Houston County, GA Ordinances (2026)

Houston County treats a home daycare as a Special Exception use, not a by-right home business. In the R-1, R-2, R-AG and related residential districts, a day-care home needs Board of…

Houston County allows a home occupation only if the applicant owns the property (or has the owner's written approval as a tenant), only family members residing there work in it, and…

Houston County bars home occupations from generating excessive traffic, odors, glare, noise, vibration, or electrical disturbance that would create a nuisance for the surrounding…

A Houston County home occupation may display only a business sign of two square feet or less, and it must be unlighted and fixed flat to a wall, under Section 20-1(5). Any sign that is…

Houston County's Section 82 setback table requires a 50-foot front yard from arterial and collector streets in every district, 30 to 35 feet in the two lowest-density residential…

Houston County caps building lot coverage at 25 percent for lots on private wells regardless of zoning district, and sets a sliding scale of 40 percent down to 25 percent for…

In unincorporated Houston County, a detached shed or accessory building can cover no more than 30 percent of the rear yard, cannot exceed two stories, and must sit at least 10 feet off…

Houston County's Land Development Regulations do not let anyone add a second house or mobile home to a residential lot as of right. Under Section 107, the Board of Zoning Appeals can…

Houston County's nuisance ordinance bans weeds, grasses and uncultivated plant growth over eight inches tall on any premises or exterior property in the unincorporated county. Code…

Houston County's Tree Protection and Landscaping regulations limit tree removal to what's necessary for construction whenever a residential or non-residential development requires a…

Houston County's abandoned-property maintenance code lets artificial turf or sod "designed specifically for residential installation" count as acceptable landscaping on bank-owned and…

Houston County's Comprehensive Land Development Regulations require off-street loading docks for larger commercial and industrial buildings instead of curbside loading. Any building…

Houston County's land development regulations limit trailers and commercial vehicles parked at homes in residential districts. Travel, hauling, and boat trailers must sit behind the…

No truck or tractor-trailer may park overnight on a residential subdivision street or on any county right-of-way in Houston County, under General Code Sec. 62-54. A driver cited for an…

Trucks and tractor-trailers over 30 feet with more than six wheels cannot enter, travel, or park on residential subdivision streets in Houston County, under General Code Sec. 62-53…

Houston County bans keeping any inoperative or untagged motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer in open view on private or public property unless it sits inside a fully enclosed…

Houston County requires a license before anyone opens an adult bookstore, adult theater, adult arcade, escort bureau or adult dancing establishment. Erotic dance clubs must post…

Houston County flatly bars motor vehicle repair or maintenance as a home business. Section 95.4.2 of the Comprehensive Land Development Regulations excludes auto repair from the…

Houston County's land development regulations do not cap general residential fence height, but they do restrict fences near street corners. Outside the C-3 Concentrated Commercial…

It is unlawful in Houston County to obstruct, encroach on, sell merchandise on, or damage any part of a county road, under General Code Sec. 54-36(3). Anyone who does is responsible…

Any driveway, access entrance, or pipe installation touching a Houston County road right-of-way needs a permit under General Code Sec. 54-36, applied for through the building…

Houston County's land development regulations require outdoor lighting to be directed away from neighboring homes and public streets. Section 67.3 bans fixtures that reflect onto…

Houston County unincorporated short-term rentals may sleep no more than two guests per bedroom plus two additional people, capped at 15 total regardless of bedroom count, under County…

No dwelling unit in unincorporated Houston County may be used, rented, offered, or advertised as a short-term rental without a valid accommodation excise tax certificate under Section…

Houston County charges a $150 accommodation excise tax certificate fee for each short-term rental applied for before July 1, dropping to $75 if filed later in the year, under Section…

Houston County's R-AG Agricultural Residential District, limited to the unincorporated county, exists to protect rural land from premature development and expressly permits raising…

Houston County requires every animal owner to keep their pet under restraint at all times. Sec. 10-9 defines restraint as a hand-held leash, obedience at heel, confinement in a…

Houston County bans keeping cattle, horses, ponies, donkeys, mules, goats, sheep or fowl on any property in the unincorporated county unless a county ordinance permits it, per Code…

Houston County caps most residential lots at three dogs and three cats under Code Sec. 10-19. Puppies and kittens get a 12-week grace period, and lots of five acres or more, or zoned…

Houston County classifies dogs as potentially dangerous, dangerous or vicious based on documented behavior, not breed, under Code Article III (Sec. 10-101 et seq.). Owners of a…

