Local rules and regulations for Mohave County, Arizona. Population: 213,267.
Verified from official government sources
Select a topic to see Mohave County's rules on that subject.
Mohave County has no dedicated construction-hours ordinance for unincorporated areas; job-site noise falls under the general Chapter 14 rules. Cities set their own hours, and Lake…
Mohave County and its cities don't ban leaf blowers or gas-powered equipment. They're limited only by the general noise ordinance, so off-hours use near homes can still draw a…
Arizona sets no statewide decibel limit, so noise runs on local rules. Mohave County's Chapter 14 noise ordinance bars loud, unnecessary noise in unincorporated areas; Lake Havasu City…
Persistent barking is treated as a noise nuisance in Mohave County. Animal control and the Sheriff's Office handle complaints in unincorporated areas; documented, repeated barking can…
Amplified music and party noise fall under Mohave County's Chapter 14 ordinance in unincorporated areas and city codes elsewhere. Vehicle audio audible ten feet away is banned from 10…
Arizona sets no statewide street-parking time limit, so STR parking follows local rules. Cities may require off-street or designated parking through their permits; hosts should…
Under Arizona law, Mohave County and its cities may cap short-term rental occupancy for health and safety. Limits are typically tied to bedrooms; the host is responsible for guest…
Arizona has no statewide STR insurance mandate, but cities can require coverage as a permit condition. Bullhead City requires at least $1 million in liability insurance for its…
Arizona law (A.R.S. §11-269.17) bars Mohave County from banning short-term rentals. Owners must register with the County Assessor, and cities like Bullhead City and Lake Havasu City…
Short-term rental guests get no special noise allowance. In unincorporated Mohave County they must meet the Chapter 14 ordinance; in cities, the local noise code applies, and repeated…
Short-term stays owe Arizona Transaction Privilege Tax plus county and city rates. Airbnb and Vrbo collect and remit TPT. Owners must also record the property with the Mohave County…
Open burning in unincorporated Mohave County is governed by seasonal fire restrictions and ADEQ air rules. During declared fire emergencies all open and campfires are banned, and…
Recreational fire pits are allowed in unincorporated Mohave County when no fire restriction is active, but the county's seasonal open-fire bans routinely shut wood fires down. Propane…
Mohave County has no single defensible-space ordinance, but desert brush, dry grass, and tumbleweeds are serious fire fuel. Owners in the wildland-urban interface are urged to clear…
Mohave County designates no regulatory wildfire hazard zones that trigger building mandates, but desert brush and the forested Hualapai Mountains carry real wildfire risk. DFFM leads…
Only ground-based "permissible consumer fireworks" — sparklers, fountains, ground spinners, snakes — are legal in Arizona under A.R.S. §36-1606. Aerial and exploding fireworks are…
In this snowbird and river county, Mohave County zoning lets you park an RV or boat on your lot, but occupying an RV more than 14 consecutive or 30 cumulative days a year requires an…
Unincorporated Mohave County imposes no blanket overnight street-parking ban, but a vehicle left in one spot on a public road can be tagged as abandoned after about 72 hours. The river…
Mohave County's large rural lots make driveway parking fairly relaxed, but inoperable or unregistered vehicles stored in open view can be cited as a nuisance, and a new or widened…
Mohave County's rural and agricultural-residential zoning is more tolerant of work vehicles than a city HOA, but parking or storing large commercial trucks, trailers, and equipment in…
Installing a home EV charger in unincorporated Mohave County is straightforward: a Level 2 charger needs an electrical permit from Development Services, and there is no restrictive…
Mohave County treats vehicles left on public roads and inoperable or unregistered vehicles stored in open view on private lots as a nuisance. Vehicles on public property are typically…
Arizona sets no statewide street-parking time limit, so on rural county roads the main rules are A.R.S. §28-871's requirement to keep off the traveled roadway plus clearances around…
Mohave County zones its vast unincorporated desert, so the county zoning ordinance—not a blank slate—sets fence heights. Arizona caps nothing statewide; block and masonry walls…
Mohave County requires building permits for masonry and block walls, which carry structural and wind loads. Short wood or wire fences are often exempt. Call Arizona 811 before digging…
