Erie's Landscaping Rules: The Rules That Matter

Every city handles landscaping rules a little differently. In Erie, Pennsylvania, there are 7 distinct rules that residents and property owners should be aware of. Some are stricter than what neighboring cities enforce, and others are more relaxed. Here is what you need to know.

Tree Trimming

Erie requires trees to be kept clear at 14 feet above the street and 9 feet above the sidewalk, and any planting or removal of a tree in the public right-of-way needs a City permit from the Urban Forest Committee.

Key details: Code Section: Codified Ord. Art. 165 (Urban Forest Committee). Clearance: 14 ft above street; 9 ft above sidewalk. Permit: Required for planting/removal in City right-of-way. Penalty: Up to $300 and/or 90 days.

Violations of the public-tree provisions are punishable, upon conviction, by a fine of not more than $300 or imprisonment of not more than 90 days, or both; right-of-way work without a permit is prohibited.

Composting

Erie runs its own composting program through the Bureau of Refuse and Recycling covering grass clippings, lawn and leaf waste, and hedge trimmings. The City sets the collection manner, bags or containers used, and other program details by administrative regulation rather than fixed ordinance rules.

Key details: Operator: Bureau of Refuse and Recycling. Oversight: Dept. of Public Works, Property and Parks. Materials covered: Grass clippings, lawn/leaf waste, hedge trimmings. Program details: Set by administrative regulation, not fixed in code. Penalty: $100-$1,000 fine, up to 90 days jail.

Article 951's general penalty clause, Section 951.99, applies to violations of this article: a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 and imprisonment of up to 90 days, with both able to be imposed together, and each day of continued violation treated as a separate offense.

If you are coming from a city with tighter rules, you will find Erie gives residents more flexibility on composting.

Artificial Turf

Erie's vacant and foreclosure property maintenance rule, Article 749, names artificial turf or sod designed for residential installation as acceptable yard groundcover, alongside grass and plantings, while barring gravel, broken concrete and asphalt as substitutes. The rule applies to registered vacant and foreclosure properties, not every yard citywide.

Key details: Ordinance: No. 3-2023, passed 1-18-2023. Applies to: Registered vacant/foreclosure properties. Artificial turf status: Acceptable if residential-grade. Not acceptable: Weeds, gravel, broken concrete, asphalt. Registration fee: $300 every 6 months.

Failure to maintain a registered vacant or foreclosure property's yard as required by Section 749.06, including substituting gravel or broken concrete for acceptable groundcover, is enforceable by the City's code enforcement officers under the article; Section 749.05(b)(10) authorizes the City to take corrective action and place a lien on the property for the cost of bringing it into compliance following an administrative or judicial finding of violation.

If you are coming from a city with tighter rules, you will find Erie gives residents more flexibility on artificial turf.

Rainwater Harvesting

Erie's zoning code expressly allows rain barrels on urban garden and market garden sites under Zoning Ordinance Section 305.48(b)(5). Rain barrels are permitted as an accessory feature to these vacant-lot food-growing uses in the R-2, R-3 and RLB Districts, alongside the other accessory-structure standards the city sets for gardens carved from unused parcels.

Key details: Rain barrels: Permitted by right, Sec. 305.48(b)(5). Eligible uses: Urban gardens and market gardens only. Accessory structure cap: 100 sq ft (urban garden). Fence height minimum: 3 feet, per Section 205.10. Eligible districts: R-2, R-3, RLB.

Erie enforces Section 305.48 like the rest of the Zoning Ordinance: under Section 403.1 the Zoning Officer issues a written enforcement notice describing the violation and a compliance deadline before any penalty attaches. If the property owner does not correct the problem, Section 403.3 authorizes a civil judgment of up to $500 per day plus court costs and the City's attorney fees, with each day the violation continues counted as a separate offense.

The rules around rainwater harvesting in Erie lean permissive, but that does not mean anything goes.

Native Plants

Erie's Zoning Ordinance Section 206.15(d)(3)G lets an Industrial Park property owner treat part of the site as natural landscaping to encourage native plants instead of standard plantings. The same clause bans a short list of nuisance spreaders, Japanese honeysuckle, multiflora rose, and autumn olive, from that natural area unless it falls within designated wetlands.

Key details: Zone: IP - Industrial Park District. Option: Natural landscaping with native plants, owner's election. Banned invasives: Japanese honeysuckle, multiflora rose, autumn olive. Wetland exception: Invasives allowed only in designated wetlands. Maintenance duty: Still 'perpetually maintained' under Sec. 206.15(d)(4).

Planting or keeping one of the named nuisance species outside a designated wetland, or letting a natural-landscaping area fall out of the 'perpetually maintained' standard in Section 206.15(d)(4), is a landscaping violation enforceable the same way as any other zoning defect under Section 403. The Zoning Officer can issue an enforcement notice with a compliance deadline, and an uncorrected violation can bring a civil judgment of up to $500 per day.

If you are coming from a city with tighter rules, you will find Erie gives residents more flexibility on native plants.

Weed Ordinances

The City of Erie's adopted property-maintenance standard requires premises to be kept free of weeds and plant growth taller than 10 inches; overgrowth is a code-enforcement and Quality of Life violation.

Key details: Code Section: IPMC Sec. 302.4 (as adopted); Codified Ord. Art. 727. Height Limit: 10 inches. Enforcement: Bureau of Code Enforcement / Quality of Life Ticketing.

Notice of Violation with an order to correct; if uncorrected, a Quality of Life ticket (fine of $25 or more) and a summary citation filed with the Magisterial District Judge, plus fines and court costs upon conviction.

Water Restrictions

Erie has no city lawn-watering ordinance in normal conditions; Pennsylvania state law (4 Pa. Code Chapter 119) prohibits watering grass and most outdoor plants once the Governor declares a drought emergency in the area.

Key details: Code Section: 4 Pa. Code Sec. 119.4 (state). Trigger: Governor-declared drought / water shortage emergency. Water Supplier: Erie Water Works.

During a declared Commonwealth drought emergency, prohibited nonessential water uses are enforceable under 4 Pa. Code Chapter 119 and the Governor's proclamation; no fixed local fine applies outside an emergency.

The Bottom Line

Compared to many U.S. cities, Erie gives residents more room on landscaping rules. 4 of the 7 rules here are rated permissive. But permissive does not mean unregulated. There are still requirements, and the city does enforce them when violations are reported.

All of the above reflects Erie's municipal code as of our last review. If you need specifics on fines, exemptions, or filing requirements, the detailed ordinance pages linked above have the full breakdown.