Oyster Bay, NY Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Town Code § 182-20, part of Article II ("Growth of Vegetation and Accumulations of Rubbish and Litter," adopted 1992 and amended in full in 2009), makes it unlawful for any owner, agent or occupant of real property in the Town to permit lawns, weeds, grass, brush and vegetation of any kind to exceed eight inches in height, or to let garbage, litter, refuse, rubbish or rubble accumulate on the lot. Enforcement starts with the Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development or a designee, who serves a notice of violation under § 182-21 by personal service or first-class and certified mail (with a copy posted on the premises if mailed).

Under § 182-22, the owner or agent gets five days from service to cut the vegetation or remove the accumulation. If the deadline passes without compliance, § 182-22B lets the Commissioner direct the Department of Public Works, the Sanitation Department and/or the Department of Parks to cut the vegetation or haul away the debris, and § 182-22C authorizes the Town to recoup its actual cost by special assessment against the lot under Town Law Article 4, § 64. Owners who live outside Nassau County are deemed served once notice is mailed to their last known address.

The article sits alongside a separate Article III (§§ 182-24 through 182-28, adopted 2017) that bans planting running bamboo and requires containment barriers or 40-mil root barriers for bamboo already on a property, a distinct rule from the general weed-height standard.