Lake Havasu City, AZ Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Section 8.08.020 defines a public nuisance broadly, and subsection B.1 lists an accumulation of specific conditions that, standing alone, count as a nuisance on any property within the city, whether it is a single lot or a larger parcel. Item (d) targets vegetation directly: landscaping that is substantially dead, damaged, marked by uncontrolled growth, or deteriorated in appearance; and, most concretely, uncultivated plants, weeds, tall grass, or uncultivated shrubs and growth taller than 12 inches. The same clause reaches dead trees, bushes, and shrubs, including their stumps, and singles out scorpion weed along with any noxious or toxic weeds or uncultivated plants or trees.

The 12-inch threshold is the one hard number in the clause, and it applies regardless of whether the growth is currently growing or has died where it stands. Because the nuisance definition in subsection A also covers anything that annoys, injures, or endangers the safety, health, comfort, repose, or life of the citizens of the city, an overgrown lot can be cited even where the grower disputes the 12-inch measurement, though (d)'s specific number gives Code Enforcement Officers, who enforce this chapter under § 8.08.040 and Chapter 1.12, a bright-line trigger they do not need for the more general subsection A standard.

Responsible parties, defined at § 8.08.010.F to include owners, occupants, lessees, and anyone with legal control of the property, are the ones who can be cited for violating § 8.08.030's prohibition on maintaining a public nuisance.