Orlando, FL Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Chapter 14, Article VI, Section 14.22 is Orlando's overgrown-lot rule. It prohibits and declares a public nuisance 'the existence of excessive accumulation or untended growth of weeds, undergrowth or other dead or living plant life' on any lot, tract, or parcel of land within the City, whether uncovered or under open shelter, when the condition reaches the extent that it may reasonably become infested or inhabited by rodents, vermin or wild animals, may furnish a mosquito breeding place, threatens or endangers public health, safety, or welfare, may reasonably cause disease, or adversely affects and impairs the economic welfare of adjacent property.

The rule sets no fixed inch-height trigger; instead it turns on 'excessive accumulation or untended growth,' assessed against those health and welfare consequences, unless the growth is 'neatly arranged for removal in accordance with directions of the Code Enforcement Division.' Section 14.23 backs this with an affirmative duty on the owner of every lot to 'reasonably regulate and effectively control' such growth both on the property and on the adjoining right-of-way strip to the street. Enforcement follows Section 14.24: the code official posts and mails notice to the owner of record (using Orange County Property Appraiser records for the address) describing the violation and giving 15 days to remedy it or file a written appeal contesting the nuisance finding.

If neither happens, Section 14.25 authorizes the City to clean the lot itself, with Section 14.26 turning the cost, an administrative charge, and interest at 8 percent annually into a special assessment lien recorded with the Clerk of Circuit Court.