Oneida, NY Fire Regulations: Brush Clearance (2026)

Section 73-10 of Chapter 73, Health and Sanitation, gives the City of Oneida its brush and weed clearance enforcement power once the eight-inch height standard in Section 73-7 is violated. A Code Enforcement Official, defined to include the Codes Enforcement Officer, Community Service Officer, or Housing Inspector, must first serve the property owner with written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, or personal service, using the address on the last filed tax roll. If the owner fails, neglects, or refuses to cut and remove the weeds, grass, or brush within five days of receiving that notice, or within five days of a notice posted on the premises, the Code Enforcement Official may have the vegetation cut and removed without needing a separate Common Council resolution.

The actual cost of that City-performed cutting, plus 50% for administrative expenses, is presented to the City Chamberlain and becomes a lien on the property, added to and collected with the property's taxes at the same interest rate, and the assessment can never be less than $100. Section 73-12 further provides that once one notice-and-cut cycle has occurred in a calendar year, the City needs no further notice before cutting again if the same lot falls into violation again that year, and each additional removal adds its own lien.

This differs from Section 73-13's separate criminal fine of $100 to $250, which punishes the underlying failure to comply rather than covering the City's cost of doing the work itself.