Walker County, GA Ordinances (2026)

Dumping, depositing or throwing litter on public or private property or in any water within unincorporated Walker County is unlawful under County Code § 28-24, unless the property is a…

In unincorporated Walker County, anyone collecting solid waste must hold a Collector permit issued under County Code § 28-506, renewed yearly, and must follow vehicle-covering and…

Commercial roll-off dumpsters and construction containers left on a Walker County site for more than 30 days without being emptied are declared a public nuisance under Walker County…

A block party or other event that closes a street, sidewalk or public way in unincorporated Walker County needs sign-off from the Planning Director, who consults the Sheriff and…

A parade, march, rally or other special event on a public street, sidewalk or right-of-way in unincorporated Walker County needs a permit from the Planning Office before it can happen…

Walker County requires anyone buying precious metals, gems or jewelry for resale in the county to hold a Sheriff-issued dealer permit, hold purchased goods at least 7 days before…

Anyone acting as a pawnbroker or running a pawnshop in unincorporated Walker County must hold a current permit from the Walker County Sheriff's Office, renewed every January 15, and…

In unincorporated Walker County, no one may operate an adult entertainment establishment, adult bookstore, theater, escort bureau or bathhouse/massage parlor meeting the…

Unincorporated Walker County bans owning or harboring any exotic or wild animal without written permission from the Director of Animal Control, and bans wild carnivores like bears…

In unincorporated Walker County, every animal must be under secure control at all times, on the owner's property or off it. Off the premises, that means a leash held by a competent…

Walker County does not ban pet stores from selling dogs or cats. Instead, any household may breed and sell up to 30 animals a year, but selling more, or dealing in pets commercially…

Walker County has no cat licensing program, but it does treat an unleashed cat in a park or recreation area as a public nuisance animal, alongside other nuisance conditions like a cat…

Walker County has no breed-specific ban. Instead, any dog can be classified dangerous or vicious based strictly on its own biting or attacking behavior, triggering registration, secure…

Walker County has no general pet-microchipping mandate, but a dog classified as vicious under the animal ordinance cannot get its required Certificate of Registration without a…

Walker County Animal Services requires every sexually mature dog or cat adopted from the county animal shelter or a humane society to be sterilized by a licensed veterinarian before…

Animal hospitals and veterinary clinics in unincorporated Walker County are only allowed in the A-1 agricultural and C-1 general commercial districts, and only inside a freestanding…

Unincorporated Walker County caps backyard horse-keeping in the R-A district at 1 horse per acre on lots of 5 acres or more, with any barn set back 200 feet from a neighboring…

A dog or other animal that howls, barks, or whines continuously for more than 15 minutes, or repeatedly for 15 minutes total within an hour, and can be heard inside a nearby home not…

Driving or operating a vehicle so run-down it grinds, rattles, backfires or otherwise makes loud unnecessary noise is a public nuisance in unincorporated Walker County under Code §…

In unincorporated Walker County, running a musical instrument, radio, loudspeaker or other sound amplifying device loud enough to disturb neighbors is banned between 11:30 p.m. and…

Unincorporated Walker County bars construction noise, erection, excavation, demolition, alteration or repair work near residential dwellings between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Walker…

In unincorporated Walker County, placing dirt, trash, pipe or other material in a county right-of-way or sidewalk that blocks drainage or roadway use is unlawful without a permit…

Walker County Code § 26-33 makes it unlawful to cut, excavate, or trench any county right-of-way, road, sidewalk, curb, or ditch, or build a driveway intersecting county property…

Individual and community yard sales in unincorporated Walker County don't need a special events permit at all, as long as the sale runs four days or fewer; Walker County Code § 10-265…

In the Chickamauga Battlefield Corridor Overlay District along US 27 in unincorporated Walker County, new development must minimize and landscape-screen retaining wall height and…

In the Chickamauga Battlefield Corridor Overlay District's commercial design guidelines, Walker County Code § 22-520(j) bans chainlink, barbed wire, vinyl, and PVC fencing on any wall…

Unincorporated Walker County levies a separate occupation tax on each distinct line of business a company operates, not a single flat license fee. The Revenue Collection Office, part…

Large or hard-to-reach homes in unincorporated Walker County must install a residential fire sprinkler system once the water supply can't meet the needed fire flow. Walker County Code…

Walker County's Code Official inspects permitted construction at set stages: foundation, framing and final for a building itself, plus separate underground, rough-in and final checks…

Walker County has adopted the 2018 International Plumbing Code with Georgia amendments, and anyone installing, altering or replacing a plumbing system regulated by that code must apply…

Walker County has adopted the 2020 National Electrical Code with no Georgia amendments, and anyone installing, altering or replacing an electrical system regulated by that code must…

Anyone who wants to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish or change the occupancy of a building or structure in unincorporated Walker County must first apply to the Code…

Walker County's landscaping ordinance lists encouraging native plant species as one of its stated purposes, alongside protecting water quality and buffering incompatible land uses…

Property owners in unincorporated Walker County cannot let trees, shrubs or bushes grow tall enough to block the sight line of drivers or pedestrians at a street intersection or…

In unincorporated Walker County's designated protected mountain and steep slope areas, anyone doing land-disturbing work cannot clear more than 50 percent of trees over 8 inches in…

Grass and weeds on any lot in unincorporated Walker County, improved or not, cannot average more than 12 inches tall under Walker County Code § 16-488(1). Agricultural operations are…

In unincorporated Walker County, food and merchandise vendors may sell on a sidewalk or street only as an authorized part of a permitted special event; the event's producer, not the…

Walker County Code §§ 22-694 and 22-695 require post-development stormwater management standards for new development and redevelopment countywide in unincorporated Walker County…

