Do I need a permit for a shipping container in Forrest County?
It depends on whether you are inside a city: Hattiesburg and Petal treat a container on a house lot as an accessory building with setback rules and their own permit offices, while outside city limits you ask Forrest County. Neither city has a rule written for shipping containers, so the accessory-building rules are what apply.
Hattiesburg
Hattiesburg's Land Development Code has no residential shipping-container rule. A container on a house lot is an accessory structure: never in the front yard or between the street and the back line of the house, at least 5 feet from the rear and side lines, and all detached accessory floor area capped at a third of the house's.
The five local historic districts need a Certificate of Appropriateness for a new structure. The Land Development Division tells you whether your lot needs a permit. Part of Hattiesburg is in Lamar County; the rules above are the city's either way. More on the Hattiesburg page.
Petal
Petal's zoning has no container rule either. An accessory building goes in the side or rear yard only, covers no more than 30 percent of the rear yard, and sits at least 10 feet from the rear and side lines, with a site plan to the Building Department. More on the Petal page.
Outside city limits, and the floodplain
In unincorporated Forrest County, call the county before you order and ask plainly whether your parcel has zoning that covers an accessory storage building. Read any subdivision covenants too, since they are often stricter than the county.
Low ground along the Leaf and the Bouie is mapped floodplain, and a floodplain development permit comes before anything is placed there. Permit rules covers what to ask anywhere in the Pine Belt.
Buying a container?
Longleaf sells used and one-trip 20ft and 40ft shipping containers, delivered by tilt-bed across the Pine Belt. Enter your ZIP for the delivered price — it comes straight from the supplier feed and already includes the haul. Locks, vents, shelving and lights are on the accessories page. We sell; we do not rent.
Keep reading
- Which accessories make a shipping container usable: locks, vents, shelving and more — Which shipping container accessories to buy first: a lock box and padlock, vents, solar lights, no-drill shelving, a leveling jack and ramps, in order.
- What should you check when your shipping container is delivered? — A delivery checklist for a shipping container: doors and seals, the daylight test, floor, roof, the grade you paid for, and what to do if something is off.
- Getting a zero-turn into a shipping container: door width, ramp length and deck size — Will a zero-turn mower fit in a shipping container? Door width, deck sizes that clear, ramp length, and how to set up a 20ft for mowers and a landscape crew.
- Do you need a permit for a shipping container on your property? — Shipping container permit rules in the Pine Belt: how cities treat a permanent container like a shed, when the street needs a permit, and who to call first.
- A container tack room for a Lamar County barn: saddle racks, vents and the layout — How to set up a 20ft shipping container as a tack room in south Mississippi: saddle racks from 2x6s, two vents against mildew, shelving, and where to set it.
Across the Pine Belt
Hattiesburg · Petal · Laurel · Ellisville · Purvis · Sumrall · Columbia · Collins · Seminary · Wiggins