Scott County, MN Ordinances (2026)

Construction hours are set by each city. Shakopee, for example, allows work 7 AM to 10 PM on weekdays and 9 AM to 9 PM on weekends and holidays. Minnesota's short building season pushes crews to use every daylight hour.

Scott County and its cities don't ban gas leaf blowers. They fall under the general noise ordinance and quiet hours, so use them between about 7 AM and 10 PM and mind the MPCA property-line sound limits.

In Scott County's townships the county enforces nuisance rules, while cities like Shakopee, Prior Lake, and Savage set quiet hours, generally 10 PM to 7 AM. Statewide, MPCA rules (Ch. 7030) cap residential sound at 60 dBA day and 50 dBA night.

Persistent barking is treated as a nuisance across Scott County. City code enforcement and the county sheriff handle complaints, backed by Minnesota's nuisance statute (MN Stat. §561.01). A log of dates and times helps build a case.

Amplified music must meet local noise ordinances and MPCA limits. Public events in Shakopee, Prior Lake, and Savage need permits with noise conditions, and private backyard music still has to respect quiet hours after 10 PM.

Minnesota has no statewide STR law, so rules vary by city. Prior Lake effectively bans rentals under 60 days in residential zones, while Savage licenses owner-occupied STRs. Shakopee has no dedicated STR license.

Short-term rental guests must follow the same noise ordinances and MPCA limits as residents. On Scott County's lakes, summer complaints draw extra scrutiny, and repeat problems can put a host's permit at risk.

Cities that license short-term rentals may require off-street parking or a parking plan. Minnesota has no statewide street-parking time limit, and winter snow-emergency bans complicate overnight parking for guests.

Cities that license short-term rentals cap guest counts, commonly around two people per bedroom plus two. Listings must state the maximum, and exceeding it can put the permit at risk.

Scott County cities don't broadly mandate short-term rental insurance, but it's strongly advised. Standard homeowner policies often exclude rental activity, and platform coverage may not fill the gap.

Stays under 30 days owe Minnesota's 6.875% sales tax, and cities may add a local lodging tax of up to 3%. Airbnb and Vrbo collect the state sales tax automatically; local lodging tax may need separate registration.

Minnesota sets no homeowner defensible-space mandate. Scott County and its cities require vacant lots and yards kept free of overgrowth under property-maintenance codes. Grass-fire risk peaks in spring before green-up.

A recreational fire under three feet by three feet needs no permit anywhere in Scott County. Shakopee and other cities require clean wood only, a 25-foot setback from buildings, and constant supervision.

Minnesota designates no regulatory wildfire hazard zones, and Scott County — suburban and farmland in the Twin Cities metro — carries lower wildfire risk than the northern pine forests. Spring grass fires are the real hazard.

Minnesota bans all aerial and explosive consumer fireworks. Only ground-based sparklers, cones, fountains, snakes, and smoke devices are legal in Scott County. Firecrackers, bottle rockets, Roman candles, and mortars are illegal statewide.

Burning brush or yard waste in Scott County townships requires a Minnesota DNR open-burn permit. Cities restrict or ban open burning. Garbage, plastic, and treated wood may never be burned.

Vehicles must sit on an improved driveway surface, not the front lawn, and may not block a public sidewalk. Inoperable vehicles cannot be stored in the open. New accesses need permits.

Home EV chargers are broadly allowed in Scott County; installing a Level 2 charger needs an electrical permit. New commercial and larger multifamily projects may be required to include EV-ready parking.

RV, boat, and trailer storage on residential lots follows township zoning in unincorporated Scott County and each city's own code. Registration must be current; front-yard and street storage are commonly limited.

Scott County cities restrict overnight parking of heavy commercial vehicles and trailers in residential zones. Light work vans and pickups are generally allowed. Semis, dump trucks, and construction equipment must be stored commercially.