Anyone disturbing land in unincorporated Walker County needs a permit from the Planning and Development Office before grading, clearing or building, under the county's Soil Erosion and…

Any development inside a FEMA-mapped flood hazard area of unincorporated Walker County needs a Development Permit under Sec. 22-360 before work starts. Violating the flood damage…

Commercial and industrial buildings in a mapped Walker County flood hazard area must, under Sec. 22-361(b)(2), have their lowest floor at least 1 foot above the base flood elevation…

Under Walker County Code § 22-521(k), lighted off-premises advertising signs, meaning billboards, in the Chickamauga Battlefield Corridor Overlay District's commercial design…

Walker County Code § 22-521(b) and (f) require Chickamauga Battlefield Corridor Overlay District commercial lighting to be fully shielded or cut-off, cap parking-lot fixtures at 9,500…

Walker County Code § 22-521(e)-(f) requires Chickamauga Battlefield Corridor Overlay District lighting layouts to minimize light trespass onto neighboring properties, forcing…

In Chickamauga Battlefield Corridor Overlay District conservation subdivisions, Walker County Code § 22-637(c) requires street trees within road rights-of-way spaced no more than 30…

Unimproved and vacant land in unincorporated Walker County is covered by the same public-nuisance standard as occupied property: if junk, rubbish or debris that could harbor vermin…

Under the Blighted and Derelict Property Ordinance, any blighted or derelict building or land use in unincorporated Walker County is a public nuisance the Public Officer can force an…

In unincorporated Walker County, section 32-1 bars stopping, parking, or leaving an unattended vehicle on the paved portion of any county road whenever pulling off the pavement is…

In unincorporated Walker County, the Fire Official can order curbs along fire lanes and no-parking zones painted red or another distinctive color, and require yellow striping to mark a…

In unincorporated Walker County, Chapter 32's junk vehicle article bans keeping five or more wrecked, dismantled, inoperative, abandoned, or discarded vehicles on any property for more…

In Walker County's R-1 residential district, the zoning code bars vehicles with more than 2 axles, letting a subdivision resident keep just 1 such vehicle on their own property…

Walker County's R-1 zoning bars using any trailer, travel trailer, recreational vehicle, or mobile home as a storage building. It also bars anyone from living in a camper, travel…

Anyone staging a public fireworks exhibition at an event in unincorporated Walker County must first get a permit from the Judge of the Probate Court, on top of any special-event permit…

Walker County's zoning code lets a liquefied propane (LP) gas storage or distribution facility hold up to 1,000 gallons as a public service land use. Once a facility exceeds 1,000…

Every manufactured or mobile home placed in unincorporated Walker County must have a battery-powered smoke detector in each bedroom and in the kitchen before the county will issue or…

Bars, clubs and any other business running music, a radio, loudspeaker or sound-amplifying device loudly enough to disturb neighbors between 11:30 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. violate Walker…

Sounding a car horn, alarm bell, whistle or signal device while a vehicle is not in motion, for an unreasonable length of time, is a public nuisance in unincorporated Walker County…

Creating loud or excessive noise while loading or unloading a delivery vehicle or merchandise in unincorporated Walker County is a declared public nuisance under Walker County Code §…

Walker County Code § 16-489(d) bars anyone from installing kudzu (Pueraria lobata) or the popcorn/Chinese tallow tree (Sapium sebiferum) as landscape material anywhere in the…

Walker County's Table of Development Standards fixes a uniform 15-foot side and rear setback across every zoning district it covers, from A-1 agricultural through R-3, plus a 60-foot…

Walker County's Table of Development Standards in section 22-181 caps building height at 50 feet in every district the table covers, from A-1 agricultural through R-2, R-3, C-1, CN and…

Walker County residents can trigger a blight investigation by filing a written complaint signed by at least 5 residents with the Public Officer, who then documents conditions such as…

A home occupation in unincorporated Walker County may post only one identifying sign, and it cannot be illuminated or larger than 2 square feet; mailbox signs, window signs, portable…

Walker County's zoning code, § 22-115, allows a home occupation in any residential zone only if it stays clearly secondary to the home's residential use. The person doing the work must…

Walker County's home occupation standard, § 22-115(7), caps the traffic a home-based business can generate at what a residential neighborhood would normally see, and any parking the…

In unincorporated Walker County, accessory apartments are a listed part of the Residential use category, so an ADU is only allowed on land zoned for Residential use under the county's…

In the R-1 residential district of unincorporated Walker County, a shed or other detached accessory building can only go in the rear yard, at least 15 feet off the side and rear…

In unincorporated Walker County, a residential structure under 500 square feet is legally a tiny home and needs a conditional use permit before Planning and Development will issue a…

In unincorporated Walker County flood hazard areas, Sec. 22-361 requires new homes and substantially improved houses to have their lowest floor, including any basement, built at least…

Walker County's A-1 Agricultural District covers croplands, pastures, feedlots and accessory farm buildings, plus commercial livestock operations on 10 acres or more. Section 22-184…

Walker County's Historic Preservation Commission can designate a building, site or object as a historic property when it is tied to an event or person of historic or cultural…

In unincorporated Walker County, the Hotel-Motel Tax Ordinance of 2019 levies an 8 percent excise tax on the gross rent charged for any guest room in a hotel, motel, cabin, or lodge…

In unincorporated Walker County, a short-term rental host is taxed exactly like a hotel: section 30-28 lists 'residence' and 'short-term rental' among the lodging types subject to the…

In unincorporated Walker County, off-premises signs (billboards) cannot exceed 12 feet in height or 36 feet in width under Sec. 22-192, and the ordinance flatly bans any billboard…

Building a ground-mounted solar energy system in unincorporated Walker County requires a Special Use Permit under Sec. 22-334. The array may only go up in a C-1 commercial or I…