Houston County, GA Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Under County Code § 30-41, adopted by amendment on December 7, 2010, it is unlawful to keep any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer that is inoperative or carries no current tag anywhere on a property unless it is inside a fully enclosed building or structure, or otherwise shielded or screened from public view, and the property is properly zoned or permitted for that storage. The code defines an 'inoperative motor vehicle' to include any vehicle not in operating condition, or one that has sat partially or totally disassembled, missing tires, wheels, the engine, or other essential parts, for 30 days or longer.

A tarp thrown over the vehicle does not satisfy the enclosure requirement; the code says so explicitly. Licensed automobile dealers, salvage dealers, and scrap processors are exempt from the ban for vehicles handled in the regular course of that business. Enforcement runs through the county's general nuisance-abatement machinery in the same chapter: the code enforcement officer or sheriff can give the owner written notice, and if the violation is not corrected within 15 days, the county may abate it directly, hiring labor and buying materials as needed, then charge the cost back to the property through an execution collected the same way as unpaid ad valorem tax executions under § 30-44.

The owner or tenant in possession is treated as the responsible party, and the county can act 'in addition to all other remedies' available under § 30-43.