Redwood City, CA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Chapter 14, Refuse, Weed, Nuisance and Abandoned Shopping Cart Regulation and Abatement, was substantially rewritten by Ordinance No. 2555 in November 2025. 4 forbids any person owning or occupying a building, lot or premises in the City from suffering, allowing or permitting refuse of any kind to collect and remain on that lot or premises, but expressly does not interfere with a building actively under construction. 1 defines the material the prohibition reaches broadly: 'refuse' covers garbage, organic materials, recyclables, rubbish and waste matter as separately defined, with 'rubbish' meaning pasteboard boxes, rags, straw, sawdust, packing material, shavings and other combustible material, and 'waste matter' meaning crockery, ashes, shells, plaster, brickbats and other noncombustible material.

3 authorizes the Health Officer, defined as the Public Works Services Director or their designee, or another duly authorized City representative, to visit any premises in the City and examine its sanitary condition to determine compliance with the chapter. to noon, days other than Monday). 10 makes compliance with the chapter mandatory once the Health Officer or a representative gives notice, and declares a violator guilty of a misdemeanor. 38 onward) set out a separate resolution, hearing and lien-based abatement process the City can use against the property owner directly.