Caddo Parish, LA Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Article III of Chapter 30, rewritten by Ordinance No. 5455 in 2015, targets waste, junk and 'deleterious growth' in Caddo Parish's unincorporated area. Section 30-52(a) bans storing or abandoning junk, inoperable vehicles, garbage cans left out more than 24 hours after collection, and brush or limbs left more than 24 hours after cutting (14 days after a weather event) on any lot, street or sidewalk. Section 30-52(b) separately bars letting 'obnoxious weeds, grass or deleterious or unhealthful growth ... in excess of 18 inches in height' stand on a lot within any approved subdivision, and requires the owner to cut and remove it as often as necessary to prevent a health hazard.

The 18-inch definition itself comes from § 30-51(e)(2)a, which also flags bamboo stands sheltering vermin or crime, and lumber, trash or debris posing a hazard. Section 30-52(c) exempts commercial property, farmland, recreational locations, five-acre tracts (outside a 150-foot right-of-way setback), oil-and-gas or timber businesses, and residential interiors, but a property already under a § 30-26 demolition or sealing order loses that exemption. The director of public works enforces the article and, under § 30-53, may inspect with the owner's consent or a warrant from the First Judicial District Court.

Section 30-54 gives a first-time violator a warning citation and 14 days to cut the growth before a formal notice of violation issues; each day of continued violation after that is a separate offense, and the parish can also abate the violation itself with parish crews or a contractor and bill the owner, backed by a property lien under § 30-54(b).