Grays Harbor County, WA Ordinances (2026)

In unincorporated Grays Harbor County, new construction and substantial improvements inside a mapped special flood hazard area must have the lowest floor, including any basement…

Unincorporated Grays Harbor County requires erosion and sediment control on every development in a mapped erosion or landslide hazard area. Stormwater and drainage work must follow the…

In unincorporated Grays Harbor County, no one may build, fill, or place a manufactured home within a mapped special flood hazard area without a floodplain development permit under…

Every long subdivision approved in unincorporated Grays Harbor County must include a drainage plan that meets the state Department of Ecology's Stormwater Management Manual for Western…

Grays Harbor County requires trees within two hundred feet of Lake Quinault's ordinary high water mark to be retained rather than cut; limbs may be trimmed to open a view but the tree…

Grays Harbor County allows a home compost pile or bin under Section 8.12.050 as an exception to its litter-accumulation ban, but only if it is kept in a way that does not attract…

In unincorporated Grays Harbor County, towers, chimneys, water tanks and similar roof features may rise above a zoning district's height limit under Grays Harbor County Code §…

In the R-1 Restricted Residential District, unincorporated Grays Harbor County's baseline single-family zone, Grays Harbor County Code § 17.28.040 requires a 25-foot front yard, a…

Unincorporated Grays Harbor County caps how much of a residential lot can be covered by buildings, driveways and other impervious surface at thirty-three percent. County Code §…

In unincorporated Grays Harbor County, using a truck's compression brake, a jake brake, is banned on five specific road segments: stretches of State Route 101 and 109 near Hoquiam…

Unincorporated Grays Harbor County sets no decibel table of its own. Instead, Section 9.12.010(B) of the county code adopts Chapter 173-60 of the Washington Administrative Code as the…

Grays Harbor County makes it unlawful for a dog owner to let a dog bark, howl or make other loud noise that disturbs the peace under Section 6.04.030. Barking sustained for a full…

In unincorporated Grays Harbor County, new cannabis processing and production facilities may locate only in the A-1, A-2, I-1, I-2 and SD (Satsop Development) zone districts, and only…

Grays Harbor County Code § 17.68.100 requires every lot in a commercial or industrial district, plus every lot with a hotel or public or semi-public use, to provide an on-site loading…

Unincorporated Grays Harbor County bars leaving any vehicle, including a junk vehicle, parked, stopped, or standing on a county roadway, shoulder, or right-of-way for more than seven…

It is unlawful to store a junk vehicle on private property anywhere in unincorporated Grays Harbor County under Section 8.04.010. A vehicle counts as junk once it meets three of four…

In unincorporated Grays Harbor County, parking a heavy truck at a residence is a permitted accessory use, not a ban, but the zoning code caps it at one truck and only if the person who…

Grays Harbor County Code § 8.40.020 treats keeping more than two recreational vehicles on a residential parcel, or leaving an inoperable boat or vehicle after notice, as a code…

To report a suspected zoning violation in unincorporated Grays Harbor County, § 17.76.040 lets any person file a complaint stating the causes and basis with the administrative…

Grays Harbor County requires every short-term rental dwelling in the unincorporated area to have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors installed per the International Residential…

Selling consumer fireworks anywhere in unincorporated Grays Harbor County requires a fireworks stand permit under Section 8.08.020, and a store that also sells non-firework merchandise…

Grays Harbor County's code does not set a general backyard fire-pit rule for the unincorporated county; the only outdoor fire-pit standard in the county code sits in the recreational…

In unincorporated Grays Harbor County, a building or structure that endangers life, health, or safety is a dangerous building under the county's Uniform Code for the Abatement of…

Unincorporated Grays Harbor County makes it unlawful for anyone running a house or place of business, including a bar or tavern, to allow loud or boisterous noise, disorderly conduct…

Grays Harbor County Park bans drinking or holding an open container of alcohol anywhere on park property. The rule sits in the county's park use ordinance, Chapter 12.12, and a…

Grays Harbor County Park is open eight a.m. to ten p.m. daily from May through August under Chapter 12.12 of the county code. Leaving a vehicle in the park past closing time is…

To reserve part of Grays Harbor County Park or its facilities for an organized event, an individual, group, or organization submits a specific written request to the county or park…

Every short-term rental permit holder in unincorporated Grays Harbor County must carry at least one million dollars of liability insurance covering the rental's use, as required by…

Grays Harbor County escalates penalties against repeat short-term rental violators under County Code Section 17.60.020(G)(4), running from a written warning to a one-thousand-dollar…

Grays Harbor County requires every short-term rental to post quiet hours running no later than 10:00 p.m. to no earlier than 7:00 a.m. on the safety notice inside the dwelling, under…

Grays Harbor County requires every short-term rental to provide at least one on-site parking space for each bedroom, under County Code Section 17.60.020(B)(5). The standard is a permit…

Anyone renting a short-term rental in unincorporated Grays Harbor County needs a permit issued by the county administrator under § 17.60.020, valid only in the G-1, G-5, R-2, R-3, RR…

