes any…

Unincorporated Grant County treats frequent, repetitive or continuous sounds from musical instruments, TVs, stereos, radios, band sessions or social gatherings in a residential area as…

Unincorporated Grant County bans keeping or harboring any animal, including dogs, whose frequent or repetitive noisemaking unreasonably interferes with neighbors' peace in residential…

Unincorporated Grant County has no blanket nighttime noise curfew. Instead, § 6.24.050(b) exempts specific noises, aircraft engine testing, shooting-range firearms discharge, and…

In unincorporated Grant County, construction site noise is exempt from the county's noise chapter only from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., or at any hour if the site sits more than one thousand…

Grant County's Airport Safety Overlay (ASO) zoning district restricts new buildings and outdoor uses near Grant County International, Ephrata, Moses Lake Municipal and four other…

Grant County has not opted out of state-licensed marijuana retail, production, or processing, but the Unified Development Code confines them to specific zoning districts and buffers…

Outdoor marijuana production in unincorporated Grant County must sit at least 500 yards from urban growth boundaries, off-premises residences, and residential or shoreline districts…

In unincorporated Grant County, tiny homes are expressly allowed as accessory dwelling units alongside manufactured homes and Park Model RVs, provided the structure meets all…

In unincorporated Grant County, an accessory dwelling unit must be occupied as a permanent residence and cannot be used, rented, or leased as a transient short-term rental of under 30…

In unincorporated Grant County, a second dwelling is allowed as an accessory to an existing single-family home, but the count and configuration differ by area. Urban growth areas allow…

In unincorporated Grant County, converting a detached garage into an accessory dwelling unit is allowed and must meet all standard ADU requirements, but a garage that is already…

In unincorporated Grant County, storage sheds, workshops, garages and barns are listed as permitted residential accessory uses in every zoning district under GCC UDO Section…

In unincorporated Grant County, a security alarm that sounds for more than thirty minutes, can be heard off the property, and unreasonably disturbs anyone's peace is a public noise…

In unincorporated Grant County, Grant County Code Chapter 6.24 makes it unlawful to create a public noise disturbance, but Section 6.24.050(a)(26) exempts sounds created by generators…

In unincorporated Grant County, the Development Services code official can order the owner of any structure so dilapidated, unsafe, insanitary or unfit for habitation that repair is…

Anyone renting out a short-term rental in unincorporated Grant County needs an annual operational permit from the Grant County Fire Marshal's Office under GCC 15.03.010(b). The county…

Short-term rentals in unincorporated Grant County collect the county's 4 percent lodging excise tax under GCC § 3.68.030 on every stay, on top of state sales tax, because the code…

Grant County's Unified Development Code requires every short-term transient residence rental to be operated so it prevents unreasonable disturbance to area residents, under UDO §…

Every short-term transient residence rental in unincorporated Grant County, defined in Unified Development Code § 23.08.220(c) as a rental of under thirty days, must hold and maintain…

A transient residence short-term rental in unincorporated Grant County must provide at least one additional ADA-accessible off-street parking space beyond what the primary residence…

Grant County has no stand-alone anti-camping ordinance for unincorporated areas, but GCC Chapter 6.46 treats camping on county-owned property, meaning parks, trails, parking lots…

In unincorporated Grant County, residential fences are capped at 4 feet in the front yard setback and 7 feet in side and rear yards under Unified Development Code Section 23.08.020(f)…

In unincorporated Grant County, a fence that stays within the standard 4-foot or 7-foot height limits needs no permit, but any fence built outside a required setback that exceeds 7…

Barbed wire fencing is banned in unincorporated Grant County's urban residential districts (UR1 through UR4) and its rural activity center residential districts (RVR, RC, SD1 through…

Grant County Code 8.28.030 makes it unlawful to throw, drop or otherwise dispose of litter on any road, other public place, or private property you do not own or control in…

In unincorporated Grant County, non-residential buildings of 10,000 square feet or more must provide off-street loading spaces, and any loading area or dumpster has to be screened from…

Unincorporated Grant County treats yard waste, trees, shrubs and grass clippings as regulated natural vegetation under GCC 6.10.020, and GCC 6.10.070 folds it directly into the annual…

Grant County Code 8.28.150 makes it unlawful to throw, deposit or distribute commercial or noncommercial handbills, including flyers and canvassing literature, on private property in…

Anyone peddling, hawking, bartering or auctioneering door to door in unincorporated Grant County needs a license from the county treasurer under GCC 5.02.020. The license fee is thirty…