Houston County makes it unlawful to feed stray or feral cats anywhere in the unincorporated county once that feeding causes a nuisance to neighbors or businesses, or creates a…

A home swimming pool is a permitted accessory use in Houston County's R-1 and R-AG residential districts, but only if it sits at least 10 feet from every property line, is enclosed by…

In Houston County's R-1 Single-Family Residential District, a home swimming pool must sit at least 10 feet from every property line and be enclosed by a wall or fence at least 4 feet…

It is unlawful in Houston County to dump or bury garbage, refuse, or rubbish anywhere in the solid waste district without prior approval from state authorities, under General Code Sec…

Houston County runs mandatory once-a-week garbage collection and twice-monthly recycling pickup for every residential unit in the unincorporated county, under General Code Sec. 50-42…

Houston County residents must place solid waste carts at the curbside pickup spot by 7:00 a.m. on the scheduled collection day and pull them back in within 24 hours, under General Code…

Houston County collects residential yard waste curbside once a week alongside garbage and bulky waste, but only if it's cut smaller than five feet long, no more than eight inches in…

Houston County collects bulky waste, like furniture and white goods, once a week alongside regular garbage under Chapter 50, but items have to be placed neatly beside the roll-out cart…

A dog that barks, whines, howls or brays for more than 15 minutes loud enough to be heard off the owner's property is a declared public nuisance under Houston County Code Sec. 10-1…

Houston County outlaws loudspeakers and amplifiers mounted on moving vehicles for advertising, and bars their use on public streets, sidewalks, and parks, under the county's noise…

Houston County limits construction, demolition, and street excavation noise in residential areas to the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. under Code § 30-42(c)(3). Work outside that…

From midnight to 7:00 a.m., Houston County bans playing a radio, phonograph, or musical instrument, and yelling, shouting, whistling, or singing on public streets, loudly enough to…

Houston County imposes a 5 percent excise tax on the rent charged for every hotel or motel guestroom occupancy in the unincorporated county under Section 58-98 of the Lodging Tax…

A window sign in unincorporated Houston County cannot cover more than 30 percent of the window area it is displayed on. Section 97.4.2 of the Comprehensive Land Development Regulations…

Electronic signs in unincorporated Houston County only go in C-1, C-2, C-3, M-1 and M-2 districts, and Section 97.13 locks their message timing: each display holds at least 1 second…

Houston County treats small recreational fires and cooking fires as exempt from the state's open-burning restrictions instead of banning them outright. Under section 32-23(1), warming…

Houston County bans open burning outright from May 1 through September 30 each year, with narrow carve-outs for farming, prescribed forestry burns, firefighter training, recreational…

Unincorporated Houston County lets small ground-mounted solar arrays under 5 acres go in without a special permit, but any Intermediate (5-50 acre) or Large Scale (over 50 acre) system…

Houston County requires a land-disturbing permit with an approved erosion, sedimentation, and pollution control plan for most grading, clearing, or excavation under Code § 30-61 et…

Houston County's FH Flood Hazard District bars new human-habitation structures and requires Board of Zoning Appeals approval before any building, street, bridge, or utility line is…

Houston County regulates stormwater quality and quantity for all surface waters in the unincorporated county through its separately adopted Water Resources Protection Ordinance…

Houston County's loitering rule only takes effect once the board chair signs a declaration of local emergency: Section 26-66(a) then makes it unlawful to travel, loiter, wander, or…

Houston County bans drinking alcohol at its own public boat landing on the Ocmulgee River, along with firearms, overnight camping, open fires and swimming there. The rule is…

Houston County declares a building or its electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing systems "unsafe" and illegal under Sec. 14-75 once fire damage, missing egress, fire hazards or a…

Houston County limits residential yard sales and garage sales to two sales per year, capped at two days each, under section 42-5 of the general code. Commercial-zoned property can host…

Every plumbing installation in unincorporated Houston County, from new piping to a fixture replacement, is governed by the Georgia State Minimum Standard Plumbing Code adopted in…

Any electrical installation, alteration, repair or replacement in unincorporated Houston County falls under the electrical code adopted in Chapter 14 of the county's Code of…

Houston County requires a permit before almost any construction or system work on a building: Sec. 14-91(a) of the county's Code of Ordinances covers new construction, enlargement…

Every short-term rental in unincorporated Houston County must have working carbon monoxide detectors in each bedroom and on every habitable floor, under Sec. 19-24(a)(1) of the…

Before selling anything door-to-door or in person in unincorporated Houston County, a transient vendor, solicitor or peddler must get a license under Sec. 19-2, which requires a…