Linden, NJ Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Linden prints two weed heights, one in each of two codes, and each section names the property it covers.

Dwellings. Chapter 10 is the Housing Code of the City of Linden. Section 10-10.4 applies it to every portion of a building or premises used or intended to be used for any dwelling purpose, except temporary housing. Section 10-11.4, titled Weeds, requires exterior property areas and vacant lots to be free of all weeds, noxious or harmless, and sets the measure in its second sentence: a growth higher than six inches above the ground is weeds. The chapter defines exterior property areas as open space on the premises and vacant open space on adjacent premises, so the six-inch measure reaches both.

Nonresidential premises. Chapter 12 is the Business Property Maintenance Code. Section 12-3.1 applies it to every building and the premises it stands on when used for commercial, business, industrial or any other nonresidential occupancy. Section 12-6.1.a requires those premises to be kept free of nuisances and hazards, and its list of hazards names brush, weeds and obnoxious growths in item 1. Item 2 adds that weeds and grass shall not be allowed to exceed five inches in height and that trees shall be kept pruned and trimmed. Separately, section 12-6.2.a requires landscaping exposed to public view to be kept in an orderly state, with lawns and bushes trimmed and free from becoming overgrown, littered and unsightly where that would constitute a blighting effect on adjoining and nearby property. Section 12-10.12 excludes land in an industrial zone that exists in its natural state.

Cleanup after notice. Housing Code section 10-11.9, amended 3-18-2025 by Ord. No. 69-12, gives the owner or party in interest three days after notice to remove brush, weeds, dead and dying trees, stumps, roots, obnoxious growths, filth, garbage, trash and debris from his lands. If the owner refuses or neglects the removal within the time in the notice, the Code Enforcement Agency has the Department of Public Works do it, and the owner is subject to penalties and costs. Section 10-11.10 has the Director of Public Works certify the cost to the Council, which charges it against the lands as a lien added to the taxes next assessed.