Glen Cove, NY Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Section 235-7A reaches any owner, lessee or occupant, or any person having control of a lot, whether it is occupied or vacant, and bars two separate things: letting trash, debris or similar refuse accumulate on the property, and letting weeds, grass or other rank vegetation grow past 12 inches on average, or letting dead weeds, grass or brush pile up. A second, tighter standard applies to the sidewalk strip: vegetation between the property line and the curb, or between the property line and the traveled part of the street where there's no curb, cannot average more than four inches.

Subsection B separately bans poison ivy, ragweed and other plants detrimental to health from growing where they extend onto, overhang or border a public place, or where their seeds or pollen can drift into one. Subsection C carves out a real exception: none of this applies to cultivated land or lots from which crops are regularly harvested for actual use, so a working garden or farmed lot is not held to the 12-inch or four-inch caps. Enforcement runs through § 235-11: the Director of Public Works serves written notice, the owner or occupant gets five days to comply, and if nothing happens the City remedies the condition itself and adds the cost, plus 50% for supervision and administration, as a lien on the property, collected the same way as City taxes.