Rochester Hills, MI Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Section 302.4 of the Property Maintenance Code sets the day-to-day weed standard for every Rochester Hills property: all premises and exterior property, including the adjacent right-of-way, must be kept free from weeds or plant growth in excess of eight inches, and noxious weeds are prohibited outright regardless of height. Planned landscaped beds still have to be routinely maintained, and a yard that once had a mowed lawn cannot be abandoned to grow into a natural, unkempt-looking area. If an owner ignores a notice of violation, the city can prosecute under Section 109.3 of the code.

A separate enforcement track sits in Section 302.4.1, which lets the city publish a March newspaper notice each year and then send an authorized officer onto noncompliant land after May 1 to cut noxious weeds directly. That section defines noxious weeds by name, including Canada thistle, dodders, mustards, wild carrot, bindweed, perennial sow thistle, hoary alyssum, ragweed, poison ivy, poison sumac, oxeye daisies and goldenrod, along with any grass or weeds over eight inches. Costs the city incurs cutting weeds are billed to the owner plus an administration and enforcement fee equal to 1.6 times what the city pays its weed-cutting contractor, and unpaid charges become a tax lien on the property after 30 days. Fines collected under this process go into the city's noxious weed control fund rather than the general fund.