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

Section 40-1 defines "litter" broadly enough to cover most blight complaints: garbage, trash, refuse, rubbish, sand, gravel, slag, brickbats, waste material, tin cans, debris, dead animals, dead trees, weeds, junk vehicles or their parts, or any other discarded material left in a disorderly state that endangers public health, safety, or welfare. Section 40-8 then puts the cleanup duty on whoever controls the property, whether owner, manager, tenant, or agent. Beyond the general litter-free mandate, the section spells out five specific obligations: keep sidewalks, driveways, yards, and parking areas clean; keep garbage container areas sanitary; clear construction-site litter at the end of each working day; hold grass, weeds, or uncultivated vegetation on a platted, built-on lot to no more than 18 inches; and, within 50 feet of an arterial roadway's right-of-way, keep vegetation under that same 18-inch cap even on unimproved lots that would otherwise be exempt.

Enforcement runs through Section 40-2: the county marshal's office issues the primary citations, backed up by zoning enforcement officers, the sheriff, or a deputy sheriff, and violators answer in superior, state, or magistrate court. Because a blighted-property citation targets the condition of real estate, Section 1-21 gives the marshal a fallback if personal service fails: after one attempted personal service, the marshal can post the citation on the property, mail a copy to the address the tax commissioner has on file, and file a copy with the magistrate court clerk.