Cherokee County, GA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Sec. 14-121 sits in Division 4, Unfit Dwellings or Buildings, and lists eleven categories of defects that, if present, make a dwelling or building unfit for human habitation: leaning or buckling walls beyond a one-third-thickness plumb tolerance, deteriorated support members unable to safely carry loads or with 40 percent damage to walls or covering, improperly distributed or overloaded floors and roofs, fire or wind damage that endangers occupants, loose parts that could fall and injure people or property, blocked egress to open ground-level space, dangerous wiring lacking insulation or proper grounding, a missing or non-functioning kitchen sink connected to hot and cold water and sewer, a missing tub, shower, or lavatory similarly connected, a missing flush toilet in a private room properly connected and receiving water, and missing or non-operational electric lighting under National Electric Code minimums.

The findings section, Sec. , the state law letting counties repair, close, or demolish unfit dwellings or structures, and states the board of commissioners found such structures dangerous and injurious to the health, safety and welfare of county citizens. The article applies to every commercial, office, industrial, multifamily, and single-family structure and property in the unincorporated county, occupied or vacant, regardless of when it was built, with a carve-out for state- or county-designated historic buildings the marshal judges safe (Secs. 14-32, 14-33).