Plymouth County, MA Ordinances (2026)

Plymouth County towns restrict commercial-vehicle parking in residential zones by bylaw, but MGL c.40 §22 protects registered commercial passenger vehicles and station wagons under…

Street parking across Plymouth County is regulated by each town under MGL c.40 §22, which authorizes local parking rules and penalties. Winter overnight parking bans for snow removal…

A vehicle apparently abandoned and left more than 72 hours on any way or property in Plymouth County may be taken and disposed of under MGL c.90 §22C. Towns and state police both hold…

An above-ground pool gets no special break in Plymouth County. Its wall can serve as the required barrier only when it stands 48 inches high, and the access ladder must be removable or…

Every residential pool in Plymouth County must be enclosed by a barrier. The state building code, 780 CMR, requires a barrier at least 48 inches high with self-closing, self-latching…

A food truck working Plymouth County needs two clearances: a state hawker and pedler license issued by the Division of Standards under MGL c.101 §22, and a mobile food permit from the…

Where a food truck may park and sell is set by each town, not the county. A state-licensed hawker and pedler is subject to local rules under MGL c.101 §22, so Plymouth County towns…

Vacant parcels are reached directly by MGL c.139 §1, which names the owner of a vacant parcel of land alongside dangerous buildings. After written notice and a hearing, a community can…

Blighted and dangerous buildings are handled under MGL c.139 §1, which lets a community, after written notice and a hearing, declare a burnt, dilapidated, or dangerous structure a…

Snow and ice clearing is set by each community under MGL c.85 §5, which lets cities by ordinance and towns by bylaw require abutting owners to clear sidewalks. State law caps the…

Short-term rental operators register with the Massachusetts DOR statewide, and under MGL c.64G §14 each Plymouth County town can require its own licensing. Plymouth, Marshfield, and…

Every short-term rental operator in Plymouth County must carry liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 under MGL c.175 §4F, unless the hosting platform provides equal coverage. The…

Short-term rental guests follow the same town noise bylaw as residents, authorized by MGL c.40 §21(22). Towns running STR programs, like Plymouth and Scituate, attach noise conditions…

Short-term rentals owe the 5.7% Massachusetts state excise plus a local excise of up to 6% adopted under MGL c.64G §3A. Plymouth, Marshfield, and Wareham levy the full local rate…

Recreational fire pits are legal across Plymouth County communities, but any open-air fire needs a permit from the local fire department under MGL c.48 §13. Cooking fires on sand or…

Burning brush to clear vegetation across Plymouth County requires a fire department permit under MGL c.48 §13, allowed only during the January 15–May 1 open-burn season, with a 75-foot…

Open burning across Plymouth County is legal only January 15–May 1, and only with a permit from the local fire department under MGL c.48 §13. Each permit covers a maximum of two days.

All consumer fireworks are illegal everywhere in Plymouth County under MGL c.148 §39: including sparklers. Possession, use, and sale are banned statewide. Only licensed professional…

No Plymouth County permit exists for a fence; counties issue no building permits. Under the state building code, 780 CMR, fences up to seven feet are exempt from a building permit…

Plymouth County has no fence-height ordinance; Massachusetts counties cannot zone. Height limits sit in each town's zoning bylaw, and MGL c.49 §21 makes any fence over six feet built…

No county permits retaining walls. Under the state building code, 780 CMR, a retaining wall up to four feet high, measured from the footing, needs no building permit unless it supports…

Massachusetts imposes no general duty to split a boundary fence's cost; each owner fences their own land. The one statewide neighbor rule is MGL c.49 §21: a malicious fence over six…

Leash rules are set by each Plymouth County town under authority of MGL c.140 §173. Statewide, MGL c.140 §155 makes a dog's owner strictly liable for any damage the dog does…

Beekeeping is allowed across Plymouth County. Massachusetts registers hives through the state, and MGL c.128 §32 caps the registration fee at five dollars. Towns may add setback rules…

Massachusetts bans keeping most wild and exotic animals without a state license. Under MGL c.131 §23, propagating or maintaining wild mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians requires a…

Backyard chickens are allowed subject to each town's zoning bylaw. MGL c.40A §3 bars towns from zoning out commercial agriculture on parcels of five acres, or two acres earning $1,000…

Trimming trees on your own land needs no permit anywhere in Plymouth County. But public shade trees along a road or town way cannot be cut or trimmed without the tree warden's written…

No Plymouth County ordinance governs artificial turf, and towns rarely restrict it on ordinary lots. But installing turf near a marsh, bog, pond, or coastal bank triggers Wetlands…

Plymouth County runs no water system. Outdoor watering limits come from each town or district's Water Management Act permit under MGL c.21G, which conditions large withdrawals and…

You may remove trees on your own land in Plymouth County without a county permit. But no public shade tree in or beside a road may be removed without a tree warden's public hearing and…