Grays Harbor County caps overnight sleeping occupancy at a short-term rental at two guests per bedroom plus two more, or fewer if the property's septic system can't support that many…

Short-term rental permit-holders in unincorporated Grays Harbor County must remit every applicable local, state and federal tax and county fee tied to the rental, and keep three years…

Grays Harbor County allows a home occupation in any residential zone, and a broader version in general development or agricultural zones, only if it stays secondary to the dwelling's…

A home occupation sign in a Grays Harbor County residential zone cannot exceed four square feet; in general development or agricultural zones, the cap rises to eight square feet, under…

Grays Harbor County's zoning code treats a home day care as a permitted use, not a conditional one, in every residential and agricultural district in unincorporated Grays Harbor…

Grays Harbor County's general sign rule protects political signs outright: County Code Section 17.60.070 states nothing in the section bars outdoor signs on real property relating to a…

Grays Harbor County charges a three percent excise tax on lodging sold by any hotel, rooming house, tourist court, motel or trailer camp under Section 3.48.010. The Washington…

Collection companies serving unincorporated Grays Harbor County must offer every-other-week curbside recycling pickup on the same day as garbage collection under Section 8.32.030. The…

Dumping brush, grass clippings or other yard and landscaping waste anywhere in unincorporated Grays Harbor County without the property owner's permission is unlawful under Section…

Grays Harbor County Code § 8.32.030(D) sets the minimum list of materials a certificated hauler must accept in every single-family curbside recycling cart in unincorporated Grays…

Dumping solid waste outside the county's designated disposal sites is unlawful in unincorporated Grays Harbor County. Grays Harbor County Code § 8.28.050 bars anyone from disposing of…

Grays Harbor County Code § 8.32.040 makes bulky item pickup an optional, fee-based add-on: any resident who already subscribes to curbside collection in unincorporated Grays Harbor…

Grays Harbor County Code § 8.32.030(A)-(B) requires certificated haulers to offer every-other-week, single-stream curbside recycling to every single-family home that gets curbside…

Unincorporated Grays Harbor County has no general outdoor-lighting ordinance, but any on-site parking facility built for five or more vehicles must be lit so the fixtures reflect light…

A planned unit development (PUD) in unincorporated Grays Harbor County can request up to a five percent increase in allowed residential density under County Code § 17.56.190(D)(4), if…

In unincorporated Grays Harbor County, a data center is an outright permitted use only in the Satsop Development (SD) zoning district, the business park on the former nuclear-plant…

A detached tool shed or playhouse under 200 square feet does not need a county building permit in unincorporated Grays Harbor County, but it must still meet Title 17 zoning setbacks…

Grays Harbor County does not charge a flat ADU impact fee; instead it converts accessory dwelling units into Equivalent Residential Units for both the one-time general facility charge…

Unincorporated Grays Harbor County does not zone for a standard accessory dwelling unit; instead it allows a temporary second dwelling for a family caregiver as a conditional use…

Grays Harbor County's only carbon monoxide detector mandate applies to short-term rentals: County Code § 17.60.020(B)(2)(a) requires every short-term rental dwelling to have working…

Grays Harbor County has no residential fire sprinkler mandate. One- and two-family dwellings under 5,000 square feet of fire area are exempt from the county's whole fire-flow chapter…

Anyone who wants to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish, or change the occupancy of a building or structure in unincorporated Grays Harbor County, or touch a regulated…

A child day care center, as opposed to a small home day care, needs a conditional use permit in unincorporated Grays Harbor County and must clear four separate conditions before the…

Grays Harbor County adopts the Uniform Plumbing Code, amends and renames it the Uniform Plumbing Code of Grays Harbor County, and puts the planning and building division in charge as…

In unincorporated Grays Harbor County, no building or structure may be used or occupied until the building official completes a final inspection under the amended International…

A residential swimming pool needs a county building permit in unincorporated Grays Harbor County unless it is a prefabricated, above-ground pool under 24 inches deep that holds no more…

A retaining wall up to four feet high does not need a county building permit in unincorporated Grays Harbor County, unless it holds back a surcharge load or impounds hazardous liquids…

A fence up to seven feet high does not need a county building permit in unincorporated Grays Harbor County; a taller fence falls under the general building permit requirement and needs…

Unincorporated Grays Harbor County protects farmland through two dedicated zoning districts rather than a standalone right-to-farm ordinance. County Code § 17.12.010 creates the A-1…

Grays Harbor County Code § 8.34.030 shields agricultural, forestry and aquaculture operations from nuisance claims. An operation using generally accepted management practices for…

Running an auto repair business out of a residential property in unincorporated Grays Harbor County requires a conditional use permit, not a home occupation registration. County Code §…

A veterinary clinic in unincorporated Grays Harbor County needs board of adjustment approval before it can open in a residential district. County Code § 17.40.030(E) lists veterinary…

Grays Harbor County's only rodent and vector control ordinance sits inside its recreational vehicle park licensing chapter. Under Grays Harbor County Code § 8.20.040(G), every licensed…

Grays Harbor County's fire code requires every mobile food preparation vehicle operating in the unincorporated county to hold a valid Mobile Food Preparation Vehicle Permit issued by…