New York

Buying Land in Warren County, New York

Warren County runs from the small city of Glens Falls through Queensbury's suburban fringe into genuinely rural, Adirondack Park-designated towns around Lake George, Bolton Landing, and Hague. It's one of the state's clearest examples of a county straddling the Adirondack Park's Blue Line, with a real, active vacation-rental economy layered on top. Here's what to verify before buying.

Warren County Genuinely Straddles the Adirondack Park Blue Line

Case-by-case / verify locally

Warren County has considerable Adirondack Park territory -- its northern and western towns sit inside the Park, while Glens Falls and much of Queensbury sit outside or only partially inside it. This research pass could not confirm a definitive, complete town-by-town Blue Line breakdown from search-indexed sources alone -- confirm directly with the Adirondack Park Agency or Warren County Planning whether a specific parcel is inside the Park before assuming standard town zoning is the only rule that applies.

Short-Term Rentals Are a Real, Actively Regulated Local Economy

Case-by-case / verify locally

Warren County requires STR registration (per a new statewide law effective March 2025) and collects a 4% county occupancy tax on short-term stays, with real non-compliance penalties. Individual towns around Lake George have separately imposed their own permit requirements, moratoriums, and zone-specific rules. See our dedicated page.

Zoning Outside the Park Follows Standard Town Rules

Generally favorable

Warren County has no zoning code of its own outside the Park's APA layer. Each town, and the City of Glens Falls, adopts and administers its own zoning.

Government: a 20-member Board of Supervisors, eleven towns and a city

Warren County is governed by a Board of Supervisors -- twenty members total, one elected supervisor from each of the county's eleven towns plus five ward supervisors from the City of Glens Falls, each elected for two-year terms (four years for the Towns of Chester and Warrensburg). Lake George village was designated the county seat when Warren County was created in 1813, and the county's Municipal Center remains there today. The Board meets regularly with standing committees overseeing county departments.

A gateway county: from Glens Falls to genuinely rural, Adirondack Park land

Warren County is one of the clearer examples in New York of a single county straddling the Adirondack Park's Blue Line. Glens Falls, the county's small city, and much of the Town of Queensbury immediately around it, sit largely outside or only partially inside the Park -- the suburban, commutable southern end of the county. Moving north and west, the towns around Lake George itself, plus Bolton, Hague, Chester, Horicon, Johnsburg, and Stony Creek, run into genuinely rural, mountainous Adirondack terrain, with real Adirondack Park Agency jurisdiction over private land use as described on our New York state overview. This research pass could not compile a complete, confirmed town-by-town breakdown of exactly which Warren County towns fall fully, partially, or not at all inside the Blue Line -- given how much this can affect a parcel's buildable use, confirm directly with the Adirondack Park Agency or Warren County's own Planning & Community Development office before assuming either way.

A real, actively regulated vacation-rental economy

Lake George's tourism economy has made short-term rentals a genuinely significant, actively debated part of Warren County's land-use landscape -- not a marginal side issue. The county itself now requires STR registration under a new statewide law effective March 2025, and collects a 4% occupancy tax on short-term stays, with real financial penalties (reported at up to $1,000) for unregistered properties. Individual towns around Lake George, including the Town and Village of Lake George itself and the Town of Bolton, have gone further with their own permit systems, zone-specific restrictions, and periodic moratoriums on new short-term rental registrations. See our dedicated page for what a buyer planning to use land here for rental income specifically needs to check.

Zoning and septic outside the Park

For land outside the Adirondack Park boundary, Warren County follows the standard New York pattern: no county zoning code, with each town and the City of Glens Falls setting and administering its own. Septic permitting is handled by Warren County's own Health Services department under the statewide Appendix 75-A standard -- but for any parcel in the Lake George basin towns, that's only half the picture: the Lake George Park Commission runs its own separate, mandatory septic inspection and pump-out program on top of the county process. See our dedicated page for the details.

What we could and couldn't confirm

Warren County's FIPS code (36113), 20-member Board of Supervisors structure, and 1813 county-seat designation for Lake George are drawn from the county's own site. The Adirondack Park's reach into the county's northern/western towns and Queensbury's partial inclusion are confirmed via search-indexed sourcing, but this page is explicit that it could NOT confirm a complete, definitive town-by-town Blue Line breakdown for all eleven Warren County towns in this research pass -- that gap is stated directly rather than filled with a guess. The county's 4% occupancy tax, March 2025 statewide STR registration law, and reported penalty figures are drawn from the county's own Treasurer materials and news coverage; see the dedicated STR standalone page for fuller sourcing on town-level Lake George-area rules.

Verify directly with: the Adirondack Park Agency directly for Blue Line status of a specific parcel, the specific town for zoning outside the Park, and the Warren County Treasurer's office for current STR registration and occupancy tax requirements

Who to Call Before Buying Land in Warren County

Direct WebFetch access to warrencountyny.gov was not attempted in this research pass. Given how the Adirondack Park boundary splits this county, always confirm Blue Line status for a specific parcel with the APA directly rather than assuming from general county-level descriptions.

Planning & Zoning

Warren County Planning & Community Development

Countywide planning coordination, watershed septic improvement program applications, and referral to the Adirondack Park Agency or the specific town for zoning jurisdiction.

Phone: (518) 761-6410Official website →

Septic / Onsite Wastewater