Berwyn, IL Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

The eight inch limit in § 690.02 applies to vegetation, and § 690.01 defines that term with a list of 19 items: burdock, giant and common ragweed, thistle, cockleburr, jimson, blue vervain, common milkweed, wild carrot, poison ivy, wild mustard, rough pigweed, lamb's quarters, wild lettuce, curled dock, smart weeds of all varieties, poison hemlock, wild hemp and grass. Ordinary lawn grass therefore counts as vegetation and has to stay at eight inches or below.

Section 690.03(A) puts the duty on every owner of real estate within the municipality: cut vegetation at the times necessary so that it does not exceed eight inches in height. If the owner neglects or refuses, the city can cut the vegetation or authorize some person to cut it on the city's behalf. Under § 690.03(B), the city is allowed the cost of cutting in addition to any fine imposed on the owner.

Section 690.04 adds a separate rule for real estate abutting a public street or public alley. The owner must keep vegetation, brush and shrubbery cut down, other than shrubbery planted by the owner or predecessors in title for ornamental purposes, and must keep any hedge, including ornamental hedge, cut to a height not exceeding four feet. An owner who does not comply within five days after written notice from the Mayor, Superintendent of Streets or any police officer is deemed guilty of maintaining a nuisance.

Section 690.05 lets the city recover its mowing costs through a lien. The city, or the person who did the work for it, can file a notice of lien with the Recorder of Deeds in the county. The notice is a sworn statement giving a description of the real estate, the amount of the cost and the date the cost was incurred, and it must be filed within 60 days after the cost is incurred. Payment ends the lien, and the release is filed of record the same way.