Whitfield County, GA Ordinances (2026)

In unincorporated Whitfield County, no swimming pool may be installed without a permit from the county building inspector's office issued before construction starts. The building…

Every swimming pool in unincorporated Whitfield County, including existing ones, must be completely enclosed by a fence or wall at least four feet high with no gaps over four inches…

Whitfield County's Flood Damage Control Ordinance applies to every area of special flood hazard in the unincorporated county, based on FEMA's 1990 Flood Insurance Study and its maps…

In areas of special flood hazard where base flood elevation data exists, unincorporated Whitfield County requires new construction or substantial improvement of a residential dwelling…

Whitfield County's Soil Erosion, Sedimentation and Pollution Control Ordinance bars land-disturbing activity in the unincorporated county without a permit from the county engineer's…

In unincorporated Whitfield County, any new development or redevelopment that creates 5,000 square feet or more of impervious cover, or disturbs one acre or more, must submit a…

Whitfield County requires any camper, recreational vehicle, or travel trailer used as temporary living quarters during home construction in the unincorporated county to contain an…

Whitfield County Code § 5-9 adopts the National Electrical Code, along with the other Georgia State Minimum Standard Codes, for all electrical work in the unincorporated county, and §…

Unincorporated Whitfield County enforces the International Plumbing Code as one of the Georgia State Minimum Standard Codes adopted under County Code § 5-9. Anyone installing or…

Whitfield County Code § 5-11 makes it unlawful to do any work on a building or structure that needs a permit without first obtaining one. Section 5-37 requires an application to the…

Whitfield County Code § 5-37(8)(f) sets three required building inspections for permitted work: a foundation inspection after trenches are excavated and forms erected, a frame…

Whitfield County's Unified Zoning Ordinance permits child care learning centers, which serve 19 or more children under state DFCS regulation, as an accessory use in churches, schools…

Whitfield County's noise ordinance requires every motor vehicle and motorcycle exhaust to run through an effective muffler, bans modified exhaust systems built to amplify sound, and…

In unincorporated Whitfield County it is unlawful to make any loud, unnecessary or unusual noise that is plainly audible 100 feet from its source, and yelling, shouting, whistling or…

Whitfield County's noise ordinance bans running any noise-creating blower, power fan or gas engine that lacks a muffler sufficient to deaden its noise, under Sec. 7.5-41(b)(10). There…

Whitfield County Code § 4-22 makes it unlawful for an owner to let a dog, cat, or other domesticated animal persistently or continuously bark, howl, or otherwise disturb the peace of…

Whitfield County's noise ordinance treats loud stereos, musical instruments and loudspeakers as separate violations. Code § 7.5-41(b)(2) bars playing a radio, musical instrument or CD…

Construction noise in unincorporated Whitfield County is confined to weekday daytime hours. Code § 7.5-41(b)(7) declares excavating, demolition, altering or repairing any building or…

Whitfield County does not measure noise with a decibel meter; it uses a distance test instead. Code § 7.5-41(a) makes it unlawful in the unincorporated county to create any loud…

Whitfield County has no general outdoor lighting ordinance for unincorporated areas, but Sec. 5-92 of the swimming pool article requires any lights used to illuminate a pool to be…

Outdoor watering of lawns, gardens and landscaping in unincorporated Whitfield County is restricted to the hours of 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. under Sec. 7.5-81, banning daytime sprinkler…

In unincorporated Whitfield County, nobody may plant vegetation taller than 30 inches or with a trunk wider than four inches inside a road right-of-way, or within 15 feet of the…

Whitfield County does not codify a general residential smoke-alarm mandate, but Sec. 5-124(5)(e) requires every manufactured home set up in the unincorporated county to pass a final…

Inside any Whitfield County park or recreation facility, possessing, displaying, using or trying to ignite firecrackers, fireworks, smoke bombs, rockets, black powder guns or other…

Transient merchants, including mobile food vendors, cannot set up on public sidewalks, roads, bridges, parks or rights-of-way in unincorporated Whitfield County under Sec. 7.5-87(a)…

In unincorporated Whitfield County, a transient merchant, including a food truck, cannot set up on public sidewalks, roads, bridges, parks or rights-of-way. Operating from a lawfully…

Whitfield County has no standalone right-to-farm chapter, but its noise ordinance carves out agriculture: Sec. 7.5-41(c)(4) states the county's noise rules shall not apply to or be…

Whitfield County zones its General Agriculture (GA) district specifically to protect and preserve agricultural and forest resources, allowing farming, animal husbandry, forestry, and…

