5 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Snohomish County, Washington.
Verified from official government sources
In unincorporated Snohomish County, collection containers may not be kept in the public right-of-way and must be stored on private property. Bins should go out no sooner than the day before pickup and be removed within 24 hours after collection.
SCC 7.42.045
No collection container shall be kept or stored within the confines of any public right-of-way in a residential area. Collection containers shall be kept on private property... Collection containers should be removed promptly (within 24 hours from collection) from all traveled ways... and rights-of-way after service collection.
Accumulated junk, wrecked vehicles and repeated nuisance activity on unincorporated property are code violations. A "junkyard" is over 50 cubic feet of junk in an urban growth area, and chronic nuisance property can be court-ordered abated with daily penalties.
SCC 30.91J.020
"Junkyard" means more than 50 cubic feet of junk when located in an urban growth area, or the use of more than 300 square feet of area of any lot where junk is bought, sold, exchanged, stored, baled, packed, disassembled or handled, including automobile wrecking yards.
Owners of vacant unincorporated parcels must still control noxious weeds and cannot let others dump waste on the land. Illegal dumping and accumulated junk on empty lots are enforceable nuisances under county and state law.
RCW 17.10.140(1)
Except as is provided under subsection (2) of this section, every owner must perform or cause to be performed those acts as may be necessary to: (a) Eradicate all class A noxious weeds; (b) Control and prevent the spread of all class B noxious weeds designated for control in that region within and from the owner's property.
Snohomish County sets no permit requirement or specific rule for occasional residential garage and yard sales in unincorporated areas. Sellers must still avoid blocking rights-of-way, follow sign rules, and not run a de facto ongoing retail business from a home.
Snohomish County has no set grass-height limit for residential yards, but every property owner must eradicate Class A noxious weeds and control designated Class B and C noxious weeds under state law, enforced by the county Noxious Weed Control Board.
RCW 17.10.020(1)
In each county of the state there is created a noxious weed control board, bearing the name of the county within which it is located. The jurisdictional boundaries of each board are the boundaries of the county within which it is located.
1 cities in Snohomish County have their own property maintenance rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
See every category we cover for Snohomish County — parking, noise, fences, fires, animals, pools, and more.
Snohomish County Ordinance Hub →