Walton County, GA Ordinances (2026)

Walton County bans operating any motor vehicle, motorcycle or off-road vehicle without a properly working muffler, and separately bans tire squeal or high-acceleration noise that…

In unincorporated Walton County, running a leaf blower, lawn mower, edger or riding tractor between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. is a violation if the sound carries across your property…

Walton County bars operating a radio, loudspeaker, musical instrument or sound amplifier so it is plainly audible more than 100 feet from the source's property line in a residential…

Walton County bars operating a loudspeaker or sound amplifier between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. within or adjacent to a residential or noise-sensitive area when it is plainly audible…

A dog is a public nuisance animal under Walton County Code § 10-8(a)(5) if it 'continuously makes excessive noises,' defined as howling, barking or crying that causes unreasonable…

Walton County limits construction and building-repair noise in the unincorporated area to 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on weekdays and 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on weekends. Work outside…

Walton County's Land Development Ordinance caps commercial noise measured at the property line under Table 100-1: no more than 50 dB(A) by day and 45 dB(A) at night where an A1, A2…

Walton County bars handling solid waste in a way that is conducive to insect and rodent infestation, and separately bars letting waste accumulate on residential or commercial property…

Walton County's only sharps-disposal rule sits inside the tattoo and body piercing regulations at Chapter 39, Article VII. Every needle or sharp instrument used in a licensed…

In unincorporated Walton County, every permitted building project moves through a fixed sequence of required inspections before the planning and development building official signs…

Unincorporated Walton County plumbing work runs on the Georgia State Minimum Standard Plumbing Code as locally amended, and a permit from the planning and development building…

Electrical work in unincorporated Walton County is governed by the Georgia State Minimum Electrical Code as locally amended, and a permit from the planning and development building…

In unincorporated Walton County, anyone who wants to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish or change the occupancy of a building, or work on its electrical, gas, mechanical…

A day care center in unincorporated Walton County needs more than a state license: Land Development Ordinance Section 6-1-260 requires at least one hundred square feet of outdoor play…

In unincorporated Walton County, licensed residential haulers must still pick up trash at least once during any week that includes a legal holiday or extreme weather like snow or ice…

Unincorporated Walton County residents must set refuse receptacles, rubbish and bundles at the roadside on their assigned collection day without blocking passage, and never before dusk…

Unincorporated Walton County haulers must collect residents' voluntary recycling, glass, newspaper, plastic PET and HDPE, and aluminum and steel cans, at least weekly at no extra…

Walton County bans open dumping of solid waste on any property in the unincorporated area under Sec. 46-35(c). A property owner notified that dumping occurred gets 15 days to promise…

Licensed haulers in unincorporated Walton County must run residential collection between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. under Sec. 46-36(b), and Sec. 46-39(1) requires at least weekly…

Walton County requires every licensed hauler to offer curbside recycling under Sec. 46-39(3), but participation is voluntary for residents. Customers who opt in get weekly pickup of…

Section 46-41 tells unincorporated Walton County residents when and where to put out trash: receptacles go roadside no earlier than dusk the day before pickup and must be hauled back…

In unincorporated Walton County, commercial dumpsters must sit on a concrete pad located to the rear of the building and be screened by an opaque enclosure at least six feet high. The…

Unincorporated Walton County bans setting off consumer fireworks between 10:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m., except on the dates and times the state fireworks law carves out for extended use…

In unincorporated Walton County, a pre-owned manufactured home cannot get a certificate of occupancy without an operable battery-powered smoke detector in every bedroom and in the…

Operating a mobile food unit in unincorporated Walton County without a valid food service permit from the health authority is unlawful. Operators must apply at least ten days before…

Every licensed short-term rental in unincorporated Walton County must have a local property manager available 24 hours a day. LDO Section 6-1-840(C) requires that contact's name and…

Unincorporated Walton County caps a licensed short-term rental at fifty-two seven-day bookings per calendar year. LDO Section 6-1-840(B) also blocks back-to-back or overlapping…

In unincorporated Walton County, every Short Term Rental must provide one paved off-street parking space per bedroom, each at least nine feet wide and twenty feet long. The Land…

Unincorporated Walton County requires every Short Term Rental to hold an annual Short Term Rental License issued as an Occupational Tax Certificate. The license runs one calendar year…

Unincorporated Walton County does not set a fixed dollar figure for Short Term Rental licenses in its ordinance text; instead, Section 6-1-840(D) of the Land Development Ordinance…

Unincorporated Walton County can revoke a Short Term Rental License if the Sheriff's Office cannot reach the property's required local contact person more than three times within any…

Electronic signs are allowed only in commercial and industrial districts in unincorporated Walton County, and the county's sign ordinance sets minimum message-hold and transition…

Unincorporated Walton County allows only one highway-oriented sign per property, capped at 300 square feet and 35 feet tall, and only within 300 feet of a numbered state, U.S. or…

Retail, restaurant and personal service businesses in unincorporated Walton County can cover no more than 25 percent of any first-floor window pane with signage, and window signs…

