Jefferson Parish, LA Ordinances (2026)

Jefferson Parish zoning (Chapter 40) permits home occupations in residential districts. Section 40-3 defines a home occupation as an occupation carried out by a resident that is…

Jefferson Parish limits how many customers a home-based business can see at once: computer training is capped at one student, diet and exercise services at one client, and music, art…

A Jefferson Parish resident can run a licensed home daycare for up to six children as a home occupation, but the outdoor play area has to total at least 75 square feet per child using…

A home-based business anywhere in Jefferson Parish can display exactly one sign: a non-illuminated nameplate no larger than 2 square feet, mounted flush against the dwelling's wall…

Where a dwelling wall serves as part of the pool barrier, Louisiana's adopted pool code requires added protection: a door alarm audible when opened, a self-closing/self-latching door…

Above-ground pools in Jefferson Parish must control access. If the pool wall is the barrier, the ladder or steps must be lockable or removable. Prefabricated pools under 24 inches deep…

Jefferson Parish treats signs near its interstates differently in both directions: off-premises billboards are barred within 500 feet of any interstate highway, while on-premises signs…

Garage, rummage, yard, craft and boutique sale signs cannot go on any public property in Jefferson Parish, including utility poles, curbs, medians and street rights-of-way. Sec. 32-1…

Storefronts inside Jefferson Parish's Fat City Mixed-Use districts (FC-1, FC-2, FC-3) cannot cover more than 25 percent of a window with a sign. The cap sits inside the same sign…

Off-premises digital billboards using electronic variable message technology in Jefferson Parish must sit at least 1,000 feet from another EVM billboard, 500 feet from any older static…

Jefferson Parish exempts temporary political signs from its sign permit process entirely, but caps each one at 32 square feet, the same exemption list that clears real estate…

Jefferson Parish caps grass and weeds at eight inches within 150 feet of any building on a lot. Sec. 19-18 declares taller growth, plus any other deleterious or unhealthful vegetation…

Trees growing on Jefferson Parish public property, including the grassy strip between the sidewalk and the street, cannot be pruned, trimmed, or removed without a permit from the…

Backyard composting in Jefferson Parish does not trigger the zoning and licensing rules that apply to a commercial composting operation. The parish's Unified Development Code defines…

Jefferson Parish's low impact development standards let site plans meet part of their stormwater and landscaping obligations by choosing native plants over conventional shrubs and…

Cutting or clearing a protected tree, generally any oak, elm, magnolia, sycamore, or other significant canopy tree of 8 inches or more in diameter, requires sign-off from the parish…

Jefferson Parish bans parking, storing, or driving a vehicle on the unpaved or non-graveled part of a front yard at a home or business, as well as on canal servitudes, levees, neutral…

Jefferson Parish bans parking within three feet of a driveway's curb return or directly across from it on unincorporated two-lane streets, plus 30-foot intersection clearance, 20-foot…

Jefferson Parish bans junked, derelict or abandoned vehicles on any street, right-of-way, or vacant or unused parish or private property. Sec. 36-129 outlaws discarding, parking or…

Any hospital, hotel, or commercial building over 7,500 square feet that takes delivery trucks must build a permanent off-street loading space for every 7,500 square feet of floor area…

Jefferson Parish has no nightly parking curfew; a vehicle can sit on a public street overnight or even all weekend. The limit is duration, not the clock: Sec. 36-88 bans parking any…

Heavy commercial vehicles, commercial vans, trailers, and buses cannot park on any public street inside or bordering a Jefferson Parish residential district. Residents may keep up to…

The parish zoning code lets residents keep RVs and boats on their lot, but they must sit behind the front building line (or 60 feet back) and, if over seven feet tall, be set back five…

Louisiana law, not a Jefferson Parish ordinance, sets the state's smoke and carbon monoxide detector floor: any one- or two-family home sold or leased anywhere in the parish must have…

Jefferson Parish outlaws having, storing, using, manufacturing, selling or transporting fireworks anywhere in the parish, full stop. Sec. 20-133 makes clear the intent is to prohibit…

Jefferson Parish bans backyard burn barrels and bonfires used to get rid of trash. Chapter 16 makes it illegal to set fire to combustible material on any public or private property to…

Jefferson Parish's animal code sets no fixed limit on the number of dogs or cats a household may own. Instead, all dogs, cats, and ferrets over four months old must be licensed and…

