Perth Amboy, NJ Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

The rule is § 243-14.1 in Chapter 243, Garbage, Rubbish and Refuse, and it binds the owner or tenant of lands anywhere within the corporate limits of the City of Perth Amboy. The list is broad: cut grass, brush, leaves, weeds, dead and dying trees, stumps, roots, obnoxious growth, filth, garbage, trash and debris. No mowing height is printed, so the trigger is the notice itself and not a measured blade length. Once a written notice or summons is received, the owner or tenant has 10 days to clear the land.

Section 243-14.2 governs service. The enforcing entity can serve the owner or tenant personally or by certified mail, and with certified mail the ten-day period starts on the date of the return receipt obtained by the postal authority. Every notice must warn that missing the deadline will result in removal directed by the department that wrote the notice and carried out by the Department of Public Works.

Cost recovery follows. Public Works keeps an accurate record of the City's cost and certifies it to the governing body. The charge is payable to the City within 30 days after the charges are submitted, and if the thirty days pass unpaid, Public Works notifies the Law Director to place a lien on the lands. Under § 243-14.3 that amount is added to the taxes next assessed on the property, carries interest at the same rate as taxes, and is collected by the same officer in the same manner as taxes.

The same section also polices yard waste. Owners, occupants and the lawn care contractors they hire cannot sweep, rake or blow yard waste into the street unless it is containerized, and containerized waste at the curb cannot sit closer than 10 feet to a storm drain inlet. Ragweed and poison ivy are handled separately under Chapter 308 by the Health Officer. The former Chapter 281 on brush, grass, weeds and lot maintenance was repealed 3-14-2007 and points readers to Chapter 243.