Barrow County, GA Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Section 90-504 sits within Article VI, Stormwater Utilities, the article that also created the Barrow County Stormwater Utility and its dedicated Stormwater Enterprise Fund under Sec. 90-501 through 90-502 to fund compliance with the county's NPDES Phase II municipal separate storm sewer system permit. The commercial on-site system requirement applies to developed commercial land, and it requires the system to be sufficient to collect, convey, detain and discharge stormwater consistent with federal, state and county regulations, not merely to exist. If an owner fails to meet that standard, Sec.

90-504 treats the failure as a nuisance, letting the county file an abatement action in any court of competent jurisdiction; if the court finds a nuisance the owner does not fix within the time the court allows, the county can enter the property, perform the remedial work itself, and assess the actual cost against the owner. That cost becomes a lien the county perfects by filing notice on the general execution docket of the Superior Court of Barrow County. Section 90-504 also gives designated county officers and employees the right to enter private property on reasonable notice to inspect it and run surveys or engineering tests to confirm compliance.

A separate but related article of the code, covering illicit discharges into the county's municipal separate storm sewer system, requires responsible parties to use best management practices, report any accidental discharge or spill within 24 hours, and allow county inspection access, with violations there enforced under Sec. 00 per day or a criminal citation to Magistrate Court.