Jefferson Parish prohibits intentionally feeding waterfowl (ducks, geese, and other amphibious birds) by making food available on private property or within 20 feet of a public street…

Jefferson Parish flatly bans keeping the most dangerous wild or exotic species (Class 1, such as big cats, bears, primates, venomous snakes, and wolves). Class 2 species require a $150…

Anyone operating a grooming shop in Jefferson Parish needs an annual $100 permit from the Jefferson Protection and Animal Welfare Services, renewed every year by December 31. Groomers…

Jefferson Parish requires every veterinary clinic and animal hospital to keep animals indoors: Sec. 33-5.3.5.2 bans exterior runs, yards, or pens, caps boarding at 25% of floor area…

Jefferson Parish's animal code sets no fixed limit on backyard chickens or other fowl kept on private property, but fowl and poultry may not run at large, and where they roam onto…

Jefferson Parish requires any animal impounded for the first time to be spayed or neutered at the owner's expense before Animal Welfare Services releases it, and every dog or cat…

Jefferson Parish licenses cats like dogs and regulates outdoor feeding of feral or community cats. On residentially zoned property, food left out for feral cats may not stay accessible…

Jefferson Parish bans trapping, hunting, shooting or otherwise molesting any bird or wild fowl, or robbing their nests, parishwide. Inside the designated Lake Pontchartrain Causeway…

Jefferson Parish's animal code is breed-neutral: it does not ban pit bulls or any specific breed. Instead, any dog can be declared a dangerous or vicious animal based on its behavior…

In Jefferson Parish, no dog may be on any street, alleyway, highway, common, or public square unless under the immediate control of a competent person and restrained by a substantial…

Jefferson Parish bans mercury-vapor fixtures outright on covered sites and caps outdoor lighting height by zoning district. Sec. 33-6.9.3.2(c) prohibits the installation of any…

Jefferson Parish bars covered commercial, industrial, multi-family, and civic sites from aiming outdoor light at residential property. Sec. 33-6.9.3.2(b) prohibits any luminaire aimed…

Jefferson Parish caps electronic variable message billboards and other EVM signs at 323 candelas per square meter between sunset and sunrise, or 0.3 foot-candle above ambient light…

Dumping litter or trash on public places or on property you don't own is prohibited in Jefferson Parish (Chapter 16, § 16-9) and under Louisiana's littering statute, RS 30:2531. Simple…

Jefferson Parish residents must roll carts to the curb directly in front of the property generating the waste, not to a random spot on the block, and can't set trash out early…

Leaves and grass clippings must go in a container in Jefferson Parish, but tree limbs and shrubbery can be bundled loose at the curb if they meet the parish's size limits. Bundles…

A bulk waste container or roll-off dumpster can't go on any Jefferson Parish property until the owner applies for a permit through the Department of Building Permits. Code Sec. 16-4(d)…

Once you set a recycling bin at the curb on collection day, everything in it legally becomes property of the Parish of Jefferson under Code Sec. 16-112, and only the parish's…

Large household items like furniture and appliances get picked up curbside from Jefferson Parish residences, but only within strict size and weight limits. Items that fit in a…

Unincorporated Jefferson Parish collects household garbage twice a week and recycling curbside; look up your days at the parish's Find My Pick-Up Days tool. On New Year's, Independence…

Jefferson Parish requires food vendors cooking outdoors during Carnival Parade Season to get a Fire Department permit and follow strict fire-safety rules for their cooking equipment. A…

Jefferson Parish bars construction equipment noise within 300 feet of any residential or noise-sensitive area between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. on weekdays and Saturdays, and 9 p.m. to 8 a.m…

Jefferson Parish requires every motor vehicle and motorcycle to run a working muffler in constant operation, and bars removing or disabling one except for repair. Radios, stereos and…

Run your leaf blower or lawn mower in Jefferson Parish between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays, or 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Sundays and holidays, and the noise ordinance leaves…

Jefferson Parish's noise ordinance (Sec. 20-102) governs the unincorporated parish, including Metairie. It caps sound in residential areas near 60 dBA in daytime and 55 dBA at night…

Jefferson Parish bans running a loudspeaker or sound amplifier near residential or noise-sensitive areas between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays and 10:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. on…