Billboards, defined in the county's land development ordinance as highway-oriented signs, may only be illuminated as permanent signs and cannot blink, flash, change color or shine…

In unincorporated Walton County, Section 7-1-150(A)(5) of the Land Development Ordinance requires parking-lot lighting that abuts residential uses to use cut-off luminaires mounted so…

Walton County classifies each business location in the unincorporated county separately for its occupation tax, and a business offering more than one type of service or product is…

In unincorporated Walton County, a home-based business must operate as a home occupation under LDO Section 6-1-420: no outward evidence of the business, a 25% cap on floor area used…

Unincorporated Walton County bars any sign or advertising on the property for a home occupation. LDO Section 6-1-420(F) is absolute: nothing may identify or advertise the business from…

A home-based day care in unincorporated Walton County must meet the Land Development Ordinance's Day Care Facility standards: state licensing compliance, a residential appearance, no…

A home occupation in unincorporated Walton County cannot receive customers on the property at all unless the Board of Appeals grants a special exception, and the business is capped at…

Properties operating as outdoor commercial vehicle storage yards in Walton County cannot let vehicles sit and idle from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. LDO Section 6-1-610(7) exempts industrial…

Anyone disturbing land in unincorporated Walton County must get a land-disturbing permit and follow erosion, sedimentation and pollution control best management practices, including a…

Development in unincorporated Walton County that increases peak stormwater runoff by more than one cubic foot per second in a ten-year storm must provide detention or retention, backed…

Unincorporated Walton County requires a Development Permit before any activity in a FEMA-mapped Special Flood Hazard Area and generally requires new or substantially improved…

In unincorporated Walton County, the Land Development Ordinance's Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance requires new construction and substantial improvements within a Special Flood Hazard…

Motor vehicle repair and small engine repair cannot be run as a home occupation in unincorporated Walton County. LDO Section 6-1-420(H) names it directly on a list of businesses barred…

Operating a massage establishment in unincorporated Walton County without an occupational tax certificate license is unlawful. LDO Section 6-1-540 also fixes fixed operating hours of…

Pawnbrokers operating in unincorporated Walton County must follow Code of Walton County §§ 18-121 through 18-127, which adopts Georgia's pawnbroker law by reference and adds county…

In unincorporated Walton County, tattoo and body piercing establishments operate under Chapter 39, Article VII, adopted under O.C.G.A. ch. 31-40. The county health department permits…

In unincorporated Walton County, an adult entertainment establishment cannot open unless the site is zoned M1, M2 or B3 with a conditional use permit, sits outside the ordinance's…

Unincorporated Walton County allows up to six chickens per parcel in platted subdivisions in the A, A1 and A2 districts, or on lots of two acres or less in A1/A2. LDO Section 6-1-650…

Unincorporated Walton County requires every domesticated animal, including dogs, to be kept under proper restraint at all times. County Code § 10-3 makes it 'unlawful for a…

Walton County does not require spay or neuter for every pet, but County Code § 10-8(b) makes it mandatory once an animal is found to be a public nuisance: the owner must have that dog…

Walton County treats cats largely the same as dogs: a cat found in heat and at large is a public nuisance animal under County Code § 10-8(a)(6), and every cat four months or older must…

Walton County Animal Control will not release or adopt out any animal from its shelter unless the animal carries an implanted EAID, an electronic microchip, under County Code §…

Walton County has no breed-specific ban; instead County Code §§ 10-51 through 10-60 classify individual dogs as 'dangerous' or 'vicious' by behavior, such as biting or aggressive…

Unincorporated Walton County classifies pet grooming as a "Pet Care Services" use, folded into the Kennels, Commercial category (NAICS 812910) in the Land Development Ordinance's use…

In unincorporated Walton County, an animal hospital or veterinary clinic must sit at least 100 feet from any property zoned or used for residential purposes. The Land Development…

Anyone selling products or soliciting money door-to-door in unincorporated Walton County must obtain a permit and a numbered badge from the Sheriff's Office, pay a $50 application fee…

Permitted door-to-door sellers in unincorporated Walton County may not contact residents before 9:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m. or sunset, whichever comes first, and may never approach a…

Walton County caps residential fences at eight feet, dropping to six feet for any fence adjacent to a public road within the required setback in a residential zoning district…

Woven wire, chain link and barbed wire cannot extend into a front yard unless the lot is at least two acres and used for agriculture; barbed and electric fencing are barred outright…

Retaining walls within 10 feet of a front property line cannot exceed four feet in Walton County, and any wall over four feet, or built on a slope steeper than 2:1, must be designed by…

Walton County allows guest houses by right on agricultural and R-1 lots of 1.2 acres or larger with county water (2.4 acres on a well), capped at 800 square feet, matched to the main…

A shed or other accessory building in unincorporated Walton County must sit at least five feet from any property line and stay in the rear or side yard behind the front setback. Land…

Walton County's Noise Disturbance Ordinance defines 'plainly audible' sound to specifically include rhythmic bass detectable by unaided hearing, under Code of Walton County § 34-42…

