Skowhegan, ME Code Violation Reporting: Common Violations (2026)

Section IV of the Property Maintenance Ordinance requires all grounds and structures to be maintained to prevent unsafe, unsanitary and nuisance conditions and to avoid any adverse effect on the value of adjoining properties. Section V turns that into a list of conditions, introduced as conditions that "may include" the items below, so the list gives examples rather than a closed set.

Under Section V.1 (Grounds), the first item is exterior accumulation of refuse, household trash, junk, discarded plumbing and heating supplies, old or scrap copper, brass, rope, rags, batteries, paper and cardboard trash, rubber, waste, scrap iron, steel and other scrap metal, debris, scrap lumber and building materials, inoperable machinery or parts, glass, used furniture, used household items, and unused and inoperable appliances. The second item is any place where three or more old, discarded, worn out, junked, unserviceable vehicles sit, unless they are in an approved licensed junkyard or auto repair business. The third allows materials intended for the owner's private use to be stored only if screened from the public way and abutting properties; items intended for resale do not count as private use. The fourth is a closure rule: within 30 days after a business closes, the business owner or the property owner removes from public view all signs identifying the business that has vacated.

Under Section V.2 (Exterior of Structures), violations include fences and barriers, walls, roofs, stairs, decks, porches, handrails and doors that are not kept in good repair, wall and roof surfaces that admit wind, rain and snow, basement foundations that let vermin in, and structures with insect or rodent infestation. The Code Enforcement Officer serves a first notice by hand or routine mail and a second by certified mail, and posts the property if the second notice comes back undelivered.