Santa Fe, NM Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

4 SFCC 1987 makes it unlawful for any owner, lessee, agent, occupant or person controlling a lot, occupied or vacant, to permit growth of weeds taller than twelve inches with a stem diameter under two inches, or to allow weeds so dry or dense they create a fire hazard, on the lot itself or on the adjacent sidewalk, street or alley strip. 3 defines 'weeds' broadly to include grass, brush and named noxious species such as bindweed, Canada thistle, perennial sowthistle, Russian knapweed, common ragweed, milkweed, dandelion, Russian thistle (tumbleweed), fireweed, mustards, sandburs and hairy stickweed, plus any other growth injurious to public health, safety or welfare.

The ordinance exempts flower gardens, shrubbery plots, vegetable gardens, native landscaping vegetation and small grain plots from the height cap. 2 formally declares this growth a nuisance under the authority the state legislature grants cities in NMSA 1978 Section 3-18-17, which lets a municipality regulate practices that annoy persons on streets or public grounds. The Weed Ordinance itself, adopted by Ordinance No. 1 SFCC 1987, and the nuisance may separately be abated under the city's Nuisance Abatement Ordinance at Section 10-9.