In unincorporated Knox County, open storage of garbage, building materials, rubbish, brush, tires, automotive parts, junk, or debris in a residential area is prohibited under the county's dirty lot ordinance, enforced by Knox County Code Administration. Inside Knoxville and Farragut, the city or town's own codes apply.
Knox County Code Administration enforces the 'dirty lot' ordinance in the unincorporated county. Per the county's Dirty Lot Fact Sheet, open storage of garbage, building materials, rubbish, brush, tires, automotive parts, junk, or debris is prohibited in a residential area, and overgrown grass over 12 inches is a separate violation. A Code Enforcement Officer inspects a complained-of property; if it is in violation, the property is posted and the owner is given a notice of violation and notified by certified mail. Property inside the City of Knoxville or Town of Farragut is handled by that municipality's neighborhood codes enforcement instead.
Ten days after notice the lot is re-inspected. If the owner does not comply, cleanup is turned over to Engineering and Public Works and the incurred cleanup cost is billed to the property owner.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Knox County does not prohibit backyard composting for households. The zoning code only regulates commercial-scale composting facilities, which are solid-wast...
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Knox County has no ordinance regulating artificial turf on residential property. Synthetic lawns are neither required nor banned; large installations should ...
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Knox County has no rule requiring native plants in home yards, but its zoning ordinance requires native shade trees in new parking lots and along streets in ...
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Knox County has no ordinance prohibiting or specially regulating residential rain barrels or rainwater collection. Tennessee does not restrict rainwater harv...
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Knox County does not impose a general ordinance restricting lawn or garden watering days or hours. Any watering limits come from your individual water utilit...
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Knox County treats vines, grass, weeds and other vegetation that reaches 12 inches or more as a presumed public nuisance on residential property. Owners must...
See how Knox County's property blight rules stack up against other locations.
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