Brockton, MA Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Section 7-68(a) of Brockton's Code of Ordinances, part of Chapter 7's fire-prevention article on general precautions against fire, sets the city's weed and grass standard. The provision does not set a specific inch or foot height limit; instead it bars any accumulation of wastepaper, hay, grass, straw, weeds, litter or other combustible or flammable waste or rubbish from remaining on a roof, in a court, yard, vacant lot or open space anywhere in the city, and it separately commands that all weeds, grass, vines or other growth, when the same endangers property or is liable to be fired, shall be cut down and removed by the owner or occupant of the property.

That duty runs to whoever owns or occupies the lot, whether the growth is on an improved residential yard, a vacant parcel, or a rooftop. A companion clause in subsection (b) requires multi-family buildings housing more than three families to supply covered metal trash receptacles, showing the article's broader focus on fire-hazard housekeeping rather than aesthetics. Because Section 7-68 sits in the fire-prevention chapter rather than a health or zoning chapter, the operative test for enforcement is fire risk and property endangerment, not a fixed mowing height as some neighboring cities use.

The section traces to Code of 1965, § 7-59, and has not been superseded by a later dimensional standard in the current code. No permit or registration applies; the obligation is self-executing on the owner or occupant once growth reaches the point of endangering property or being liable to ignite.