Cathedral City, CA Code Violation Reporting: Common Violations (2026)

Chapter 13.80 of the Cathedral City Municipal Code is the working list of property violations that code compliance officers handle in Cathedral City. Each section opens with the same words: it is unlawful and a public nuisance for a person owning, leasing, occupying or having charge or possession of premises in the city to maintain the listed condition. That wording reaches tenants and property managers, not only the owner of record.

The listed conditions include attractive nuisances such as abandoned equipment, unprotected pools and unfenced wells (§ 13.80.025); front and visible side yards without acceptable landscaping (§ 13.80.030); overgrown weeds (§ 13.80.035); trees and shrubs that obstruct a public right-of-way (§ 13.80.040); dry or dead plant matter that is a fire hazard (§ 13.80.045); operable vehicles, RVs, trailers and boats parked outside a garage or carport on an unimproved surface (§ 13.80.050); garbage containers stored in front yards and visible from the public right-of-way except on scheduled collection days (§ 13.80.090); vehicle repair or dismantling visible from a street or an adjoining property (§ 13.80.110); visual blight (§ 13.80.115); and repeated disruptive activities, including loud noises between ten p.m. and six a.m. (§ 13.80.140). The catch-all quoted above, § 13.80.195, makes any condition prohibited elsewhere in the code a nuisance as well.

A code compliance officer who finds a nuisance can issue a notice of public nuisance and order to abate (§ 13.90.010). The notice must state the code sections violated, the actions needed to correct them and the deadline (§ 13.90.020), and it is posted on the property (§ 13.90.050). Service goes to the record owner, tenant, occupant or agent in charge (§ 13.90.060). Where a nuisance poses an immediate threat to public health and safety, the enforcement agent can skip the notice and hearing steps and abate it at once (§ 13.110.010).