Arizona has no shared boundary-fence statute like California's. Each owner is responsible for the fence on their own land. A wall straddling the property line is settled by agreement…
Block and stucco walls are the Mohave County desert standard, chosen against wind, dust, and sun. The county zoning ordinance and any HOA covenants set material limits; wood fades fast…
Mohave County enforces adopted building codes on unincorporated land, so a retaining wall above the code threshold—generally four feet—needs a permit and engineering. Desert…
Arizona law requires a pool barrier statewide. A.R.S. §36-1681 mandates a five-foot wall, fence, or barrier around the pool with self-latching gates—vital where backyard pools and…
Backyard poultry and livestock are ordinary on Mohave County's large desert lots, where the county zoning ordinance sets what each district allows. Roosters and odor can still be…
Beekeeping is legal on Mohave County land and treated as agriculture, though city setbacks may apply. Africanized bees are established across the Mojave Desert, so managed European…
Arizona restricts keeping wild and exotic animals statewide through Game and Fish rules, and many native desert reptiles are protected. Mohave County cannot override the state list…
Feeding desert wildlife draws coyotes, javelina, and rodents toward homes and is discouraged countywide. Some Arizona jurisdictions ban it outright; feeding that creates a nuisance or…
Arizona law bars vicious or in-season female dogs from running at large and requires a license tag on any dog over three months. Mohave County Animal Control handles at-large and…
Arizona preempts breed-specific dog laws statewide. Since SB 1248 (2016), no Arizona city or county may regulate dogs by breed. Mohave County restricts none; dangerous dogs are handled…
No Mohave County ordinance requires a permit to prune or trim a tree on your own lot, and there is no urban street-tree program in the unincorporated desert. The real limit is…
Most of Mohave County sits outside any Active Management Area, so the strict groundwater-conservation and assured-water-supply rules governing Phoenix and Tucson do not apply…
Unincorporated Mohave County has no urban tree-removal permit for homeowners clearing their own yard. The rule that actually applies is Arizona's Native Plant Law, which requires…
Rainwater harvesting is legal across Mohave County. Arizona places no state-level restriction on collecting rooftop rain, so barrels and cisterns for desert gardens and landscaping are…
In unincorporated Mohave County the adopted property maintenance code, Ordinance 2021-03, caps weeds and rank vegetation at 30 inches. Kingman, Lake Havasu City, and Bullhead City run…
Mohave County treats overgrown weeds, dead vegetation, and rubbish as a public nuisance. The county can order abatement, clear the lot through a contractor, and assess the cost against…
In the Mojave Desert, gravel yards and native, drought-tolerant plants are the norm, and no county rule forces a grass lawn. Arizona's Native Plant Law protects wild desert species…
Mohave County does not regulate artificial turf on a residential lot, so installation is largely the owner's choice. As of 2022, Arizona law also bars a planned community that allows…
Unincorporated Mohave County has no heritage, landmark, or specimen tree program. The closest equivalent in the desert is Arizona's Native Plant Law, whose Highly Safeguarded category…
Unincorporated Mohave County imposes no tree-replacement or canopy-mitigation ratio on homeowners. Arizona's Native Plant Law leans toward salvaging and relocating protected desert…
Unincorporated Mohave County has no municipal tree-removal permit for homeowners. The permit that actually matters in the desert is the state one: moving or destroying protected native…
A food truck in Mohave County needs a mobile food vendor permit from Mohave County Environmental Health, plus inspection, before it opens. Cities like Lake Havasu City and Bullhead…
Mohave County publishes no county-wide food-truck vending map; where a truck can set up depends on the parcel's zoning and the owner's permission. Cities like Lake Havasu City and…
Mohave County keeps no county-wide no-knock registry, but a posted "No Soliciting" or "No Trespassing" sign carries legal force. A solicitor who enters after notice can be charged with…
Door-to-door sales permits in Mohave County are handled by the cities, not the county. Kingman, Lake Havasu City, and Bullhead City license peddlers, while Arizona law gives buyers…
Cannabis dispensaries are legal and operating in Mohave County, licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services. Locations run in Lake Havasu City, Bullhead City, and Kingman…
