Fond du Lac County, WI Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Fond du Lac County Code § 30-105 defines junk broadly: scrap metal, metal alloy, wood, concrete, synthetic or organic material or waste, 20 or more tires, or any junked, ruined, dismantled, wrecked, unlicensed, unregistered or inoperative motor vehicle or machinery or part of one, plus used tires and parts of dismantled buildings, farm equipment and other structures. Section 30-106(a)(3) and (4) then bar, throughout the unincorporated areas of the county, storing scrap metal, junk, 20 or more tires or solid waste materials outside a building for more than three days, and storing parts of or entire dismantled buildings, fixtures, appliances or fences outside a building for more than three days.

The article was adopted, per § 30-104, because the board found that a proliferation of unlicensed junkyards, tire piles and dumps of miscellaneous materials threatened public health, safety, the environment and property values countywide. The rule does not reach a legally licensed junkyard, salvage dealer or sanitary landfill operating under a valid state or municipal license. Enforcement runs through the code enforcement officer or designee together with the sheriff's office (§ 30-107); town officials are asked to investigate complaints in their own jurisdiction first and refer the results to the county.

The circuit court can, on the county's petition, order the violating junk removed at county expense and then bill the property owner, adding the cost to the property's tax roll as a special assessment if unpaid within 30 days, under § 30-108(b).