Washington County, MN Ordinances (2026)

Washington County requires erosion and sediment control on construction sites under Development Code Chapter Three, Section 10.4. Bare disturbed ground left inactive 14 or more days…

In unincorporated Washington County, new and improved structures in the flood fringe must be built with their lowest floor at or above the Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation, which…

Washington County regulates development in mapped floodplains across its unincorporated areas under Development Code Chapter Nine, Ordinance No. 211. A Zoning Administrator permit is…

New subdivisions in Washington County cannot increase runoff: Development Code Chapter Three, Section 10.3 caps post-development peak discharge at pre-development rates for the 2-year…

Washington County requires every homeowners' association created for an Open Space Development to name, in its recorded CC&Rs, exactly who enforces the restrictions on the shared land…

Washington County requires an Open Space Development's Homeowners' Association to be formally established whenever the association will own the project's shared open space, with…

Washington County requires every Open Space Development homeowners' association agreement to spell out a mechanism for resolving disputes among the owners or association members before…

Washington County requires an Open Space Development's homeowners' association documents to spell out a mechanism to assess and enforce common expenses, covering upkeep, maintenance…

Washington County's Development Code flatly bans flashing signs, including any sign containing an electric reading board. Section 1.10(4)(E) prohibits signs emitting intermittent…

Washington County's outdoor lighting standards do not apply to temporary lighting used during customary holiday seasons. The Development Code carves out this exemption alongside…

Washington County's sign rules do not reach signs painted, glued or otherwise attached directly to or visible through a window or glass door. Development Code Section 1.10(1) carves…

Washington County treats a garage-sale sign as a 'yard sign' under Development Code Section 1.10(4)(C): it may go up on private property with the owner's consent, but it must come down…

Washington County prohibits nearly all signs, other than public utility warning signs, on county property or within a major highway or county road right-of-way. Illuminated signs must…

Washington County requires a Certificate of Compliance for home occupations in the Shoreland Management Overlay District and imposes eight performance standards under Development Code…

Washington County's Development Code caps traffic generated by a home-based business at the volume a single-family residence would normally produce. The standard applies to home…

A home occupation sign in unincorporated Washington County cannot exceed nine square feet, and Development Code Section 1.10(7) only allows one at all if the home occupation fronts a…

Washington County makes it a violation to dispose of solid waste anywhere except a licensed site or facility, and separately bans operating an unlicensed open dump. Under Ordinance No…

Only a hauler holding a valid Washington County Operating License, backed by a Base License from its home county, may collect or transport household garbage generated in Washington…

Washington County requires every bit of acceptable garbage generated in the county, whether picked up by a licensed hauler or hauled by the resident, to go to the county's Designated…

Washington County channels yard waste into licensed Yard Waste Compost Facilities rather than a curbside pickup schedule. Ordinance No. 202 defines yard waste as garden waste, leaves…

Washington County licenses Recycling Facilities under MPCA rule 7035.2845 and bars trash haulers from charging more for pickup because a resident recycles. Ordinance No. 202 folds…

Placing any object in a Washington County road right-of-way, including public sidewalks and trails, so it hinders free and open passage requires an Obstruction Permit from the County…

Anyone who wants to place a structure, signage, utility connection, or other private improvement in a Washington County road right-of-way must first obtain a Right of Way Permit from…

In unincorporated Washington County, any accessory structure that shelters chickens, goats, cattle or other domestic farm animals needs a building permit (or a Certificate of…

Dogs and other pets in Washington County parks must be caged or kept on a leash no longer than 12 feet, connected to the person responsible for the animal. Parks Ordinance No. 218…

Chapter V, Section 2(b) of Washington County's Parks Ordinance No. 218 makes it unlawful to feed any wildlife or feral animals in a county park, covering deer, geese, raccoons and…

Washington County's Parks Ordinance No. 218, Chapter V, Section 2 gives the Parks Director discretionary authority to initiate wildlife population management techniques, such as culls…

Washington County's park ordinance (No. 218, Chapter V, Section 2) makes it unlawful to kill, trap, hunt, harass or disturb any species of wildlife, including birds, in a county park…

Washington County requires the primary structure containing an accessory apartment to be owner-occupied. Development Code Section 2.1(3)(B) states plainly that 'the structure in which…

Washington County's Development Code flatly bans converting a garage into living space. Section 1.1(11) of Chapter Two prohibits using a cellar, garage, recreational vehicle, trailer…

An accessory apartment in unincorporated Washington County needs a Certificate of Compliance in the Shoreland Management Overlay District, is capped at one per single-family dwelling…

Washington County requires a building permit for nearly every accessory building, and caps shed size by lot acreage inside its Shoreland and St. Croix River Overlay Districts. A parcel…

Washington County limits structures in its Shoreland Management Overlay District, the land bordering the county's public lakes, rivers and streams, to 35 feet under Development Code…

In Washington County's Shoreland Management Overlay District, no more than 25 percent of a lot can be covered by impervious surface under Development Code Chapter Six, Section 8.4. The…