Growing cannabis at home is legal in Mohave County. Under Arizona's Smart and Safe Act, adults 21 and over may cultivate up to six plants each, capped at twelve per household, in an…
Because unincorporated Mohave County has no county curbside program, there is no county set-out time or bin-screening rule. Placement follows your private hauler's route or your city…
Mohave County runs no universal curbside collection. Unincorporated desert residents self-haul to county landfills and transfer stations or hire a private subscription hauler. Cities…
Neither Arizona nor Mohave County requires households to recycle. In this rural desert, curbside recycling is largely unavailable; access is limited to a few city programs and drop-off…
There is no county bulk pickup in unincorporated Mohave County. Large items are self-hauled to a county landfill for a per-ton fee. Illegal wildcat desert dumping is actively enforced…
Converting a garage into living space in Mohave County is a change of occupancy needing a building permit under the 2018 IRC. Add a kitchen and separate entrance and it becomes an…
In Mohave County, a tiny home on a permanent foundation is a dwelling built to the 2018 IRC and may qualify as an accessory residence, while a tiny home on wheels is an RV that cannot…
Under Mohave County Ordinance 2025-06, any property that allows a single-family home may add one attached and one detached accessory residence, with an extra detached unit on lots over…
Mohave County exempts a one-story detached shed of 300 square feet or less with no utilities from a building permit, but it must still meet the five-foot accessory-structure setbacks…
A carport is an accessory structure in Mohave County and generally needs a building permit under the 2018 IRC, with engineered anchorage for high desert winds and compliance with the…
Mohave County sets no hours or days for garage sales in unincorporated areas. You can open and close when you choose. The only timing rule is that sale signs may stay up no more than…
Mohave County sets no cap on how many garage or yard sales a household may hold in unincorporated areas. There is no annual limit; frequency is constrained only by HOA covenants or by…
Mohave County requires no permit to hold a garage or yard sale in unincorporated areas. The only county rule that touches a sale is the sign ordinance, which limits you to two small…
Vacant desert parcels in Mohave County must be kept free of dumped waste and overgrown weeds. The county adopted a 30-inch weed limit under the IPMC, and dumping on a lot is both a…
Snow is a non-issue across most of Mohave County. The river and valley communities — Bullhead City, Lake Havasu City, Fort Mohave — see no accumulating snow, and the county has no…
Mohave County provides no curbside carts and sets no bin-storage or screening rule in unincorporated areas. How you store containers is up to you, unless refuse spills and accumulates…
Mohave County has no dedicated garage-sale cleanup ordinance, but leftover merchandise, tables, and stray signs can be pursued as a nuisance. Sale signs are capped at two, each four…
Mohave County enforces blight through the 2018 International Property Maintenance Code (adopted by Building Ordinance 2021-03) and state nuisance law. Junk, debris, and inoperable or…
Mohave County caps building height by zoning district under its Zoning Ordinance. Residential and rural zones such as A-R, R-E, and R-O limit structures to 35 feet, measured to the…
Mohave County zones unincorporated desert land and enforces real setbacks through its Zoning Ordinance. Section 35 fixes minimum front, side, and rear yards by district, with the…
Mohave County controls building bulk on unincorporated land mainly through minimum lot area and setbacks, not one flat coverage percentage. The A-R agricultural-residential zone…
Mohave County enforces no general juvenile curfew across its unincorporated desert, and Arizona sets no statewide curfew. A teen out late on a public road here commits no curfew…
Mohave County parks close at posted hours, and using a park after hours is treated as trespassing. Riverfront sites like Davis Camp near Bullhead City post their own schedules, and…
New development and grading in Mohave County must control runoff on-site and keep it out of desert washes. Land disturbance of one acre or more needs an ADEQ AZPDES construction…
Grading and land-clearing in Mohave County must control erosion and blowing dust. Sites of one acre or more also fall under ADEQ's construction stormwater permit and its SWPPP…
Mohave County is landlocked desert with no ocean coast. Building along the Colorado River and Lakes Havasu, Mohave, or Mead involves county floodplain rules plus federal Reclamation…