Jefferson Parish's noise code defines a "barking dog" at Sec. 20-102(h)(5): a dog that barks, bays, cries or howls continuously for ten minutes, or intermittently for a half hour…

Jefferson Parish caps sound at the property line by zone and time of day under Sec. 20-102(f) and Table 1: 60 dB(A) by day and 55 dB(A) overnight for residential and public-space…

Jefferson Parish's lewd conduct ordinance makes it a crime to urinate or defecate in a public place or anywhere open to public view, grouping it with indecent exposure and public sex…

Jefferson Parish bans skateboarding entirely in Veterans Memorial Square, the neutral ground at the Causeway Boulevard and Veterans Boulevard interchange in Metairie. Anyone caught…

Jefferson Parish bans open alcoholic beverage containers and drinking inside any retail store that lacks a license permitting on-premises consumption, and extends that ban outward: no…

Jefferson Parish bans pedestrians and bicyclists, even someone walking a bike, from crossing three of its busiest elevated crossings on foot: the Lapalco Boulevard bridge over the…

Jefferson Parish's loitering law targets standing around in a way that blocks streets, sidewalks, or entrances, or lingering near a business against the posted wishes of whoever runs…

Jefferson Parish bars loading or unloading a delivery truck between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. within 300 feet of a residential unit, noise-sensitive area or public space, if the noise…

Bars, nightclubs and holding bars inside the Fat City Mixed-Use district (FC-1, FC-2, FC-3) near Metairie's Lakeside Shopping Center must soundproof so noise never exceeds 60 decibels…

Jefferson Parish exempts generator noise from its normal decibel table under Sec. 20-102(g)(9) whenever the generator runs during a power outage in the area, or for routine testing and…

Jefferson Parish's noise code treats a car alarm as an "alarm" under Sec. 20-102(b), and bars intentionally sounding one between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. except in a real emergency…

Jefferson Parish zoning sets exact placement rules for air conditioning units, generators and other mechanical equipment on single- and two- to four-family lots. The equipment cannot…

Jefferson Parish sets its own floor-height floor on top of FEMA's base flood elevation: every new residential slab must sit at or above the BFE and never less than eighteen inches…

Jefferson Parish requires erosion and sediment controls on every development its stormwater rules cover, not just a single high-risk category. Section 33-7.4.2(2) of the Unified…

Any digging, filling, or construction in or near a Jefferson Parish drainage canal or ditch needs a permit from the parish drainage department, and dumping material into a canal…

Before filling, grading, or building anything in a special or local flood hazard area of unincorporated Jefferson Parish, you need a floodplain development permit from the Department…

Jefferson Parish bars minors under 17 from loitering, wandering or playing in public places between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. on weeknights and midnight to 5 a.m. on weekends. Parents who…

Jefferson Parish parks post no separate ordinance closing hour, but the parish enforces a juvenile curfew: minors are barred from public places, including parks, from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m…

Anyone filming commercials, movies, TV shows or videos anywhere in unincorporated Jefferson Parish, on public or private property, needs a permit from the Office of Film Jefferson…

Jefferson Parish exempts student filming from its film permit requirement. Sec. 26-69(e) waives the Office of Film Jefferson permit for productions a student makes to satisfy a class…

Mobile food and catering vehicles in Jefferson Parish need a Sheriff's Office registration before selling anywhere, backed by a current Louisiana Department of Health permit and…

Jefferson Parish bars selling anything, food included, from a truck, cart, stand or table on any public right-of-way: streets, boulevards, roadways, emergency lanes, neutral grounds…

Jefferson Parish blocks all mobile food and merchandise vending in Mixed Use Corridor Districts, Commercial Parkway Overlay Zones, and the area governed by Secs. 40-441 through 40-495…

New residential construction in Jefferson Parish's mapped flood zones must sit above a set NAVD 88 elevation, noted right on the building permit. Outside the parish's Hurricane Storm…

Anyone canvassing or peddling door to door in Jefferson Parish must first get a $2.00 permit from the Sheriff's Office sales tax division. Even permit holders can't knock between 8…

Door-to-door solicitors, peddlers, and canvassers in Jefferson Parish must get a permit from the sheriff's sales tax division before knocking on any door, and even permitted solicitors…

Jefferson Parish does not require a host or owner to sleep at a short-term rental during a guest's stay. Sec. 17.5-3(b)(2) lets the operator be absent as long as a designated local…