Dumping litter on public or private property or waters in unincorporated Whitfield County is banned under Sec. 7.5-52 unless it's at an authorized disposal site, in a proper…

In unincorporated Whitfield County, only a collector holding a valid permit under Code § 7-85 may pick up your household or business trash. The permit lasts one year from issuance and…

Commercial dumpsters and roll-off containers used to collect solid waste in unincorporated Whitfield County must meet construction and labeling standards set out in Code § 7-87. Every…

In unincorporated Whitfield County, yard trimmings such as leaves, brush, grass clippings and tree prunings cannot be dumped just anywhere. Code § 7-91(d) accepts them only at a solid…

Large household items in unincorporated Whitfield County, think old washing machines, refrigerators, furniture, tree stumps and bundles of carpet waste, fall under Code § 7-82's…

Whitfield County's outdoor watering ordinance exempts reused water from its hour restrictions: Sec. 7.5-81(c) allows gray water reuse compliant with O.C.G.A. § 31-3-5.2, and Sec…

Anyone wanting to hold a picnic, fundraiser, special event, approved food service or facility rental in a Whitfield County park must apply to the parks and recreation department…

Unincorporated Whitfield County limits door-to-door canvassers, solicitors and peddlers to the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., bars all residential solicitation on Sundays and…

Door-to-door solicitors, canvassers and peddlers in unincorporated Whitfield County must register and get a $40 permit and ID badge from the County Clerk under Sec. 10-43, pass a…

Whitfield County bars launching drones, radio-controlled flying devices, hot air balloons and hobby rockets from any county park or recreation facility unless the parks and recreation…

Whitfield County's parks ordinance lists urinating or defecating in public among the disorderly acts barred in any county park, alongside loitering, fighting, indecent exposure and…

Whitfield County Code § 3-21 bans open containers of alcohol in the unincorporated area: no malt beverage, wine, or liquor in an open container on government property, unlicensed…

Smoking is banned inside every enclosed county-owned, leased or operated building in Whitfield County under Code § 7.5-21, following the state Georgia Smokefree Air Act. Outdoors, the…

Whitfield County Code Sec. 10-1 bans loitering on premises open to the public without a legitimate purpose, breach of the peace, fighting, 'fighting words,' and refusing a police order…

Whitfield County bars parking or storing vehicles, materials, walls, fences, signs or plant life in a county road right-of-way without department authorization, and bans diverting…

Anyone wanting to encroach on a Whitfield County road right-of-way for a reason other than its intended use, such as landscaping, signage or a structure, must first file an…

Whitfield County parks and recreation facilities are open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. unless signage posted by the department states otherwise. Anyone besides county personnel…

Whitfield County Code § 4-10 requires every dog or cat six months or older to be spayed or neutered unless the owner holds a state breeder's license or a veterinarian certifies a…

Whitfield County Code § 4-23 requires every dog to stay confined to its owner's property unless restrained by a leash or chain no longer than six feet, bans dogs on private property…

Whitfield County Code § 4-24 requires cats to stay on their owner's property unless physically restrained by a responsible person, bars cats from private property without the owner's…

Whitfield County does not restrict dogs by breed; instead, Whitfield County Code § 4-45 requires any dog classified as dangerous or vicious after an investigation to be registered…

Whitfield County Code § 4-45(c)(3) requires a scannable microchip implanted between the shoulder blades of any dog classified as a vicious dog before Whitfield County Animal Control…

Outside the City of Dalton, unincorporated Whitfield County lets residents keep livestock and small animals, including chickens, on GA, SA and R-5 zoned lots under the Unified Zoning…

Unincorporated Whitfield County sets no numeric cap on how many dogs or cats a household may keep. The three-or-more threshold in the Unified Zoning Ordinance only applies to a…

Within Whitfield County's Urban Planned Unit Development (U-PUD) district, a pet grooming facility is a permitted retail use alongside nail salons and barber shops, but Section 5-4…

Whitfield County excludes veterinary clinics and animal hospitals that keep outdoor kennels from the commercial acreage of any Urban Planned Unit Development. Section 5-4 of the…

In unincorporated Whitfield County, a fence six feet high or under needs no building permit at all under County Code § 5-37, one of the enumerated exceptions to the general…

In a U-PUD zoning district in unincorporated Whitfield County, retaining walls are limited to four feet in the front yard, two feet next to a public sidewalk, and eight feet in…

Within a U-PUD zoning district in unincorporated Whitfield County, the Urban PUD Design Standards set a mandatory 72-inch (six-foot) ceiling for side and rear yard fences and walls…