Grant County Code 8.40.030 bans using, possessing or consuming alcohol at any time in the Moses Lake Sand Dunes Area and the Beverly Sand Dunes Area, two off-road-vehicle recreation…

In unincorporated Grant County, new development must control stormwater runoff so it does not harm neighboring land, water quality, or critical areas. Grant County Code section…

Any construction or development inside a mapped special flood hazard area in unincorporated Grant County needs a development permit under GCC Chapter 14.02 before work starts. The…

New homes and substantial improvements built in Grant County's AE, A1-30, or other A-zone flood areas must sit at least two feet above the base flood elevation, the freeboard standard…

Grant County requires all clearing, grading, and development to control erosion and stormwater under UDO § 23.12.080, tying county-level drainage and erosion-control work to the…

Grant County Code § 23.04.080 shields ordinary farming and mineral extraction on Rural and Resource Lands from nuisance claims when operators follow accepted best management practices…

The Agricultural (AG) zoning district covers Grant County's most productive Columbia Basin farmland and reserves it primarily for crop agriculture, livestock, and irrigation-dependent…

Unincorporated Grant County levies a 4 percent special excise tax on lodging under GCC 3.68.030, reaching hotels, motels, tourist courts, trailer camps and any similar short-term…

Grant County enforces the International Wildland Urban Interface Code countywide under GCC Chapter 15.05, with a local amendment to Section 403.2 that sets driveway length, width, and…

Grant County's Fire Marshal issues fireworks permits for the unincorporated county under GCC 6.04.020, following RCW 70.77.260, and can recommend an emergency sale-and-discharge ban to…

Unincorporated Grant County runs an automatic outdoor burning restriction every year from June 1 through September 30 under GCC 6.10.070. Year-round, GCC 6.10.040 caps any burn pile at…

Recreational fires, campfires, cook fires and bonfires are allowed in unincorporated Grant County under GCC 6.10.050 as long as no burn ban is in effect. The fire itself is capped at…

Grant County regulates pool barriers by adopting the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code by reference at GCC 14.04.030(g) for new construction, while explicitly declining to adopt…

Grant County will not permit an outdoor advertising sign within three hundred feet of a highway intersection or wherever it blocks a driver's clear view of approaching traffic for five…

In unincorporated Grant County, a yard-sale or garage-sale sign is exempt from the Unified Development Code's sign permit only if it stays up 45 days or less in any 365-day stretch and…

A sign placed inside a window or on the windowpane, and visible from outside, is exempt from Grant County's sign permit requirement in unincorporated Grant County. The exemption covers…

Political campaign and public-issue ballot signs on private property in unincorporated Grant County are exempt from the sign permit process, but only within a set window: not more than…

Grant County requires a Conditional Use permit for any sign using animation or flashing lights, and a separate Discretionary Use permit for every off-premises advertising sign…

Grant County sets no local towing rate schedule of its own for wreckers on the sheriff's rotational call-out list. GCC 5.20.010 instead adopts the state's fee schedule, WAC…

Automobile repair on a residential parcel in unincorporated Grant County is only allowed as a Cottage Industry use under GCC UDO Section 23.08.140, which requires the Administrative…

Exterior lighting on any use or sign in unincorporated Grant County has to be shielded or recessed so glare and reflections stay within the parcel, aimed downward and away from…

Grant County treats lands, sites and structures with historical or archaeological significance as protected cultural resources under the Unified Development Code. A permit within 300…

A day care facility operated out of a private residence in unincorporated Grant County must meet GCC UDO Section 23.08.150's standards: state licensing, compliance with the zoning…

Unincorporated Grant County home occupations that draw customers to the site must provide off-street parking under Unified Development Code § 23.08.210(d)(12), and if the business…

In unincorporated Grant County, a home occupation is allowed in any dwelling under Unified Development Code § 23.08.210, which lists permitted trades like artists, tailors, home crafts…

A home occupation that wants to skip Grant County's approval process must post no sign at all under Unified Development Code § 23.08.210(c)(2), and even an occupation that goes through…

Unincorporated Grant County places no cap on how many garage or yard sales a resident can hold. The Unified Development Code exempts garage and yard sales on residential premises…

Grant County's Unified Development Code layers a special buffer setback on top of the base zone setback whenever a residential lot borders farmland or mineral land: 60 feet from…

Grant County caps building height by zoning district in the tables to its Unified Development Code, and Table 1's Note 17 sets the standard formula: a 45-foot base limit with one extra…

A solar energy facility in unincorporated Grant County must clear a 7% maximum slope test with a full topographic survey, stay under 20 feet tall, set back 100 feet from any off-site…