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

Sec. 58-1, adopted by ordinance on October 3, 1989, requires anyone engaging in commercial activity or construction activity on, over, or under a right-of-way, easement, road, or ditch belonging to or maintained by Effingham County or its board of commissioners to first obtain a permit from the county roads superintendent authorizing that specific activity. The roads superintendent is the one who creates and issues the application forms, and the office is capped at charging no more than $10.00 to cover the cost of issuing the permit, so it cannot use the fee as a revenue source beyond defraying its own administrative cost.

The rule sits in Chapter 58's Article I alongside Sec. 58-2, which separately bars anyone from advertising or conducting a sale of goods, vehicles, or equipment on county property or in the rights-of-way without the board of commissioners' written consent, and lets the sheriff remove any vehicle or piece of equipment left unattended in the right-of-way for 24 hours or more. Neither Sec. 58-1 nor Sec. 58-2 states its own fine, so enforcement of both runs through Sec. 1-19, the county's general penalty section adopted under O.C.G.A. § 36-1-20.