New Britain, CT Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Section 7-42(b)(2)i lists uncut grass, weeds or undergrowth at least nine inches in length among the physical blighting conditions the antiblight program regulates, alongside related overgrowth problems such as bushes, shrubbery or trees allowed to extend more than one foot laterally and less than seven feet vertically over a walkway, driveway or street under subsection (k). A single instance of overgrown grass does not automatically make a property blighted; under section 7-42(c) the city can declare the property blighted immediately if the condition poses a significant risk to health and safety, or an anti-blight enforcement officer can declare it blighted after documenting at least fifteen occurrences of physical conditions like tall grass within a one-year period that erode neighborhood quality of life or property values.

Once a property is found blighted, section 7-45(d) requires the city to mail or hand-deliver a written notice and correction order to the owner, giving thirty days to cut the grass or otherwise remediate, with the order recorded on the land records to notify future buyers. Conditions like overgrown grass are treated as corrected only if no further occurrences happen during twenty-one consecutive days after the order takes effect. The anti-blight enforcement officers and the department of licenses, permits and inspections carry out inspections and issue tickets under this framework.