San Diego County, CA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

San Diego County does not have a broad 'property blight' ordinance for the unincorporated area the way many cities do. The County's Code Compliance Division (Planning & Development Services) states on its 'What We Investigate' page that it enforces the County Zoning Ordinance and the San Diego County Code of Regulatory Ordinances, handling complaints such as the storage of solid waste (trash and debris), inoperable and abandoned vehicles, unpermitted construction, illegal grading and clearing, and unlawful commercial-vehicle or trailer-coach storage. Critically, the same page lists 'Lack of general private property maintenance such as overgrown lawns, trees, shrubs, fences, and buildings' under matters it does NOT investigate, calling these civil issues (often governed by private CC&Rs). Where a property accumulates trash or discarded materials, the Solid Waste Ordinance (County Code Sec. 68.522) requires owners and tenants to provide 'safe and sanitary storage of all discarded materials that accumulate on the property,' consistent with 14 CCR section 17315. Vegetation that becomes a fire hazard is handled separately under the Defensible Space Ordinance (Sec. 68.401 et seq.). Enforcement favors voluntary compliance; persistent violations can draw administrative citations and, in egregious cases, public nuisance abatement at the owner's expense.