Pico Rivera, CA Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Section 8.16.010(B) lists the conditions the city considers in determining whether a public nuisance exists, and item 2 specifically names overgrown vegetation such as grass over six inches in height, along with dead, decayed, diseased or hazardous trees and weeds and other vegetation likely to harbor rats, vermin or nuisances, or which may create a fire hazard, or which encroaches into the public right-of-way so as to interfere with pedestrian or auto traffic or the public welfare. This six-inch threshold applies citywide to improved residential and commercial lots and is enforced alongside the chapter's broader landscape maintenance rule requiring yards to be kept substantially free of weeds, debris, and dead or dying vegetation.

When code enforcement issues a notice of violation or notice to abate a nuisance for overgrown vegetation, Section 8.16.020 gives the property owner twenty-one calendar days to correct the condition before the city begins charging a reinspection fee for every subsequent inspection needed to confirm compliance. That reinspection fee, set by council resolution, is separate from and in addition to any fine or penalty otherwise imposed for the violation, and the notice itself must warn the owner in writing that inspection costs will follow if the twenty-one day window is missed.

Because overgrown vegetation is also an enumerated public nuisance under Section 8.16.010(B), the city can pursue summary abatement of the weeds in addition to, or instead of, a monetary citation.