Paulding County, GA Ordinances (2026)

Paulding County sets no STR-specific noise rules, so short-term rental guests follow the same county noise ordinance as everyone else: Code § 46-62 bars sound plainly audible 50 feet…

Paulding County has no dedicated short-term rental ordinance, registration, or STR permit: a search of the county code returns no vacation-rental rules. Operators instead need a county…

Paulding County levies no county hotel/motel excise tax; its tax code (Chapter 30) contains none. A short-term rental stay owes Georgia's combined 7% state and local sales tax, and the…

Paulding County bans parking commercial vehicles on any county road at any time, including overnight, under Code of Ordinances Sec. 62-63(b). Disabled commercial vehicles get a 24-hour…

Paulding County caps how long a passenger car, motorcycle, or motor-driven cycle can sit on a county road at seven continuous days under Code of Ordinances Sec. 62-63(c). Leave a car…

Paulding County's Unified Development Ordinance treats electric vehicle charging stations as an accessory use governed by Section 230-30.01, which caps any charging structure at 2,500…

Paulding County requires every new manufacturing, warehousing, wholesaling, or retail building to provide its own off-street loading space sized to the building's floor area, so trucks…

Paulding County bans keeping any junk vehicle on public or private property in the unincorporated county under Code of Ordinances Sec. 40-5(2). Owners face citation from the county…

Paulding County's only stand-alone on-street parking ordinance bans parking in deceleration or acceleration lanes. Section 70-33 makes it unlawful to park any vehicle, from a…

New homes built inside Paulding County's future-conditions floodplain must have their lowest floor, including any basement, elevated at least three feet above the base flood elevation…

Anyone disturbing land in unincorporated Paulding County needs a land-disturbance permit from the Community Development Department before grading, clearing or building starts. The…

No owner or developer can build, fill, grade or otherwise develop a site inside a special flood hazard or future-conditions flood hazard area in unincorporated Paulding County without…

Paulding County bans discharging any pollutant other than stormwater into the county's separate storm sewer system under Code of Ordinances Sec. 46-83, and separately prohibits…

Paulding County enforces the International Plumbing Code as a mandatory technical code, with its own local amendments on water-fixture flow rates and sewer depth, and requires a permit…

Any owner, agent, or contractor who wants to build, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish, or change the occupancy of a structure, or touch its electrical, gas, mechanical, or…

Dealers who buy precious metals or gems in unincorporated Paulding County cannot resell, exchange, melt, cut up or otherwise alter what they purchase until 30 calendar days have…

Paulding County will not let a vape, e-cigarette or tobacco retailer open on an unincorporated-area lot without a Special Use Permit from the Board of Commissioners. Section 230-40.04…

Paulding County requires a sexually oriented occupation tax certificate for the business and a separate employee license for every worker, and it bars a sexually oriented business from…

Massage therapy businesses in unincorporated Paulding County may only locate in General Business (B-1), Planned Shopping Center (PSC) or Highway Business (B-2) zoning, and only after…

Paulding County requires a pawnshop to obtain a Special Use Permit before opening, approved by the Board of Commissioners after a Planning Commission recommendation under UDO Section…

Paulding County's plumbing code lets EPD-permitted reclaimed water supply toilets, urinals and water features in hotels, apartments and commercial buildings, but bars any new private…

Paulding County parks close at hours set and posted by the parks and recreation director, and being on park property after those hours without permission is a violation. Locked or…

Paulding County has no on-street bike lane law; instead, its Multi-Use Trails ordinance governs how cyclists use the county's designated shared trails. Riding a bicycle in a reckless…

Mobile food-vending units in Paulding County need both a state health department license and a county business license under UDO Section 270-40, and they can only operate in specific…

Mobile food vending in unincorporated Paulding County is confined to six commercial zoning districts and a short list of specific sites under UDO Section 270-40, not to residential…

Paulding County's A-1 Agricultural District is built around "land having a predominantly rural character" and reserves large tracts for farming, crop production and single-family homes…

