Lakewood, WA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- LMC 8.40.020, duty to maintain property
- Nuisance declared by
- LMC 8.40.030
- Weed/vegetation limit
- Average height over 15 inches
- Fine
- $500 civil infraction per day
- Interest on City costs
- 12 percent per annum (LMC 8.16.050)
- Abatement remedies
- Rehabilitation, removal, trimming, demolition, or repair
Summary
Lakewood, Washington requires every property owner or occupant, including on vacant lots, to keep their land free of junk, litter, overgrown weeds above 15 inches, and dilapidated or filthy structures that endanger health or invite rodents, under LMC 8.40.020. A property violating this duty is declared a public nuisance under LMC 8.40.030 and can be ordered rehabilitated, repaired, or demolished.
No person owning, or responsible for any property by virtue of leasing, renting, occupying, or being in possession or having charge of any property in the City, including vacant lots, shall maintain or allow to be maintained on such property, except as may be permitted by any other City ordinance, any of the following conditions visible from any public street or alley, or from any other private property: ... ... 9. Any accumulation of weeds, brambles, berry vines, or other vegetation which is over-growing any structure or which exceeds an average height of 15 inches, or any accumulation of junk, litter, trash, dead organic matter, debris, offal, rat harborages, stagnant water, combustible materials and similar materials or conditions constituting fire, health or safety hazard; 10. Dilapidation or state of filthiness or uncleanness of any dwelling or other structure which endangers health or life or which permits entrance by rats, mice or other rodents.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 852, passed June 15, 2026).
Full Breakdown
020 lists ten specific blight conditions that are unlawful when visible from a public street, alley, or neighboring property: junk, trash or discarded lumber in any yard; attractive nuisances such as abandoned equipment or open wells; broken furniture; abandoned shopping carts; dead or hazardous trees and vegetation; discarded vehicle parts; vehicles on blocks unmoved for 30 days; utility trailers outside a driveway; weeds and vegetation exceeding an average height of 15 inches or debris creating a fire, health or safety hazard; and dilapidation or filthiness that endangers health or life or lets in rats and mice.
The duty to maintain extends to the strip of right-of-way between the property and the paved roadway. 020 a public nuisance to be abated 'by rehabilitation, removal, trimming, demolition or repair,' which reaches genuinely dangerous or substandard structures, not just yard debris. 16 LMC: the City Manager or a designee can order the owner, agent or occupant to correct the condition, and if the order is ignored the City may abate it directly and recover its costs, plus 12 percent annual interest, as a lien against the property. 050 makes clear the ordinance protects the general public rather than any individual, and enforcement is discretionary rather than mandatory for the City.
Violations & Fines
A violation of LMC 8.40.020 is a civil infraction under LMC 8.40.040, punishable by a $500.00 fine per violation, with each day the condition continues counted as a separate violation. The City can pursue abatement, cost recovery and lien enforcement in addition to the fine, and unresolved nuisances proceed through the notice-and-hearing steps in Chapter 8.16 LMC before the City abates the property itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a building 'blighted' under Lakewood's code?
Can Lakewood force demolition of a dangerous building?
How much can I be fined for a messy yard in Lakewood?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lakewood
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Property Blight in Nearby Cities
How other cities in this county handle property blight.