Washington County's Development Code sets structure setbacks from arterial roads, underground pipelines and street corners across the unincorporated county and its townships. The…

Washington County treats billboard illumination as an 'outdoor light fixture' under its Development Code, meaning billboard lights are subject to the same shielding, intensity and…

Washington County's Development Code requires outdoor lighting fixtures illuminating parking areas, structures or other areas to deflect light away from adjoining residential property…

Washington County caps how much light an outdoor fixture can throw onto a neighbor's land: no more than four-tenths of a foot candle measured at the property line. Light spilling onto…

Washington County Ordinance No. 125 bans juveniles under 17 from public places and businesses during set nighttime hours, with the exact cutoff depending on the juvenile's age. Parents…

Washington County parks are open to the public daily from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and conservation areas run sunrise to sunset, under Parks Ordinance #218. Entering or remaining in a…

Washington County treats any structure that has become dangerous for further occupancy because of sanitary defects as a Public Health Nuisance under Ordinance No. 165. The Department…

Washington County requires a Certificate of Compliance and building permit before any structure is erected, moved onto a lot, or structurally altered in the unincorporated county…

Washington County treats graywater reuse as a Type III onsite sewage system under Development Code Chapter Four, Section 19.5. Adopted as County Ordinance No. 206 and enforced by the…

Washington County requires a Certificate of Compliance before clearing 20,000 square feet or more of trees and other woody plants in any 12-month period. Clearing tied to a permitted…

Washington County lets residents run a backyard compost pile without a county license, but caps its size at ten cubic yards. Ordinance No. 202 exempts Backyard Compost Sites from the…

Washington County caps fence height inside its Shoreland and St. Croix River Overlay Districts. Solid walls over 4 feet are banned outright, fences on properties whose primary use is…

Washington County requires a Certificate of Compliance before any fence goes up on a lake or river frontage lot in its Shoreland or St. Croix River Overlay District. The same section…

Washington County lets property owners in its overlay districts build a fence right along the property line, but only if it does no physical damage to the neighboring property and…

Washington County's Development Code shields compliant farms from being cited as zoning violations when new houses move in nearby. Chapter Two, Section 1.1(2) says agricultural and…

Washington County bans possessing, setting off or attempting to ignite firecrackers, fireworks, smoke bombs, rockets, black powder guns or other pyrotechnics anywhere in a county park…

Fires in a Washington County park are allowed only in a designated permanent fire ring or grill, or a portable grill or camp stove set at least 25 feet from any structure or…

Washington County's Parks Ordinance No. 218 treats e-bikes, Segways, and electric scooters as one category, "Electric Recreational Vehicles," rather than splitting them into…

Chapter VI, Section 8 of Washington County's Parks Ordinance No. 218 confines bicycling on county park land to trails designated for bicycling and roadways, requires riders to follow…

Chapter VI, Section 12 of Washington County's Parks Ordinance No. 218 defines 'skating' to include skateboards and bans it in conservation areas entirely, limits it in parks to…

Washington County bans smoking, vaporizing, possessing or consuming cannabis flower, cannabis products, hemp edibles or hemp-derived products in any park or conservation area unless a…

Washington County bans serving, possessing, displaying or drinking alcohol in any county park or conservation area unless a Use Permit authorizes it, and bars anyone with a blood…

Washington County bars smoking or vaping within 100 feet of any park beach, playground or fishing pier, inside park buildings, and in any area the Parks Director additionally…

Washington County requires off-street parking areas to be improved with a durable, dustless surface graded to drain, not bare dirt or grass. Crushed rock is allowed only for…

Washington County prohibits parking or storing motor vehicles over one ton with commercial plates, and commercially licensed trailers, on residential or agricultural properties except…

Washington County gives property owners just seven consecutive days to store an inoperable car or truck outside an enclosed building. Chapter Two Section 1.1(4)(E) of the Development…

Washington County is the tobacco retail licensing authority for towns and cities that have not adopted their own licensing, including Afton, Grant, Lake Elmo and Stillwater Township…

Washington County requires every Mobile Food Unit to hold a current-year Food Establishment license from the Department of Public Health and Environment before operating, under…

Anyone filming for commercial purposes in a Washington County park or conservation area needs a use permit first. Parks Ordinance No. 218, Chapter IV, Section 1(b) bars operating a…

Washington County Ordinance No. 218, Chapter IV, Section 5 bans using any county park or conservation area as a starting or landing field for aircraft, hot air balloons, hang gliders…

Speakers, radios and musical instruments in Washington County parks may not be audible from 25 feet away without a permit. Parks Ordinance No. 218, Chapter III, Section 3(a) sets that…

Washington County requires a Use Permit from the Parks Division for any commercial, cultural, educational, political or religious event in a county park, and for any private gathering…

Washington County's Public Health Nuisance Ordinance No. 165 bans conditions that harbor rats, mice and other vermin. A property owner who lets garbage go uncontained, matter…