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

Sec. 7-2001(a) defines "abandoned motor vehicle" two ways: a vehicle or trailer left unattended on a public street, road, highway, or other public property for at least five days when an enforcement officer reasonably believes the person who left it does not intend to return for it, or a vehicle left unattended on private property for at least thirty days without anyone making a claim to it; an unregistered vehicle on premises not owned or occupied by its owner is deemed abandoned outright. Sec. 7-2001(c) separately defines "junked motor vehicle" as one that has been discarded, dismantled, wrecked, scrapped, ruined, or junked, including any unserviceable vehicle that is a health hazard or unsightly nuisance, or one not restored to road-worthy condition within fifteen days of an enforcement officer's order.

Sec. 7-2002 requires any junk vehicle stored in the open on public or private property to have a storage license and, absent a licensed junk yard, to be enclosed in a rear-yard structure so it cannot be seen from the street or neighboring private property. Sec. 7-2003 puts removal on the owner: the owner of a junked vehicle, or of the real property where it sits, must remove it within seven calendar days of written notice from an enforcement officer, the property's owner, lessee, or occupant, with notice by attachment to the vehicle allowed if the owner cannot be found.

Sec. 7-2004 lets an enforcement officer, defined in Sec. 7-2001(b) as the sheriff or a deputy or other designated officer, remove a vehicle to a garage or place of safety if the owner misses that deadline, if the five-day public-property abandonment threshold is met, or immediately if the vehicle threatens public health or safety.