Cobb County, GA Noise Ordinances: Leaf Blower Rules (2026)

Cobb County Code § 50-258(12) folds leaf blowers into a single landscaping-equipment curfew that also covers lawnmowers, weed eaters, chainsaws, and pressure washers. The rule bars operating any of that noise-creating equipment, gas powered or electric, in residentially-zoned parcels of the unincorporated county whenever the noise "would annoy or disturb the peace, quiet and comfort of the neighboring inhabitants," and it runs every day of the week, not just weekdays: the cutoff is 9:00 p.m. to 6:59 a.m. Unlike the county's general decibel-based noise standard in § 50-257(b), which caps ambient sound at 70 dBA in daytime hours and 65 dBA overnight, the landscaping-equipment curfew is a straight hours ban keyed to an annoyance test, so a homeowner running a blower at 9:15 p.m. can be cited without a meter reading ever coming into play. Section 50-258 opens by calling its 16 numbered categories, everything from car horns to portable generators, "loud, disturbing and unnecessary noises," but says the list "shall not be deemed to be exclusive," so equipment noise outside these enumerated hours can still be reached under the article's general nuisance language.

Section 50-259 carves out four exceptions that apply to the whole noise article, including this provision: a business already licensed under a separate county ordinance that itself bars nuisances stays exempt while that license remains valid; work funded by the county, or activity on county property done with the county's permission, is exempt; school-sponsored activity on school grounds is exempt; and anything otherwise permitted under state or federal law is exempt. None of those exceptions reach an ordinary residential lawn crew running a blower after dark.

The rule reaches only the unincorporated county. Marietta, Smyrna, Kennesaw, Acworth, Powder Springs, and Austell each enforce their own municipal noise code, so a residence inside any of those city limits follows that city's ordinance instead of § 50-258. The current text reflects the November 20, 2025 amendment to Article VII, following the October 24, 2023 renumbering that moved this provision from its earlier § 50-257 designation to its current § 50-258 slot.