Overnight street parking is heavily restricted in Scott County cities during winter. Shakopee, Savage, and Prior Lake ban parking from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m., November 1 through March 31, with towing.

Minnesota Statutes 169.34 sets statewide parking limits. In Shakopee, Savage, and Prior Lake, winter rules ban street parking from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m., November through March, and after any two-inch snowfall until plows finish.

Under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 168B, a vehicle left over 48 hours on public property, or an inoperable one stored in open view, can be tagged as abandoned and towed after notice.

Scott County and its cities follow the Minnesota State Building Code for retaining walls. A wall over four feet, or any wall carrying a surcharge like a driveway or slope, generally needs a permit and engineered plans.

A standard residential fence within the height limit needs no county permit in unincorporated Scott County, but a taller fence requires an administrative permit, and cities like Shakopee and Savage apply their own zoning rules.

Residential pools in Scott County must be enclosed by a barrier under the Minnesota State Building Code, generally at least 48 inches high with self-closing, self-latching gates, verified through the city or county pool permit and inspection.

Scott County and its cities allow wood, vinyl, chain-link, and ornamental metal fences, with barbed wire and electric fence typically confined to farmland. Materials should withstand Minnesota's freeze-thaw winters.

In unincorporated Scott County, Zoning Ordinance No. 3 caps fences at six feet in Rural Residential, Residential Suburban, and Urban Reserve districts. Shakopee, Savage, and Prior Lake set their own limits, generally six feet in back and lower in front.

Minnesota's partition-fence law, Chapter 344, makes adjoining owners of livestock land share a division fence in equal shares, with township supervisors acting as fence viewers. It still matters across Scott County's rural townships. Spite fences are barred by Section 561.02.

Shakopee allows up to six hens with a license and no roosters; Savage and Prior Lake permit backyard hens with coop setbacks. On unincorporated land, Zoning Ordinance No. 3 sets animal numbers by acreage using animal units.

Beekeeping in Scott County is governed by city ordinance, not the state. Minnesota's apiary registration law was repealed in 2006, so there is no statewide hive registration. Prior Lake, Savage, and Shakopee set hive placement and setbacks.

Scott County has no blanket ban on feeding wildlife, but feeding deer is discouraged and unsecured food that draws deer or pests can trigger nuisance enforcement. The Minnesota DNR restricts deer feeding in disease-management areas and manages wildlife statewide.

Shakopee, Savage, Prior Lake, and Jordan each require dogs leashed or under control off the owner's property and run their own animal control. Rabies vaccination and city licensing are required; Minnesota's dangerous-dog law (Sec. 347.50 to 347.565) is behavior-based.

Minnesota bars cities and counties from regulating dangerous dogs by breed. Under Section 347.51, no breed-specific ordinance is valid, so Shakopee, Savage, Prior Lake, and Scott County regulate dangerous dogs by behavior. No pit bull ban exists here.

Minnesota bans private possession of "regulated animals" — big cats, bears, and primates — statewide under Section 346.155, on top of local rules. Scott County cities also restrict animals unsuited to residential keeping. Native wildlife is managed by the Minnesota DNR.

In unincorporated Scott County you may prune trees on your own land without a county permit. Right-of-way and city boulevard trees need public-works approval. Avoid pruning oaks April through July to prevent oak wilt.

No Scott County ordinance restricts native or pollinator landscaping, and the state encourages it. On shoreland near Prior and Spring Lakes, a natural vegetation buffer along the water is not just allowed but effectively required.

Most unincorporated Scott County homes draw from private wells with no city sprinkling ban, though large wells need a DNR appropriation permit. In Shakopee, Savage, and Prior Lake, metro odd/even watering schedules and time-of-day limits apply.

Scott County has no ordinance governing artificial turf, and townships rarely restrict it on ordinary lots. Near a lake or stream, though, shoreland impervious-surface and vegetation rules under MN Rules chapter 6120 constrain where turf can go.

