Lawrence, MA Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

70 of the Building and Property Maintenance Code folds weed and grass control into a single premises-maintenance standard rather than a standalone weed ordinance. Subsection A sets the umbrella rule: all premises and landscape elements, explicitly including grass and weeds alongside steps, walks, driveways, fences and retaining walls, must be maintained in a safe and sanitary condition, and anything that becomes a danger to health or safety must be repaired, replaced or removed. Subsection D narrows to the specific duty at issue here: weeds, grass and shrubs shall be kept trimmed and from becoming overgrown.

The code does not attach a measured height, the way some Massachusetts municipalities do; the operative test is whether the vegetation has become overgrown, which the commissioner of inspectional services applies case by case during an inspection. 080, holds responsibility for inspections, enforcement and investigations under this entire chapter, subject to the oversight of the board of health, and may use inspectional services department agents and inspectors to carry out the work. An overgrown yard is not treated in isolation either: subsection G separately requires that yards, courts and lots stay free of trash, garbage, junk and other materials that could cause a fire hazard or breed vermin, so an inspector citing weeds will often note the same yard for accumulated debris on the same visit.

Because the standard is qualitative rather than numeric, contested cases turn on the inspector's documented finding that the growth interferes with safety, sanitation, or a neighboring property, not a tape measure.