Warwick, RI Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Sec. 22-77 makes it the duty of anyone who owns or controls a house, other building or premises, including a vacant lot visible from a public place or private premises, to keep it reasonably clean and orderly, to a standard matching other properties nearby. It is a violation of that section to let a property accumulate litter, refuse, rubbish or trash, or to let weeds or grasses grow to a height of one foot or more, with ornamental grasses excepted. Sec. 22-78 applies the identical one-foot threshold to commercial properties, naming restaurants, shopping centers, stores, hotels, motels, industrial establishments, office buildings, apartment buildings and gas stations specifically.

Both sections carve out land held in trust for public open space or recreation and any property regulated by the state department of environmental management or the state coastal resources management council. Because Secs. 22-77 and 22-78 sit in Article III, the article's enforcement machinery applies: Sec. 22-81 authorizes inspection by the building inspection division, property maintenance division or public works director, who cites the owner, operator or tenant by personal service or mail. Sec. 22-82 fines a violation up to $600 per offense, waivable if corrected within five days, while Sec.

22-83 raises that to $50-$600 with no waiver for anyone cited three or more times in 12 months. Sec. 22-84 turns an unpaid, uncorrected violation into a lien on the property with the same standing as a real estate tax lien, and Sec. 22-88 allows appeal to municipal court within 15 days of the citation.