Rainwater harvesting is unrestricted in Scott County. Minnesota places no limit on collecting rain, and the county sets no rule. Rain barrels and cisterns for lawn and garden watering are legal in every township and city.

Scott County sets no lawn-height number for the unincorporated townships. Cities like Shakopee and Savage cap grass around eight to ten inches; on rural land the binding duty is the state noxious weed law, enforced by the county agricultural inspector.

Scott County's agricultural inspector enforces the Minnesota Noxious Weed Law across the unincorporated townships. Owners must control state-designated weeds like Canada thistle and wild parsnip; ignore a notice and the county abates the weeds and bills the land.

Homeowners may remove trees on their own land in unincorporated Scott County without a county permit. The real limits fall on shoreland lots near Prior and Spring Lakes, where DNR shoreland rules restrict clearing, and on right-of-way trees.

Scott County issues no general tree-removal permit for private upland trees in the townships. The permit-like control is shoreland zoning: removing vegetation in the shore impact zone of a lake needs county approval under MN Rules chapter 6120.

Scott County designates no heritage or landmark trees and runs no specimen-tree program in the townships. The nearest protection is shoreland and bluff vegetation rules plus the county's authority over trees in the road right-of-way.

No Scott County ordinance forces you to replant a tree you remove on private upland. Replacement obligations arise only where shoreland zoning conditions a clearing approval, or a subdivision or development permit requires plantings.

Shakopee, Savage, and Prior Lake permit home occupations as an accessory use in residential zones; Scott County zones the townships. The business stays secondary to the home, with no outward commercial signs.

Caring for children for pay in a Scott County home requires a state family child care license, issued through the county on behalf of Minnesota DHS. A family license covers up to 10 children.

Home occupations in Shakopee, Savage, and Prior Lake may not advertise with exterior signs. Nothing visible from the street may show a business operates inside, keeping residential blocks free of commercial display.

A home occupation in Scott County's cities may not generate customer or delivery traffic beyond normal residential levels. Walk-in retail is barred, and client parking stays on the property.

Minnesota's Cottage Food Law lets you make and sell non-hazardous homemade food from a Scott County home after registering with the state Department of Agriculture. Gross sales are capped at $78,000 a year.

Shakopee, Savage, and Prior Lake require commercial door-to-door solicitors to obtain a city permit, with background checks and limited hours. Statewide, Minnesota gives buyers three days to cancel a home sale.

A posted 'No Soliciting' sign in Scott County's cities carries legal weight, and a permitted solicitor who ignores it can be cited. Some cities also keep a do-not-knock list residents can join.

A food truck in Scott County needs a state mobile food unit license from the Minnesota Department of Health, plus a local vendor license in cities like Shakopee, which charges about $50 a year.

Where a food truck may set up in Scott County depends on each city's vendor rules, the zoning district, and property-owner permission. The state license covers food safety, not location.

A pool is a structure, so a building permit comes first before you dig or assemble one in Scott County. Unincorporated townships permit through the county; Shakopee, Savage, and Prior Lake permit through their own building departments.

Scott County regulates above-ground pools including permit requirements, setbacks, and barrier standards. Pools over a certain depth or capacity typically require permits.

Scott County regulates hot tub and spa installation including electrical permits, barrier requirements, and placement rules.

Every residential pool needs a barrier at least 48 inches high with self-closing, self-latching gates. Minnesota struck the pool section from its residential code, so the exact rule is set by your city or the county's adopted code.

Residential pools rely on anti-entrapment drain covers, barriers, and covers. Public and semipublic pools answer to the Minnesota Department of Health under MN Rules Chapter 4717, which requires a five-foot fence around new pools.

Set-out rules come from your hauler and city, not the county. Carts generally go to the curb by 6 to 7 a.m. on collection day with lids closed, and must be pulled back the same day.

Scott County does not run a garbage truck. Licensed private haulers collect trash and recycling curbside in Shakopee, Savage, Prior Lake, and Jordan, while the county handles solid-waste planning, the household hazardous-waste facility, and recycling education.

