Cherokee County, GA Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Article V of Chapter 50, the 'Road Drainage Code,' adopted by Ordinance No. 96-07 on March 22, 1996, regulates private encroachments into the public way. Section 50-109 bars installing a permanent culvert or other drainage structure, defined as lasting more than six months, on any public way to create vehicular access to a dwelling unit unless written notice describing the size and type of the structure has first been given to the public works department, the building official, the administrator, or another person the board designates; a separate notice is unnecessary if the culvert information is already part of a building permit application.

Section 50-110 extends the identical written-notice requirement to commercial driveways: no one may install a permanent culvert, drainage structure, or drive or way for vehicular access to a business or commercial enterprise on a public way without first giving notice under Section 50-109's procedure. No fee is charged for either notice. The article defines 'public way' broadly in Section 50-108 to include any county-maintained road, street or highway plus adjacent ditches, cuts, fills, culverts, drainage easements and retention structures, and it reaches roads maintained by other government agencies where those agencies have no conflicting rules.

Section 50-111 separately bars depositing trash, debris, soil or sediment-laden runoff into the public way's drainage system from any residential, commercial or vacant-lot premises. The county's planning director, public works director, building official or county attorney can pursue injunctive relief in addition to the criminal penalty in Section 50-112. Applicability is limited to public ways under county authority; the Road Drainage Code excludes state department of transportation roadways from its permit requirement, though its anti-obstruction provisions still apply there.