Marion, OH Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Chapter 678 of the Marion Codified Ordinances is the City's weed chapter, and its test is a number: § 678.01 deems excessive height to be twelve (12) inches. The duty falls on the owner, occupant, or person in charge of any lot or land within the municipality, so a tenant or caretaker in charge of the land answers for it along with the title holder. The same sentence reaches noxious or harmful vegetation that creates or constitutes a nuisance.

The process starts with written information or complaint. The Safety/Service Director or the Health Department then prepares a written notice for the owners, lessee, agent, tenant or other person having charge of the land. The notice states that the weeds, grass or other vegetation must be cut, destroyed and removed within five days after the date of service of the notice.

Service is set by § 678.02. A police officer of the municipality, the Clerk of Council or another City employee can serve the notice, and the fees match those allowed for service and return of summons in civil cases before the Marion Municipal Court. A nonresident owner with a known address gets the notice by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested. If the address is unknown, the notice is published one time in a newspaper of general circulation within the county. A notice properly made in one calendar year is good service for repeated violations in the same calendar year.

If the person in charge does not comply, § 678.03 directs the Safety/Service Director or the Health Department to have the vegetation cut, destroyed and removed, using the labor and equipment necessary, and to remove any accumulation of litter or refuse present before the cutting. Under § 678.04 the costs, including service and publication costs, are certified to the County Auditor, entered on the tax duplicate, and become a lien on the land, collected as other taxes are.