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

' That manual, not the ordinance text itself, sets the technical standards for how a driveway, culvert or other access point may cut into a county road right-of-way, and the county engineer's office administers approval against it. The one built-in exclusion is timber harvesting: subsection (b) routes 'encroachments into the county's rights-of-way for access for the purpose of timbering operations' to the separate permitting requirements in chapter 22, article V, regulation of timber harvesting, rather than the general driveway manual. Section 18-90 sits within chapter 18, article III, 'Permits,' alongside the county's other construction-permit rules, so the chapter's general enforcement provision, § 18-50, applies: a person who violates any provision of chapter 18, including the encroachment requirement, is subject upon conviction to the § 1-9 general penalty, and the county, its director, or even a specially damaged neighboring property owner can seek an injunction or other court action to stop or correct an unpermitted encroachment. The director may also revoke an encroachment permit under § 18-45 if it was issued on a false statement or misrepresentation in the application.