Mobile, AL Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Section 52-53(a) of Chapter 52, Article III puts a flat height cap on every parcel in the city: grass and weeds can't rise above 10 inches, and the cutting duty covers not just the lot itself but the space between the property line and the curb line, front, rear and alongside. Section 52-53(b) adds a separate duty to destroy and remove poison oak, poison ivy, poison sumac or similar noxious plants, meaning killing them at the roots by chemical, cutting or tillage, not just mowing the tops. Section 52-53(c) requires owners whose property touches a city right-of-way to keep the sidewalk and right-of-way strip mowed and free of junk, litter and debris.

A farm exemption exists: Section 52-55 excuses parcels of more than five contiguous acres from cutting, so long as the owner still maintains a 50-foot buffer along every abutting residential or business lot line and public road. Heavily wooded, natural-state and under-construction properties are excluded outright under Section 52-52's definitions.

Once the code official confirms a violation, Section 52-58 requires 30 days' certified-mail notice plus newspaper publication before the city council can declare the growth a public nuisance and order abatement. Cutting costs run $0.0125 per square foot with a $125 minimum, plus a $50 administrative charge, and Section 52-72(3) adds a $100 penalty for every repeat cutting within 36 months of the first nuisance declaration.