Jefferson County, AL Ordinances (2026)

Within the U.S. Highway 280 Corridor Overlay District, Jefferson County's sign regulations exempt holiday lights and decorations from the permit, site-plan and inspection requirements…

Jefferson County's Zoning Resolution caps political signs at two per parcel and four square feet apiece, and requires them to be non-illuminated and temporary. Section 1403.01(g)…

Jefferson County's billboard article sets a tighter minimum spacing for digital billboards than for standard ones: ordinary billboards on the same side of a road must sit at least…

Jefferson County's sign code exempts window signs from its general permitting and design standards, but only up to a point: a sign posted inside a window counts as exempt only while it…

Jefferson County restricts billboards to a short list of designated highway corridors rather than allowing them anywhere: Interstates 22, 20, 59, 65 and 459, Alabama Highways 75 and…

A garage-sale sign counts as a temporary sign under Jefferson County's Zoning Regulations: it needs a sign permit and can stay up no more than 30 days before it must meet full…

Jefferson County's Sec. 1502.06 bans chain link, plastic, or wire fencing visible from public property inside the U.S. Highway 280 Corridor Overlay, requiring privacy fences to be…

Under Sec. 1502.08 of Jefferson County's U.S. Highway 280 Corridor Overlay, any retaining wall over eight feet tall that is visible from public property must be screened with…

When a buffer strip or privacy fence is required to separate conflicting land uses in unincorporated Jefferson County, Zoning Resolution Section 1204.02 spells out exactly what…

In the designated U.S. Highway 280 Corridor, Jefferson County requires a site plan submitted to the Department of Development Services before any building permit, including for fences…

Alabama DHR licenses home daycares under Alabama Code §38-7-1 et seq. Family Day Care Home: 6 children. Group Day Care Home: 7-12 children. Birmingham requires business license plus…

Jefferson County caps how many customers a home occupation can have on-site at once: Section 1701.07 of the Zoning Regulations limits every home business in the unincorporated county…

Jefferson County allows no signage at all for a home occupation in the unincorporated county. Section 1701.09 of the Zoning Regulations states flatly that no sign may be 'erected or…

Every residential zoning district in unincorporated Jefferson County, from the E-MF Estate Mini-Farm District to the E-1 Estate District, permits home occupations by right, but only…

Jefferson County caps outdoor lighting inside the U.S. Highway 280 Corridor Overlay at one footcandle spilling onto adjacent property or the public right-of-way under Sec. 1502.07…

Digital billboards and electronic message centers in Jefferson County cannot shine brighter than 0.30 foot candles above ambient light at set measuring distances, and each display must…

Every Planned Unit Development platted in unincorporated Jefferson County must line its interior streets with a planting strip between the curb and sidewalk holding one canopy tree…

Jefferson County enforces its own Plumbing Code, adopted from the 2018 International Plumbing Code, in the unincorporated county and in any municipality that hasn't adopted its own…

In unincorporated Jefferson County, anyone who wants to build, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish or change the occupancy of a building or structure, or erect a sign, install…

Jefferson County's Electrical Code adopts the 2017 National Electrical Code and requires anyone doing electrical business in the unincorporated county to hold a Certificate of…

Jefferson County's Building Official requires five staged inspections, foundation, foundation dampproofing, slab, frame, and final, before work covered by a permit can move to the next…

Jefferson County does not require automatic fire sprinklers in one- and two-family homes. The county's amendment to Section R313 of the 2018 International Residential Code keeps the…

Jefferson County's Building Code lets basement garages and crawl spaces skip Type X sheetrock or a sprinkler system if the builder instead installs a hard-wired heat detector in line…

Unincorporated Jefferson County protects working farmland through the A-P Agricultural Preservation District, a zoning classification reserved for Rural-context land with Class 1 or…

In unincorporated Jefferson County, veterinary establishments may operate in a C-1 Commercial District, but only as an enclosed clinic. The Zoning Resolution's Section 903 permits…

Unincorporated Jefferson County allows backyard hens but bans roosters outright. Zoning Resolution Section 1209 caps flock size by lot area, requires a predator-proof coop set back 35…

Unincorporated Jefferson County treats pawn shops as a restricted use confined to the C-1 Commercial District under the county Zoning Resolution. Section 903 bars a new pawn shop from…

Jefferson County's Zoning Resolution bars adult establishments from locating within 1,000 feet of any religious institution, school, kindergarten, child-care facility, public or…

