Spalding County, GA Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

Spalding County's Chapter 8-3, Exterior Property Areas, adopted July 7, 2025, defines noxious weeds in § 8-3003(1)c by reference to the Federal Noxious Weed List that the U.S. Department of Agriculture publishes and updates from time to time, rather than by naming species directly in the county code. That incorporation-by-reference approach means the list of banned plants tracks whatever species USDA currently designates federally noxious, so a plant added to the federal list becomes prohibited in the county without a separate local ordinance amendment. Section 8-3003(2) states the operative rule plainly: noxious weeds are prohibited on any developed property, defined in § 8-3003(1)b as property improved for residential, commercial, or industrial use, including platted but unbuilt subdivision lots.

That prohibition applies on top of, and separately from, the county's general twelve-inch height cap on ordinary weeds and grasses within the yard area of developed lots five acres or smaller. The definitions section also carves out an exception for controlled natural growth, meaning a deliberately maintained native-plant landscaped area, but that exception protects native plantings, not species that appear on the federal noxious list. Enforcement of the noxious weed ban runs through the same notice-and-cure process set for excess weeds generally: a seven-day notice to cut and destroy the prohibited growth, with county-hired removal and a bill to the owner if the deadline passes.