Large items go through your hauler's bulk pickup or a drop-off site. Scott County runs a household hazardous-waste facility in Jordan for paint, chemicals, and batteries. State law bans yard waste from the landfill entirely.

Recycling is built into Minnesota's metro waste law. Scott County must ensure every resident has an opportunity to recycle, and any hauler collecting trash here must also offer recycling. Accepted materials go in a single curbside cart.

Minnesota has no statewide ADU mandate. Whether you can add an accessory dwelling in Scott County is set by local zoning, the county for townships and Shakopee, Savage, or Prior Lake within their limits, and suburban cities here restrict them.

Turning a garage into living space is a change of use that needs a building permit in Scott County. The Minnesota Energy Code's cold-climate insulation rules and replacement off-street parking are the two big hurdles.

Scott County requires permits for carport construction. Setback requirements, height limits, and lot coverage maximums apply.

Scott County regulates tiny homes differently based on whether they are on a permanent foundation or on wheels. Zoning and minimum square footage requirements apply.

A detached shed of 200 square feet or less needs no building permit anywhere in Minnesota, including Scott County. Zoning still controls where it sits, and larger or wired sheds require a permit.

Scott County plays no role in yard sales, and its cities keep it easy: Shakopee, Savage, and Prior Lake do not require a permit for an ordinary residential garage sale. The rules that bite are on signs and cleanup.

Scott County sets no cap on garage sales, and its cities generally do not limit how many you hold. The real limit is practical: sell often enough that your home looks like a store and zoning rules kick in.

Garage sales in Scott County cities run during daytime hours by custom and the general noise ordinance, not a special permit. Weekend and Thursday-to-Sunday sales are typical, with everything cleaned up by day's end.

Scott County cities apply property-maintenance rules to garage sales so they do not become blight. Display goods neatly, pull tables and unsold items out of street view at day's end, and take signs down when the sale ends.

Scott County's cities put sidewalk snow and ice on the property owner. Shakopee and Savage allow 24 hours for commercial walks and 36 hours for other property after snow stops, or the city clears it and bills you.

In Scott County cities, trash and recycling carts must be stored out of street view between pickups and kept from overflowing. Shakopee, Savage, and Prior Lake enforce this through their property-maintenance codes.

Scott County cities enforce property-maintenance codes to fight blight, many built on the International Property Maintenance Code. Peeling paint, junk, inoperable vehicles, and broken structures draw notice, deadlines, and fines. Unincorporated blight runs through county…

Scott County requires vacant and unbuilt lots to be maintained, mowed, cleared of trash, and kept free of hazards. Cities enforce this within their limits; the county handles unincorporated parcels under its nuisance ordinance.

Scott County caps light spilling onto neighbors at 0.4 foot-candle at the property line and 1.0 foot-candle at a road centerline under Zoning Ordinance No. 3, Section 4-5. Glare may not be directed onto adjoining property.

Scott County Zoning Ordinance No. 3, Section 4-5 limits outdoor lighting to cut glare and light pollution: commercial fixtures need a 90-degree cutoff, poles cap at 25 feet, and canopy lighting may not exceed 115 foot-candles at grade.

Scott County's regional parks, operated with Three Rivers Park District, are open 5 AM to 10 PM. Cleary Lake and Spring Lake Regional Parks close at 10 PM; after-hours presence is trespass under MN Stat. §609.605.

Scott County's Juvenile Curfew Ordinance No. 15 sets countywide nighttime curfews by age: under-12 by 9 PM, ages 12–14 by 10 PM, and ages 15–17 by 11 PM on school nights, all running until 5 AM.

Construction disturbing one acre or more needs the MPCA construction stormwater general permit. In Scott County, MS4 cities and the Prior Lake–Spring Lake and Lower Minnesota River watershed districts set volume-control and runoff standards.