Jefferson Parish revokes short-term rental licenses on a strike system built on repeat incidents. Sec. 17.5-8 lets the parish pull a license after three drug or prostitution arrests on…

Jefferson Parish does not set a separate decibel limit for short-term rentals. Instead, Sec. 17.5-2(9) forces every licensed short-term rental to post a brochure, in a conspicuous spot…

Renting a home in Jefferson Parish for 30 or more consecutive days is not a short-term rental under the parish's zoning code, so operators skip the district bans, primary-residence…

Every Jefferson Parish short-term rental license application must include proof of at least $500,000.00 in general liability coverage. Sec. 17.5-6(a)(2)d.6 requires a current insurance…

Short-term rental hosts in Jefferson Parish pay a nonrefundable $750.00 annual processing fee for the lodging accommodation license required under Code of Ordinances Sec. 17.5-6…

Where Jefferson Parish allows short-term rental at all, the operator has to live there. Sec. 33-5.3.2.5(7)b.2. requires the dwelling unit to be the primary residence of the operator…

Operating a short-term rental anywhere in unincorporated Jefferson Parish first requires a lodging accommodation license from the department of code compliance and enforcement, not…

Jefferson Parish's use table classifies a conventional data center as "data processing, hosting and related services," LBCS code 4244, and permits it by right in the I-MU, I-L, I-H…

Jefferson Parish defines a blockchain cryptocurrency mining facility as a "data mining center," LBCS code 4245, and its use table permits one only as a special permitted use in the I-H…

Every massage business, establishment or parlor in Jefferson Parish must hold a $50.00 massage establishment license from the department of code compliance and enforcement before doing…

Selling cigarettes, cigars, loose tobacco, or e-cigarette liquid anywhere in unincorporated Jefferson Parish requires an annual retail dealer permit from the sheriff's office as tax…

Jefferson Parish charges pawnbrokers and other secondhand money lenders a flat $1,000 annual occupational license, covering resale of pledged goods up to $100,000 in gross receipts…

Every pawnbroker and wage/salary money-lender operating in Jefferson Parish must hold an occupational license carrying a flat $1,000.00 annual fee under Code of Ordinances Sec…

Jefferson Parish treats tattoo parlors and other body-art shops as a distinct, licensed land use, and the parish's zoning tables let them operate by-right in only a handful of…

Jefferson Parish keeps adult uses at least 1,000 feet from any residential district or dwelling, from schools, day cares, churches, parks, libraries, and museums, and 1,000 feet from…

Jefferson Parish lets a private property owner tow or boot an unauthorized vehicle at the driver's expense, but only if warning signs are posted first. The parish licenses booting…

Jefferson Parish caps the number of Carnival/Mardi Gras parades it will license and requires every float or truck parade organization to hold an annual permit from the Office of…

Restaurants and other businesses inside the Commercial Parkway Pedestrian (CPZ-Ped) overlay district can put outdoor seating, plazas, or courtyards between the building and the…

A Jefferson Parish block party needs written consent from 75 percent of the property owners on the affected block before the parish will issue a special event permit. Sec. 26-53 also…

Anyone staging a fair, circus or festival with amusement rides or attractions in Jefferson Parish needs a permit from the Department of Citizens' Affairs, filed 30 to 90 days ahead…

Jefferson Parish bars placing almost anything in its road rights-of-way, the strip between the paved street and the property line, unless it fits a narrow list of exceptions. Curbside…

Owners of property abutting a Jefferson Parish street must build, pave, and keep the adjoining sidewalk in repair at their own expense, including fixing uneven or broken sections and…

No one may remove, curb, or install a driveway connecting to a Jefferson Parish street without a permit from the director of public works. The permit process sets maximum driveway…

Jefferson Parish requires a retaining wall wherever a lot sits high enough above its neighbor that a swale or sub-surface drain cannot handle the run-off, and the Code Official decides…

Jefferson Parish caps residential fences at eight feet along side and rear lot lines, rising to ten feet in the I-MU, I-L, I-H and AIM industrial districts. Front yards cannot be…

Jefferson Parish's building code bars two categories of fence material outright: anything fragile or readily flammable, like paper, cloth, reeds, canes or canvas, and barbed wire or…

Every fence in Jefferson Parish needs a permit before it goes up, is altered, repaired, moved, or removed: the code requires an application to the Code Official along with a current…