No Plymouth County town can criminally enforce a juvenile curfew. In Commonwealth v. Weston W., 455 Mass. 24 (2009), the Supreme Judicial Court struck the criminal penalties of a…

Rent control is illegal across every Plymouth County community. Massachusetts voters banned it in 1994 through Question 9, now codified as MGL c.40P §4: no city or town may enact…

Massachusetts has no statewide just-cause eviction law, and no Plymouth County town can add one. A landlord ends a tenancy at will with 30 days' written notice, or 14 days for…

Rental registration and inspection are local powers, not county ones. The State Sanitary Code under MGL c.111 §127A lets each town's board of health enforce housing standards, and…

Towns, not Plymouth County, regulate signs, through zoning bylaws authorized by MGL c.40A. Those bylaws must stay content-neutral: after Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015), a town cannot…

No single Plymouth County quiet-hours rule exists. Each town sets its own noise bylaw under MGL c.40 §21(22), the statute authorizing bylaws for controlling and abating noise from any…

A dog is a 'nuisance dog' under MGL c.140 §136A when excessive barking disrupts a reasonable person's quiet enjoyment. Any Plymouth County resident can petition the town selectboard or…

Construction hours are fixed by each town's bylaw under MGL c.40 §21(22), the statute authorizing noise bylaws. Plymouth, Marshfield, and Scituate limit powered work to daytime…

Amplified music is governed by town noise bylaws under MGL c.40 §21(22) and disturbing-the-peace law, MGL c.272 §53. Brockton, Plymouth, and Wareham require permits for outdoor…

Leaf-blower limits come from town bylaws under MGL c.40 §21(22), not the county. South Shore towns including Duxbury, Hingham, and Scituate restrict gas blowers by season and hour…

Recyclables are banned from the trash across Plymouth County by the MassDEP waste ban at 310 CMR 19.017. Glass, metal, and plastic containers, paper, cardboard, and leaf and yard waste…

Mattresses, box springs, and textiles cannot go in the trash anywhere in Plymouth County under the MassDEP waste ban at 310 CMR 19.017, effective November 1, 2022. Whole tires, white…

Where you store and screen trash carts is set by each town's board of health, not the county, under MGL c.111 §31, which lets local boards make reasonable health regulations. Carts…

A small shed skips the building permit everywhere in Plymouth County. The state code exempts a one-story detached storage shed of 200 square feet or less, so a backyard shed in…

A tiny home's rules in Plymouth County turn on its foundation. Built on a permanent foundation at 900 square feet or less, it now qualifies as a by-right accessory dwelling unit; on…

Since February 2025 an accessory dwelling unit up to 900 square feet is allowed by right in every single-family zone across Plymouth County. State law, not town discretion, made it: no…

Marijuana dispensary siting is a town decision, not a county one. Under MGL c.94G §3 each Plymouth County community adopts bylaws governing the time, place, and manner of marijuana…

Home cultivation is legal across Plymouth County. An adult 21 or older may grow up to 6 marijuana plants for personal use under MGL c.94G §7, capped at 12 plants per household…

Plymouth County has no ordinance power over setbacks. Front, side, and rear yards are set by each town's zoning bylaw under the Massachusetts Zoning Act, MGL c.40A. Brockton, Plymouth…

Plymouth County has no lot-coverage rule. Building coverage and impervious limits are set by each town's zoning bylaw under the Zoning Act, MGL c.40A. Coastal towns add wetlands and…

Plymouth County sets no height limit. Building height is capped by each town's zoning bylaw under the Zoning Act, MGL c.40A. Most residential districts across Brockton, Plymouth, and…

Under the Massachusetts Clean Waters Act, no one may discharge pollutants, including construction stormwater, into waters of the commonwealth without a valid permit from MassDEP…

Building a dock, pier, seawall, or placing fill below the high-water mark along Plymouth County's coast requires a Chapter 91 waterways license from MassDEP. Coastal wetlands, beaches…

Along Plymouth County's coast, land subject to coastal storm flowage and flooding is a protected resource area under the Wetlands Protection Act. Building in these velocity and flood…

Grading, filling, or altering drainage within 100 feet of a wetland, bank, or coastal resource area triggers the Wetlands Protection Act and requires an order of conditions from the…

Massachusetts law bars any town zoning bylaw from prohibiting or unreasonably regulating solar energy systems, except to protect health, safety, or welfare. Plymouth County homeowners…

Plymouth County designates no heritage trees. The strongest state protection is the Scenic Roads Act, MGL c.40 §15C: on a town-designated scenic road, no tree may be cut and no stone…

State law protects home child care across Plymouth County. A family child care home is an allowable use no town may prohibit or zone out, but the provider must hold an Early Education…

A door-to-door seller in Plymouth County is a hawker and pedler under MGL c.101 §13 and needs the state license, plus most towns require a separate local solicitor permit and a police…