Jefferson County's home-occupation rule flatly excludes auto repair from the businesses a resident may run out of a house in the unincorporated county. Section 1701.02 of the Zoning…

Jefferson County declares a building "unsafe" under Section 103.5.1 if it lacks adequate egress, is a fire hazard, or threatens safety through dilapidation, obsolescence or…

Jefferson County's Weed and Litter Ordinance requires anyone in charge of a lot in the unincorporated county to keep it free of unsightly weeds whenever the parcel is not under active…

In the U.S. Highway 280 Corridor Overlay, Jefferson County's Sec. 1502.05 requires commercial and institutional developments, not single-family homes, to hide trash receptacles inside…

Jefferson County's Weed and Litter Ordinance bars anyone in charge of unincorporated-area property from letting garbage, junk, tires, old appliances, and other debris pile up or get…

Jefferson County's off-street parking landscaping code lets developers count an existing healthy tree toward planting requirements at one and one-half trees, but only if it is at least…

Planned Unit Developments in unincorporated Jefferson County must plant only native tree species in rights-of-way and common areas, with substitutions allowed only if the County…

Jefferson County requires shade trees planted as required parking lot landscaping to be trimmed and maintained at a minimum height of eight feet above finished grade once they reach…

Jefferson County's weed rules come from its own Weed and Litter Ordinance, No. 1188, adopted under a constitutional amendment and local acts, because Alabama counties have no home…

Homes built in Jefferson County's R-1 Single Family District, the county's standard suburban lot classification for unincorporated areas, are capped at three stories under Zoning…

Unincorporated Jefferson County ties every building's front setback to the road it faces rather than a flat number. Section 1101 measures from the property line on rights-of-way of 40…

In Jefferson County's Slope Zone Overlay District, land with a natural slope of 15% or more, impervious surface is capped at 15% of the lot in the Lower Slope Zone and just 10% in the…

Jefferson County has no separate swimming-pool code, but a residential pool counts as a "structure" under the county's Building Code, so Sec. 105.1.1 requires the owner or contractor…

Unincorporated Jefferson County allows solar panels, solar farms, and photovoltaic electricity production as a by-right use in the I-1 Light Industrial District. Section 1001.01 of the…

Anyone disturbing land in unincorporated Jefferson County must register an erosion and sedimentation control plan with the Department of Inspection Services before grading starts…

Before Jefferson County will accept a final subdivision plat, Section 204.03(d)(6) of the Subdivision and Construction Regulations requires the map to delineate the 100-year floodplain…

Property in the U.S. Highway 280 Corridor Overlay must follow Sec. 1502.08's grading and drainage standards before Jefferson County's Department of Development Services will approve a…

Jefferson County can block subdivision of any land lying within a stream's floodplain outright: Section 10.20(b)(6) lets the Director of Roads and Transportation/County Engineer…

Unincorporated Jefferson County's Zoning Resolution defines a short-term rental as renting any residence, or part of one, to a transient for overnight stays under 90 consecutive…

Jefferson County's Zoning Resolution lets residential developments earn up to a 10% density increase, compoundable to 20%, in exchange for specific public benefits. Section 504.02…

An accessory dwelling unit in unincorporated Jefferson County cannot be rented out to the public. Zoning Resolution Section 1207(b) restricts ADU occupancy to members of the property…

Jefferson County's Zoning Resolution defines a Tiny Home as a site-built detached dwelling of 400 square feet or less, excluding lofts, built to the county's Building Code. Tiny homes…

A shed or other accessory building in unincorporated Jefferson County must sit behind the main house and at least 5 feet off the side and rear property lines. Section 1101 of the…

Jefferson County allows one accessory dwelling unit per lot, but Zoning Resolution Section 1207 boxes it in tightly: it must share utilities with the main house, sit in the rear yard…

Inside Jefferson County's Traditional Village District (TVD), the zoning code bars front-yard vehicle parking outright: residential parking must sit in a rear-yard driveway, a garage…

Jefferson County's Weed and Litter Ordinance caps unincorporated-area property at one inoperable motor vehicle. Keep a second dead car, truck, or trailer parked, stored, or abandoned…

Jefferson County requires subdivision plats submitted for flood-prone land in the unincorporated county to be filled at least 2 feet above the 100-year flood elevation before the…

Unincorporated Jefferson County allows seasonal fireworks stands only in the C-1 Commercial District, and only under a 30-day permit adopted by the county in 1983. Section 903 requires…