Jefferson Parish adopts the National Electrical Code for every electrical installation, alteration, repair or replacement in the unincorporated parish, and no one may do that work…

Jefferson Parish's building code lays out required inspection stages for every trade: foundation, frame, and final for building work, plus matching underground, rough-in, and final…

A licensed day care center in Jefferson Parish must fence its outdoor play area at least four feet high, on top of whatever the state requires. Sec. 33-5.3.9.2 lets that play area sit…

Jefferson Parish requires an annual elevator maintenance certificate for every elevator car, escalator, moving staircase, and man-lift in the parish. Owners must have equipment…

Jefferson Parish adopts the International Plumbing Code for every plumbing installation tied to the parish water or sewer system. Anyone who installs, alters, repairs or replaces a…

Jefferson Parish requires a building permit before anyone constructs, enlarges, alters, repairs, moves, demolishes or changes the occupancy of a building. A specific list of minor work…

Every bed and breakfast and short-term rental in Jefferson Parish must have a hardwired carbon monoxide detector, not just a battery-powered plug-in unit, in each guest room or an…

Jefferson Parish protects mature trees through the Metairie Ridge Tree Preservation District overlay and parish-wide protected-tree standards. Oaks, elms, magnolias, sycamores and any…

Jefferson Parish's tree preservation ordinance protects specific species once they reach a set trunk size, regardless of what zoning district or neighborhood conservation area they sit…

Jefferson Parish requires a permit from the Department of Parkway before anyone plants, removes, trims, prunes or decorates a tree or other vegetation on public property, including…

Jefferson Parish's dangerous buildings law lets code inspectors declare a structurally unsound, unhealthful, fire-hazard, or unsecured building a public nuisance and force the owner to…

Jefferson Parish bans grass or weeds over eight inches within 150 feet of any building on unincorporated property, along with piled trash, junk, and abandoned vehicles on any lot. The…

Diabetics, allergy patients, and anyone else using needles at home must seal used sharps in a lidded container before they go out with the trash. Jefferson Parish Code Sec. 16-106…

Jefferson Parish's Property Maintenance Code requires every structure and exterior property to stay free of rodent harborage and infestation. When rodents turn up, the owner or…

Jefferson Parish's Unified Development Code lists a secondary or accessory dwelling unit, LBCS use code 1121, as permitted by right only in the Unrestricted Suburban (U-1S) and…

Under Jefferson Parish zoning Sec. 40-743, an accessory building such as a shed may sit in a required rear or side yard but must not exceed 13 feet in height and must stay at least 3…

Jefferson Parish's Unified Development Code keeps invasive exotic species out of every landscaping and tree-preservation plan the parish approves. Developers must draw required trees…

Jefferson Parish stacks multiple one-percent hotel occupancy taxes: a parish-wide tax on hotels with ten or more guest rooms under Sec. 35-200, a second one-percent East Bank tax on…

Jefferson Parish's automated red-light camera program fines the registered owner between $75 and $175 per violation, with 30 days to pay or contest. There is no companion school-zone…

In the Old Metairie Neighborhood Conservation District (OMNCD), no more than 40 percent of the front yard, and no more than 40 percent of the corner side yard, figured separately, can…

No building in Jefferson Parish's R-1A single-family district may rise higher than 35 feet under Code Sec. 40-93, the same ceiling the parish sets for the S-1 suburban district next…

Jefferson Parish's R-1A single-family district sets a 20-foot front yard, two side yards totaling at least 20 percent of lot width with a 5-foot floor on each, and a rear yard equal to…

Jefferson Parish bans camping, sleeping overnight, or storing belongings in any public area or on someone else's private property without written consent. Before removing a campsite…

Jefferson Parish's Old Metairie Neighborhood Conservation District has its own path to landmark status for parcels of particular historic, architectural, or cultural significance. The…

Jefferson Parish caps garage, rummage, yard, craft, and boutique sales at two per residential address in any 12-month period, and each sale can run no more than two consecutive days…

Jefferson Parish's Bureau of Administrative Adjudication takes code complaints from residents, but a violation notice issues only after the enforcement department receives an affidavit…

Jefferson Parish taxes each business location under one occupational-license schedule, picked by whichever activity brings in the largest share of gross receipts. Code of Ordinances…