Mohave County enforces FEMA floodplain standards through the National Flood Insurance Program. Building in a mapped flood zone or desert wash requires elevation above base flood…
Mohave County requires permits for significant grading and earth-moving. Drainage cannot redirect flows onto neighbors or block desert washes, and work in mapped floodplains triggers…
Mohave County's Outdoor Light Control Ordinance (87-1) requires exterior fixtures to be shielded so light stays on the owner's property and does not spill glare onto neighbors…
Mohave County protects its night skies through Ordinance 87-1, the Outdoor Light Control (Dark Sky) Ordinance, carried in the Zoning Ordinance. Outdoor fixtures must be shielded so…
In unincorporated Mohave County you may post two garage- or yard-sale signs, each up to four square feet, but only during the sale and for no more than five days. Signs on utility…
Neither Arizona nor Mohave County regulates holiday decorations. No permit is needed for lights, inflatables, or yard displays on your own property. The only real limits come from…
Arizona strongly protects political signs. Mohave County's sign ordinance exempts campaign signs in every zoning district, and A.R.S. §16-1019 lets you place them in the public…
In unincorporated Mohave County a home occupation is allowed in residential and agricultural zones, but it needs a Zoning Permit from the Development Services Department and must stay…
Unlike many Arizona jurisdictions that ban home-business signs outright, Mohave County allows one small unlit sign at a home occupation, no larger than 24 by 24 inches, displayed only…
A Mohave County home occupation cannot generate more traffic or on-street parking than a normal household. Any parking the business needs must be on-site, and operations causing…
Arizona's cottage food law lets Mohave County residents sell non-hazardous homemade foods like baked goods, jams, and candies direct to consumers. You must complete a food handler…
Caring for five or more unrelated children for pay in Arizona requires an ADHS child care license. Mohave County's home occupation rules cap in-home child care at four individuals for…
Mohave County requires a building permit for in-ground pools, spas, and permanent above-ground pools, reviewed by the Development Services Building Division under the 2018 IRC adopted…
Arizona's pool barrier law, A.R.S. §36-1681, is among the strictest in the nation. A Mohave County residential pool must be enclosed by at least a five-foot wall, fence, or barrier…
Beyond the five-foot barrier, Mohave County pools must meet A.R.S. §36-1681 enclosure detailing and the federal Virginia Graeme Baker anti-entrapment drain rule. Arizona's high…
An above-ground pool over 18 inches deep needs a Mohave County permit and must meet A.R.S. §36-1681, though a pool wall at least four feet high with non-climbable sides can itself…
A permanent spa in Mohave County needs a building and electrical permit under the 2018 IRC. Arizona's barrier law, A.R.S. §36-1681, only reaches water wider than eight feet, so most…
Arizona law A.R.S. § 13-3729 preempts Mohave County from regulating drones, so recreational flights follow FAA rules under 49 U.S.C. § 44809: register drones over 250 grams, pass the…
Commercial drone pilots in Mohave County follow FAA 14 C.F.R. Part 107: hold a Remote Pilot Certificate, register the aircraft, stay below 400 feet, keep line of sight. Arizona's…
Mohave County requires building and electrical permits for rooftop solar, but abundant desert sun and strong Arizona solar-rights law make installing easy. Any covenant that would…
Arizona law strongly protects rooftop solar. Under A.R.S. 33-1816 an HOA cannot prohibit solar devices, and A.R.S. 33-439 voids any CC&R that effectively bans them. Associations may…
Arizona bans local rent control. A.R.S. §33-1329 preempts every city, town, and county, so neither Mohave County nor Kingman, Lake Havasu City, or Bullhead City may cap rent. Landlords…
Arizona has no just-cause eviction law. The Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, A.R.S. §33-1301 et seq., governs across Mohave County. A landlord may end a month-to-month…
Arizona requires every residential rental owner to register the property with the county assessor under A.R.S. §33-1902. In Mohave County you file owner and, if you live out of state…
These cities are located within Mohave County and may have their own ordinances.
These communities are in unincorporated Mohave County. County ordinances apply directly to these areas.
Ordinance data for Mohave County is sourced from the following official government references. Click any topic above for detailed citations.