Paulding County places no size cap or permit requirement on window signs. Code of Ordinances § 67-6(6) exempts window signs entirely from the sign review application every other sign…

Paulding County caps digital and electronic message signs at 120 square feet of sign face and limits how fast their copy can change near roads. Code of Ordinances § 67-17(20) bans any…

Paulding County bans strings or rows of lights within 150 feet of a street under § 67-17(3), the same rule that stops businesses from using light strands as makeshift signage. Holiday…

Paulding County has no stand-alone parade-permit application; instead, § 70-3 lets the sheriff issue temporary traffic rules whenever a parade or other public assemblage is expected to…

Street fairs, carnivals and community fairs in Paulding County are regulated as Temporary Outdoor Activities under UDO Section 270-20.01, limited to the B-1, PSC, B-2, ECR and AB…

Paulding County's R-2 Suburban Residential District, the county's standard suburban zoning, sets a 35-foot minimum front setback, a 15-foot side setback that grows to 25 feet on a…

Homes and other structures in Paulding County's R-2 Suburban Residential District top out at 45 feet under UDO Section 210-40.06, the same cap that applies to most other residential…

Georgia dropped its statewide cottage food license, so you can bake and sell non-hazardous foods from a Paulding County home kitchen with no state permit and no revenue cap. Sales must…

Running a business from home in Paulding County's residential districts, A-1, ER, R-1 through R-3, MPR, OSRD, RD, MHP and R-55, requires certification as a Special Exception Use under…

Paulding County's zoning code does not allow a yard sign, window sign, or any other exterior advertising for a home-based business. Section 230-30.01's Home Occupations standard…

Paulding County caps client visits to a home business at two per hour, with up to four per hour during a peak season like tax time. The point is to keep a home from becoming a…

Running a licensed family child care learning home from a residence in Paulding County requires Special Exception approval under UDO Section 230-30.01 in nine residential districts…

Paulding County does not require spay or neuter for pets generally, but any dog officially classified as dangerous or vicious under the county's Responsible Dog Ownership Law…

Beekeeping is legal across Paulding County and no county permit exists. Georgia law, O.C.G.A. Section 2-14-41.1, bars any county from prohibiting honeybee hives, though it preserves…

Paulding County ties poultry and livestock keeping to zoning. Chapter 14 Section 14-11 bars any livestock or fowl enclosure not authorized by the county's zoning ordinances. Rural A-1…

Paulding County bans no dog breed. It regulates dogs by behavior under Georgia's Responsible Dog Ownership Law, O.C.G.A. Section 4-8-20 et seq. A dog is classified dangerous or vicious…

Paulding County Code Section 14-86 makes it unlawful to keep any wild animal without a written license from Animal Control, which also requires notice to the Georgia Department of…

Paulding County Code Section 14-12 requires every animal off its owner's property to be on a leash and under a person's control, and bars leaving any animal unattended on a tether…

Open burning in unincorporated Paulding County is banned outright during the state's seasonal burn ban, typically May 1 through September 30, and even outside that window most burns…

Backyard campfires and residential fire pits in unincorporated Paulding County are allowed without the outdoor-burn registration call required for other open burns, but only if they…

Data centers in Paulding County's Technology Park Overlay District must use full cut-off fixtures on poles no taller than 25 feet, set back at least 10 feet from the property line, to…

Paulding County sets no residential foot-candle light-trespass limit. The zoning code controls glare from parking and commercial fixtures, and the airport overlay requires lighting…

Paulding has no county bulk-pickup day. Residents haul large items to the county landfill; appliances with freon carry a $10 removal fee. Dumping bulky waste on roadsides or vacant…

With no county curbside program, Paulding's rules focus on keeping garbage containers clean and off the road edge. Container areas must be maintained in a clean condition, and waste…

Dumping or leaving litter on any public or private property or in county waters is illegal under Paulding County's litter ordinance unless the site is a designated disposal facility or…

Paulding County has no curbside pickup ordinance; residents and haulers take waste to the county transfer station instead. Section 68-16 sets the station's hours at Monday through…

