New Berlin, WI Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Section 201-23 A bars any person who owns, occupies or controls land in New Berlin from letting grasses and general ground cover average more than eight inches tall in residential zoning districts. The section cross-references Code § 137-6 for noxious weed regulations and Chapter 175, § 175-3 of the nuisance chapter, so a lot that exceeds the height limit can also be pursued as a nuisance. Section 201-23 B exempts agricultural-zoned districts in active crop or livestock use, R-1 and R-2 residential parcels of five acres or more, and natural areas, rain gardens, bioswales or other stormwater best management practices that are designed and maintained as such, so a naturalized landscaping feature is not automatically a violation.

The provision sits in Chapter 201, Property Maintenance, Article I, so it is enforced together with the exterior-structure and sanitation standards that precede it. Section 201-18, which opens that article, sets the penalty framework applied to Article I violations, including this one: it points to the general forfeiture schedule in Chapter 1, § 1-18, and specifies that every day a violation continues is treated as a separate offense, so an overgrown lot can accumulate multiple counts rather than a single fine while it sits uncut.