Orange County, NY Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

The Sanitary Code's weed-height cap is conditional, not automatic. " The code defines "weeds" broadly as all grasses, annual plants and vegetation other than trees or shrubs, but carves out cultivated flowers and gardens, so an ornamental bed doesn't count against the limit. Separately, Article III, Section 6(a) sets an unconditional, countywide rule that "the presence of noxious weeds shall be prohibited" on any maintained property, though the code narrows "noxious weed" to foreign, non-native parasitic plants that threaten crops, livestock or public health, not ordinary tall grass.

So a routine overgrown lawn only becomes a Sanitary Code violation in Orange County after the Commissioner makes a pest-infestation finding for that area; a genuinely noxious, invasive weed is prohibited regardless of that finding. Enforcement follows Article III, Section 6's inspection and written-notice process: an inspector documents the overgrowth, the owner gets a specific and reasonable deadline to cut it, and only a missed deadline turns the condition into a chargeable violation.