Scranton, PA Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Scranton's weed framework has both local and state layers. Locally, Chapter 360 (Property Maintenance) Article II (https://ecode360.com/29522618) caps weeds and plant growth at 8 inches and adds an outright prohibition on 'all noxious weeds.' Chapter 434 Article IV (https://ecode360.com/11608837) is the older, species-specific provision: it reaches Canada thistles, ragweed, burdocks, any senecio species, and 'all rank vegetable growth which exhale unpleasant and noxious odors and also high and rank vegetable growth that may conceal filthy deposits.' Process: written notice is served by the City; the owner has 10 days to cut and destroy; failure subjects the owner to prosecution before the District Justice under Section 1-16 (General Penalty, up to $250). The City may then perform abatement and assess the cost as a municipal lien under 53 P.S. § 7101 et seq. (Municipal Claims and Tax Liens Act). At the state level, Pennsylvania enacted the Controlled Plant and Noxious Weed Act of 2017 (3 Pa.C.S. Chapter 12), replacing the older Noxious Weed Control Law (3 P.S. § 255.1 et seq.). The implementing regulation, 7 Pa. Code § 110.1, sets the noxious weed control list and currently includes Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense), musk thistle (Carduus nutans), bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare), giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum), Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica), kudzu, and the Lythrum salicaria complex. Listed species cannot be sold or propagated and must be controlled by landowners. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, administers enforcement. Pesticide application by anyone other than the property owner on their own residential property requires a Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture commercial-applicator certification under the Pennsylvania Pesticide Control Act, 3 Pa.C.S. § 6701 et seq. (formerly 3 P.S. § 111.21 et seq.).