Land-disturbing work in Scott County requires erosion and sediment control under the MPCA construction stormwater permit. Silt fence, stabilized entrances, and prompt seeding keep sediment out of the lakes, wetlands, and Minnesota River.

The Minnesota River floodplain and lakeshore flood zones fall under Scott County and city floodplain ordinances and the NFIP. Structures must sit above the base flood elevation, with one foot of freeboard.

Scott County requires grading permits for significant earthwork and bars redirecting runoff onto neighbors. Grading near lakes, wetlands, or the Minnesota River adds shoreland, Wetland Conservation Act, and watershed district review.

Scott County has no coast. Development near the lakes and the Minnesota River follows MN DNR shoreland rules (MN Rules Ch. 6120), and draining or filling wetlands triggers the Minnesota Wetland Conservation Act.

Minnesota protects solar access through zoning but has no statute overriding HOA covenants. In Scott County's associations, recorded covenants may still restrict or bar rooftop solar, so check your CC&Rs first.

Scott County and its cities require building and electrical permits for solar installations. Minnesota law protects solar access through zoning and recordable solar easements, and net metering credits excess generation.

Minnesota law strongly protects political signs. Under MN Stat. §211B.045, noncommercial signs of any size may be posted in any number from 46 days before the state primary until 10 days after the general election. Scott County cities cannot cap their number or size in that…

Scott County sets no garage-sale sign rule; cities handle them through local sign codes. On your own lawn a sale sign is generally fine, but signs staked in the public right-of-way, on utility poles, or along MnDOT highways can be removed by the city or the state.

No Scott County or Minnesota law limits holiday lights, inflatables, or yard displays. Cities rarely regulate seasonal decorations, and where a code touches signs or nuisances it must stay content-neutral. A homeowner in Shakopee, Savage, or Prior Lake needs no permit for a…

Rental licensing is a city job in Scott County, not a county one. Shakopee licenses every non-owner-occupied rental and inspects each unit on a three-year cycle. Savage requires registration at no charge. Landlords register with their city, and the license rests on state…

Minnesota neither bans local rent control outright nor allows it freely. Under MN Stat. §471.9996 a city, county, or town may control rents only if voters approve the measure at a general election. No Scott County city has done so, so rents here are set at market.

Minnesota has no statewide just-cause eviction law, and no Scott County city adds one. But Chapter 504B gives tenants real protection: written notice, a court eviction before removal, and return of the security deposit within 21 days with interest under MN Stat. §504B.178.

Scott County zones unincorporated townships under Zoning Ordinance No. 3. In the RR-2 Rural Residential district, principal buildings need a 150-foot front setback from a county/state road centerline, 30-foot side yards, and a 60-foot rear.

Scott County's RR-2 Rural Residential district caps principal buildings at 35 feet under Zoning Ordinance No. 3. Detached accessory buildings scale with lot size, from 18 feet on sub-acre lots to 24 feet on large parcels.

Scott County caps impervious lot coverage at 30% in the RR-2 Rural Residential district under Zoning Ordinance No. 3. Shoreland lots near lakes follow the stricter state 25% impervious limit under MN Rules Ch. 6120.

Commercial drone work in Scott County needs an FAA Part 107 certificate plus Minnesota's own layer: annual MnDOT state registration ($25) and, for services to others, a commercial operations license ($30), with proof of insurance.

Recreational drone flying in Scott County follows federal FAA rules under 49 U.S.C. §44809: pass the free TRUST test, register drones over 0.55 lbs, stay below 400 feet, and keep the aircraft in sight.

Cannabis retailers are legal and licensed by Minnesota's Office of Cannabis Management. Scott County and its cities may not ban dispensaries but may set reasonable zoning and limit registrations to one per 12,500 residents.

Home cannabis growing is legal in Scott County under Minnesota law. Adults 21 and older may grow up to eight plants per residence, with no more than four mature and flowering, in an enclosed, locked space.