5 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Polk County, Iowa.
Verified from official government sources
In unincorporated Polk County, letting litter, garbage, or organic waste accumulate on your property is a health nuisance. Storage in authorized receptacles subject to regular pickup and legal disposal is allowed.
Polk County Health Nuisance Regulation 2-5(f)
The deposit or storage of litter, garbage or organic waste on any real estate; provided that this section does not prohibit the temporary storage of litter, garbage or organic waste in authorized private or public receptacles or places subject to regular pickup and legal disposal.
In unincorporated Polk County, junk, debris, inoperable/unlicensed vehicles, and dilapidated buildings are "health nuisances" the owner must abate. Cities (Des Moines, Ankeny, West Des Moines) enforce their own blight codes inside city limits.
Polk County Health Nuisance Regulation 2-5(d)
The deposit or storage, outside of an enclosed building, of junk or similar items, including but not limited to: old or scrap rope, rags, batteries, paper, trash, rubber debris, tires, waste, used lumber or salvaged wood, inoperable machinery or appliances or parts of machinery or appliances, vehicular component parts, iron, steel, old or scrap household goods or hardware.
Unmaintained vacant lots and abandoned or unsafe buildings in unincorporated Polk County are health nuisances. An "abandoned building" is one vacant and in code violation for six months or more.
Polk County Health Nuisance Regulation 2-2(b)
Building, Abandoned. A building which has remained vacant and has been in violation of the building code of the city or county in which the property is located for a period of six months or more.
Polk County's unincorporated area has no county-wide garage-sale permit in its nuisance code. Rules on frequency, duration, and signs are set by your city (Des Moines, Ankeny, Urbandale, West Des Moines). Don't leave leftover items as junk.
Under Iowa's noxious weed law (Iowa Code 317.10), every landowner must destroy noxious weeds on their land. Polk County treats weeds over 12 inches as a viable complaint; contact the Polk County Weed Commission.
Iowa Code 317.10
Each owner and each person in the possession or control of any lands shall cut, burn, or otherwise destroy, in whatever manner may be prescribed by the board of supervisors, all noxious weeds thereon as defined in this chapter at such times in each year and in such manner as shall prevent said weeds from blooming or coming to maturity.
1 cities in Polk County have their own property maintenance rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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