Lehigh County does not run a countywide property-maintenance code. In Allentown, the county seat, blight is governed by the adopted International Property Maintenance Code (Chapter 455) plus the abandoned/blighted-property registration program in Chapter 135.
Pennsylvania land-use and property-maintenance authority is municipal, not county (PA Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. Β§10101). Lehigh County itself sets no blight code. Allentown adopted the International Property Maintenance Code, 2018 edition, as its Property Maintenance Code (Chapter 455), and separately regulates abandoned, foreclosed and distressed properties under Chapter 135, Abandoned Real Property; Blight. Chapter 135 requires vacant or defaulted properties to be secured and maintained, lets the City lien unrecovered securing costs, and feeds a Blighted Property Review process. Outside Allentown, each borough or township (Emmaus, Catasauqua, Coopersburg, Macungie) enforces its own property-maintenance code.
Allentown may cite IPMC violations, order abatement, and lien the property for the cost of securing or cleaning it plus an administrative fee set in the City fee ordinance.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Lehigh County, PA
Pennsylvania sets no numeric hoarding limit, but the state's animal-neglect law makes it a crime to keep animals without providing each one adequate food, wa...
Lehigh County, PA
Pennsylvania Game Commission regulations make it unlawful to intentionally feed bear or elk anywhere in the Commonwealth, including Lehigh County. Feeding th...
Lehigh County, PA
Home composting is permitted in Lehigh County; Pennsylvania's Act 101 encourages diverting yard waste. There is no county composting permit. Keep piles maint...
Lehigh County, PA
Lehigh County sets no rule on artificial turf. Whether synthetic grass is allowed, and any limits on impervious coverage or front-yard use, depends on your m...
Lehigh County, PA
No Lehigh County rule limits native plantings, and Pennsylvania encourages them. The catch is Allentown's 10-inch weed limit: a deliberate, maintained native...
Lehigh County, PA
Pennsylvania has no law restricting rainwater collection, and Lehigh County imposes none. Homeowners may install rain barrels and cisterns for non-potable us...
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