5 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 2 cities in Pierce County, Washington.
Verified from official government sources
Pierce County Code 8.08.050(F) makes property where solid waste has accumulated a public nuisance unless the waste is securely stored in receptacles designed to prevent threats to health, safety or the environment. Curbside carts in unincorporated areas are supplied by the WUTC-certificated hauler serving each area.
Pierce County Code 8.08.050(F)
Property where solid waste has accumulated or is handled, stored, treated, processed, or buried except for properly permitted solid waste handling sites... and solid waste securely stored in receptacles or containers designed to prevent threats to human health or safety or to the environment until such solid waste enters a solid waste handling system.
Pierce County Code Chapter 8.08 declares accumulated solid waste, junk vehicles, unpermitted salvage sites and unfinished structures to be public nuisances in unincorporated Pierce County, and lets Planning & Public Works order abatement after voluntary compliance fails. Cities like Tacoma and Puyallup enforce their own blight codes.
Pierce County Code 8.08.010(B)
It is the purpose and intent of this Chapter to eliminate the effects of accumulated solid waste, accumulated damaged and inoperable vehicles and vessels, unpermitted septic/sewage systems, and unpermitted motor vehicle salvage, storage, or repair sites. These conditions create blight, depress land values, generate health hazards, damage the environment...
Vacant and rural lots in unincorporated Pierce County fall under Code Chapter 8.08, which makes accumulated solid waste, junk vehicles, abandoned appliances and unsecured hazards public nuisances regardless of whether the parcel is occupied. Owners remain responsible for abatement costs under PCC 8.08.
Pierce County Code 8.08.050(E)
Unsecured hazards accessible to and posing a danger to minor children, animals, and any person... which include, but are not limited to: unused, abandoned, or discarded refrigerators, freezers, or large appliances, or any unsecured or abandoned excavation, pit, mine, cistern, storage tank, or shaft.
Pierce County requires no permit for occasional residential garage or yard sales in unincorporated areas, treating them as an accessory home activity rather than a business. Sales must not create a public nuisance under Code Chapter 8.08, and off-premise signs in the county right-of-way are not allowed.
Pierce County Code Chapter 8.08 sets no numeric grass-height limit for unincorporated properties; overgrown vegetation is addressed only where it creates a public nuisance under PCC 8.08.040 or a fire, sight-distance or drainage hazard. Noxious weeds are separately controlled by the Pierce County Noxious Weed Control Board under RCW 17.10.
Pierce County Code 8.08.040
A public nuisance consists of performing an unlawful act, or omitting to perform a duty, or permitting an action or condition to occur or exist which: A. Unreasonably annoys, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, or safety of others... C. Renders other persons insecure in life or in the use of property.
2 cities in Pierce County have their own property maintenance rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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