Inside a U-PUD zoning district in unincorporated Whitfield County, the Urban PUD Design Standards flatly prohibit barbed wire, plastic slats, plastic vinyl screening fabric, and chain…

Whitfield County Code § 5-23 lets the county petition a court to declare an unsafe, unfit, or drug-crime-linked dwelling a nuisance and order the owner to repair it or tear it down…

Whitfield County Code § 5-21 makes it every property owner's duty to build and maintain dwellings, buildings, structures, and property in conformance with all applicable codes, and…

In unincorporated Whitfield County, a nuisance-property complaint goes to the Whitfield County Engineer under Code § 5-23(1). A public officer, any public authority, or at least five…

Whitfield County allows electronic message boards, the code's term for digital or LED sign displays, as the only sign type exempt from the county's blanket ban on flashing lights…

Billboards in unincorporated Whitfield County are allowed only along the Interstate I-75 corridor and six named Georgia DOT state routes (SR 2, 3, 52, 71, 201 and 286), and only inside…

Whitfield County's sign code exempts holiday decorations entirely from Chapter 16's size, placement, and permit rules for signs. Section 16-2 defines a holiday decoration as a sign or…

A garage or yard sale sign in unincorporated Whitfield County can go up no more than two days before the sale starts and has to come down no later than the day after the sale ends…

Whitfield County's Unified Sign Ordinance allows political signs in every unincorporated zoning district, but caps their size by district: six square feet in the GA, SA, and R-1…

A home-based business in unincorporated Whitfield County's residential zoning districts gets one sign, and it cannot be illuminated or larger than four square feet. Section 16-4(13)…

Whitfield County's Unified Zoning Ordinance defines a family day care home as a private residence where a resident cares for three to six unrelated children, for a fee, for no more…

Whitfield County lets residents run a home occupation without a permit, but Article VIII of the Unified Zoning Ordinance caps it at 25% of the dwelling's enclosed floor area and…

A home occupation in unincorporated Whitfield County cannot generate more traffic or parking than the house would produce on its own. Section 8-3-7 of the Unified Zoning Ordinance…

Inside the Urban Planned Unit Development (U-PUD) zoning district that covers new mixed-use development in unincorporated Whitfield County, the Unified Zoning Ordinance flatly bans…

Whitfield County requires a Board-investigated license to run an adult entertainment establishment in the unincorporated county and bans locating one within 1,000 feet of homes…

Operating a pawnshop or working as a pawnbroker in unincorporated Whitfield County requires a Board of Commissioners-approved permit under Sec. 8-51 and 8-52. Applicants pay a $25…

Whitfield County Code Sec. 10-22(a)(6) defines a licensed 'bathhouse or massage parlor' as one offering physical contact services with an emphasis on specified sexual activities, and…

Whitfield County's Urban Planned Unit Development (U-PUD) zoning district flatly excludes tattoo parlors from its list of allowed commercial uses. Section 5-4 of the Unified Zoning…

Unincorporated Whitfield County charges a 7 percent hotel-motel excise tax on every guest room occupancy under Sec. 8-9, with operators separately directed to collect 6 percent from…

Chart 3-7 of Whitfield County's Unified Zoning Ordinance caps building height at 35 feet across every agricultural and residential district, from General Agriculture through R-7…

In the R-4 Zero Lot Line Residential district in unincorporated Whitfield County, homes need a 20-foot front setback and a 10-foot rear setback, with detached dwellings kept at least…

In unincorporated Whitfield County, an accessory structure built with or after the main house on a lot under three acres zoned single-family residential cannot exceed 1,500 square feet…

Unincorporated Whitfield County allows garage, yard and carport sales on residential lots in every GA, SA and R-1 through R-7 zoning district, but each sale cannot run longer than one…

New residential development inside a U-PUD zoning district in unincorporated Whitfield County must plant street trees in the sidewalk's amenity zone at intervals no wider than 30 feet…

Whitfield County's Unified Zoning Ordinance bars any junk vehicle, defined as an inoperative, wrecked, or unregistered vehicle, from remaining on a lot that isn't a conforming junk…

In unincorporated Whitfield County, no commercial vehicle licensed with a gross vehicle weight over 11,000 pounds or three or more axles is allowed to park in the R-1 through R-7…

Commercial vehicles, buses and recreational vehicles cannot sit overnight on the street in any residential district of unincorporated Whitfield County. Section 6-4(d) of the Unified…

Unincorporated Whitfield County lets homeowners park a camper or recreational vehicle on their property, but Section 6-4(b) of the Unified Zoning Ordinance bars anyone from living…