Kent County, DE Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Chapter 175 adopts the International Property Maintenance Code, 2018 edition, as the Kent County Property Maintenance Code and amends it locally in § 175-2. 4, caps weeds and grass at 12 inches on any parcel; ornamental shrubs, trees and a wildflower meadow set back at least 10 feet from a property line are exempt, and the rule does not apply to farms, agricultural parcels or wooded areas, or to land covered by an approved landscape, reforestation or natural resource area plan. A property owner gets five days after notice to cure an overgrowth violation before the code official steps in to remediate it and pursue cost recovery under Chapter 90.

' Where a structure itself has decayed to the point of danger, § 143-27 lets the code official condemn it as unsafe or unfit for occupancy, placard it, and order it vacated, and § 143-33 authorizes the county to order demolition of a structure too dilapidated to repair or one that has sat under stalled construction for more than two years. Under § 90-10, the county may also step in directly to demolish unsafe structures, cut tall weeds and grass, tow vehicles or maintain trees and shrubs, then bill the responsible party for the cost, including design-professional reports, temporary safeguards and reasonable attorney fees.