Pasadena, CA Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Two Pasadena Municipal Code chapters regulate weeds and overgrown grass on improved lots. Section 14.50.020(N) defines "overgrown vegetation" as plants, trees or grass that encroaches over the public right-of-way or has become unsightly from lack of maintenance, specifying that a grass lawn is overgrown once its blades exceed 10 inches in height. Section 14.50.040(8) then declares "overgrown vegetation likely to harbor rats, or other vermin, or which attain such growth as to become a fire menace when dry or which are otherwise noxious, dangerous or unsightly" a public nuisance citywide, enforced through the neighborhood services administrator's abatement notice process in Section 14.50.060.

Separately, Chapter 8.48, the "weed abatement and assessment ordinance" first adopted in 1934, gives the city manager or a designee authority under Section 8.48.020 to act whenever weeds, rubbish or other material on any property or the adjacent street, parking strip or sidewalk endangers neighboring property or public health. Section 8.48.030 requires posting a "Notice To Clean Premises" on the property and mailing a copy with the anticipated city removal cost within 3 days. The owner then has 10 days to comply or to appeal in writing to the city council under Section 8.48.050; if nothing is done and no appeal is filed, Section 8.48.060 lets the city remove the weeds itself and bill the owner using a rate schedule tied to the city's actual removal costs under Section 8.48.040.

Section 8.48.120 separately bans burning weeds or rubbish to clear a lot, permitting an exception only where hand or machine clearing is impractical and a firebreak of at least 25 feet from any building and 10 feet from vegetation is maintained instead, subject to fire chief approval.