Kent County imposes no defensible-space or brush-clearance requirement — it is not a designated wildfire county. Clearing brush for a permitted burn is governed by township setback rules, and general nuisance-weed removal falls under the Michigan Noxious Weed Act enforced locally.
Kent County sits in the developed southern Lower Peninsula and has no wildfire defensible-space ordinance. There is no county rule requiring homeowners to clear brush around structures. Where brush is burned, township ordinances set clearance distances — for example, Grand Rapids Charter Township requires combustibles cleared five feet around a recreational fire and large trash burns kept 300 feet from streets and 500 feet from other buildings. Separately, the Michigan Noxious Weed Act (MCL 247.61 et seq.) lets a township or county weed commissioner order removal of noxious weeds, but this addresses weeds, not wildfire fuel.
No county brush-clearance penalty exists. Under a township burn ordinance, failing to maintain required clearance around a fire is a municipal civil infraction (e.g. $100+ in GR Charter Township).
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Kent County, MI
Kent County has no ordinance using the word 'hoarding,' but its adequate-care, sanitary-condition, and cruelty provisions let Animal Control seize animals ke...
Kent County, MI
Kent County's Animal Control Ordinance does not address feeding wild animals. Deer and elk baiting and feeding are regulated statewide by the Michigan DNR, w...
Kent County, MI
Kent County requires licensing and leashing only for dogs, not cats. Cats are still covered by the ordinance's adequate-care and cruelty provisions, and by M...
Kent County, MI
Kent County sets no general household pet cap, but any establishment keeping three or more dogs for sale, boarding, breeding, or training for pay is a 'kenne...
Kentwood, MI
Kentwood allows keeping of domestic animals, fowl or insects (including ducks, chickens, bees, goats and rabbits) only after Zoning Administrator review and ...
Kent County, MI
Backyard composting is allowed and encouraged in Kent County. Michigan law bans yard clippings from landfills, and the Kent County Department of Public Works...
Side-by-side rule comparisons with other cities in Kent County.
See how Kentwood's brush clearance rules stack up against other locations.
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