Paulding County makes it a misdemeanor to obstruct any sidewalk, highway, street, or other public passage without legal authority under Code of Ordinances Sec. 40-6. The law targets…

Anyone who wants to install a pipe, cable, pole or other utility facility in a Paulding County road, right-of-way or other public way must first apply for and receive an encroachment…

Paulding County allows a detached guest house, its version of an accessory dwelling unit, only as a Special Exception Use in the A-1, ER, R-1 and R-2 districts under UDO Section…

Sheds and outbuildings in Paulding County must sit at least 10 feet off the side and rear property lines and cannot stand in a required front yard. Small sheds may skip a building…

Paulding County has no yard-sale permit, but sale goods and signs cannot linger by the road. Section 40-5(5) makes storing merchandise within six feet of a right-of-way beyond 24 hours…

Paulding County's ER Estate Residential District, and several other residential zoning districts, require a mandatory Homeowners Association under UDO Section 210-20.10 whose…

Paulding County does regulate leaf blowers. Under Code § 46-62(14), blowers, mowers, trimmers, and chainsaws may run only 6 a.m.–10 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m.–8 p.m. weekends in…

Paulding County bans unmuffled cars and motorcycles and unnecessary horn use under Code of Ordinances Sec. 46-62(6) and (8). Every motor vehicle operated on a public or private road…

Unincorporated Paulding County limits construction, demolition, and street excavation in residential areas to 6 a.m.–9 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m.–8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday under Code §…

In unincorporated Paulding County, a persistently barking dog is treated as a private civil nuisance under Code § 14-15. The neighbor sues the owner in magistrate court; Animal Control…

Unincorporated Paulding County bans unreasonably loud, disturbing noise under Code § 46-61. Between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., a sound device plainly audible 50 feet away, or yelling and…

Amplified music in unincorporated Paulding County falls under Code § 46-62. A radio, instrument, or sound device plainly audible 50 feet away between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. is a violation…

Building a residential pool in unincorporated Paulding County requires a permit from the permits and inspections division because the county enforces the International Swimming Pool…

Paulding County allows smoking in outdoor areas of county-owned, leased, or operated property under Code of Ordinances Sec. 46-31, unless the county has posted a 'No Smoking' sign or…

Paulding County has no separate jaywalking ordinance; it enforces pedestrian crossing rules by adopting the state's Uniform Rules of the Road wholesale under § 70-1. Section 70-31 lets…

Paulding County makes it a misdemeanor under Code of Ordinances Sec. 46-1 to loiter on property open to the public without a legitimate reason, fight or threaten violence, use fighting…

Paulding County lets skateboarders use county recreation paths alongside pedestrians, bicycles and roller skates under Code § 70-107, but that permission stops where the code's own…

Inside Paulding County's Technology Park Overlay District, the county's designated data-center zone, barbed and razor wire fencing is flatly prohibited. Section 220-40.07(C) also…

Paulding County's zoning code sets no general residential fence-height limit. UDO Section 240-160 regulates only corner sight-triangles: nothing over three feet within 15 feet of a…

Paulding County requires every residential, commercial, institutional, and vacant property to stay litter-free under Code of Ordinances Section 40-8. Owners, managers, tenants, and…

In Paulding County, grass, weeds, and uncultivated vegetation may not exceed 18 inches on subdivision properties that hold a building. Undeveloped platted lots must be kept clear along…

Data centers in Paulding County's Technology Park Overlay District cannot exceed a 65 dBA average during the day or 55 dBA at night, measured at the adjacent property line. Section…

Paulding County only allows large-scale data centers inside its Technology Park Overlay District, a fixed set of tax parcels totaling roughly 995 acres. Section 220-40.01 sets the…

Under Georgia's Water Stewardship Act, Paulding County allows landscape watering any day but only between 4 p.m. and 10 a.m. As a Metro North Georgia Water District member, the county…

Paulding County sets a 24-inch limit on grass and vegetation, enforced by the county Marshal as a litter nuisance. It covers platted subdivision lots and any lot holding a structure…