In unincorporated Walton County, County Code § 6-38 bars any alcohol-licensed establishment from making loud, unnecessary or unusual noise that disturbs the peace and is audible from…

Walton County's noise ordinance bars sounding a motor vehicle horn or signaling device that is plainly audible in a public right-of-way or public space for more than 60 seconds, except…

Section 34-31(11) of the Code of Walton County makes it unlawful to defecate or urinate on or adjacent to any street or sidewalk, in halls, elevators or stairways of public buildings…

In unincorporated Walton County, loitering in front of a church during services, a theater or a business after a police officer orders a person to move is disorderly conduct under Code…

Walton County's own Land Development Ordinance states plainly that private covenants are not enforced by county government. The definition of "Protective Covenants" recognizes them as…

Where a Multi-Family Development in unincorporated Walton County uses a homeowners association to maintain its common open space, the Land Development Ordinance requires that…

For a Multi-Family Development in unincorporated Walton County that uses a homeowners association, county rules mandate automatic membership tied to unit ownership and require the…

Walton County's Agricultural (A) zoning district exists to keep farm operations viable, and the Land Development Ordinance says so directly: intensive development is discouraged there…

In Walton County's A1 Rural Estate District, the most common large-lot residential zoning in the unincorporated county, the Land Development Ordinance caps impervious surface at…

Homes in Walton County's A1 Rural Estate District are capped at thirty-five feet under Section 4-1-120(E)(5) of the Land Development Ordinance. The same 35-foot ceiling runs through…

The A1 Rural Estate District, the county's main large-lot residential zone, requires a 50-foot front setback, 15-foot side setbacks and a 40-foot rear setback under Section…

In unincorporated Walton County, the Outdoor Water Use Ordinance sets a daily watering window of 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. and assigns watering days by address: odd-numbered addresses…

In unincorporated Walton County, it is unlawful for the owner or occupant of a single-family dwelling to let grass, weeds or uncultivated vegetation in the yard around the home grow…

Walton County does not regulate compost bins by size or design; it simply lists 'gardening and composting' as a permitted accessory use. Land Development Ordinance Section 5-2-110…

In unincorporated Walton County, any land development permit application must include a tree protection plan under Land Development Ordinance Section 12-2-100. Single-family and duplex…

In unincorporated Walton County, a private yard sale is capped at twice every six months, with each sale limited to three consecutive days. Section 6-1-990 of the Land Development…

Anyone planning a parade, demonstration, assembly or picketing in unincorporated Walton County must apply to the board of commissioners at least ten days ahead. The Sheriff issues the…

In unincorporated Walton County, Section 7-2-100 of the Land Development Ordinance requires businesses over 25,000 square feet to provide off-street loading space on a rising scale…

In unincorporated Walton County, Section 7-1-100(D) of the Land Development Ordinance makes it unlawful to stop, stand or park a vehicle at any place prohibited by ordinance and marked…

In unincorporated Walton County, Section 7-1-100(C) of the Land Development Ordinance bans parking wreckers, tow trucks, dump trucks, flatbed trucks, earthmoving equipment and other…

In unincorporated Walton County, Section 7-1-100(C)(3) of the Land Development Ordinance bars parking travel trailers, RVs, campers, boats, personal watercraft or trailers in a front…

Unincorporated Walton County bans keeping an abandoned junk vehicle on any property or adjacent right-of-way for more than seven days. Exceptions exist for vehicles fully enclosed in a…

Any development along Walton County's Parkway Corridor Overlay District must plant street trees inside a required landscape strip, spaced no more than forty feet apart. Land…

Walton County's Land Development Ordinance protects 'specimen and historical trees' as part of its tree preservation program. Section 2-1-100 defines a Specimen Tree as any deciduous…

Walton County's Town Center District (TC) is the closest thing the unincorporated area has to a downtown design code. Land Development Ordinance Section 4-1-220 requires buildings to…

Walton County zones data centers as a permitted use in its two large-tract business park districts, the Mixed Use Business Park (MUBP) and the Stanton Springs Business Park (SSBP). The…

Walton County's Land Development Ordinance requires new bicycle lanes to be at least four feet wide, placed between the outer travel lane and the curb or shoulder, and shifted between…

Any utility working within a Walton County right-of-way must first obtain a Utility Permit from the Planning and Development Department, pay the required fee, and submit detailed…

When litter or overgrown vegetation on an unoccupied, vacant or abandoned lot in unincorporated Walton County violates the litter control ordinance, the county must post notice on the…

Before an unincorporated Walton County homeowner can get a building permit for an in-ground swimming pool, Section 6-1-920(D) of the Land Development Ordinance requires the Walton…

Unincorporated Walton County requires every home swimming pool and its deck to be enclosed by a wall or fence at least four feet high. Section 6-1-920(B) of the Land Development…

Unincorporated Walton County treats solar panels as an accessory use under Section 6-1-860 of the Land Development Ordinance. Roof-mounted systems whose slope differs from the roof…