Norfolk, VA Code Violation Reporting: Common Violations (2026)

Section 27-3 vests the director of public health, or a designee, with authority to require abatement of any nuisance in the city, to conduct continuous sanitary inspections, and to institute legal proceedings, and gives concurrent enforcement power to law enforcement officers, fire marshals and their assistants, fire inspectors, and sworn special police officers. Section 27-6(a) requires that whenever a nuisance, most commonly overgrown grass, weeds, or accumulated waste under §§ 27-9 and 27-14, comes to the director's attention, notice must be served, posted, mailed, or delivered to the person causing or allowing it, the occupant, or the owner, giving 48 hours or the time stated in the notice to abate.

Section 27-6(b) dispenses with notice entirely if the condition is an imminent, substantial, or compelling threat to public health or the environment, allowing the placarding procedure in § 27-10 instead. Section 27-6(c) sets the penalty escalation: failure to comply is a Class 2 misdemeanor, and a second notice within 12 months of an initial one that also isn't cured is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Section 27-8 lets the city abate the nuisance itself and bill a $75 or $150 administrative fee, recorded as a lien on the property ranking with unpaid tax liens.