Ames, IA Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Chapter 30's scope clause, Sec. 30.2, applies the public nuisance standards to all properties within the City of Ames, so a vacant, unimproved lot carries the same maintenance duties as a built one. Sec. 30.5(14) targets one of the most common vacant-lot hazards: an excavation, hole, or depression more than three feet below the surrounding grade that is not part of active, permitted construction that will ultimately close it in. When the enforcement officer finds a violation, the lot owner must fill the excavation and re-grade it level with the adjacent ground; the only exceptions are egress window wells, fire pits, or holes completely secured by a fence or similar barrier.

The same chapter reaches other vacant-lot conditions that often travel together with an open excavation, including refuse, garbage, or junk left outdoors more than 72 hours and turf grass over 12 inches, all declared nuisances under Sec. 30.5. Responsibility for correcting any of these conditions falls on the owner, agent, lessee, or occupant in charge of the lot under Sec. 30.6, and if that person does not act after written notice, Sec. 30.7 lets the enforcement officer abate the hazard and bill the cost to the owner, collected the same way as property taxes under Iowa Code Section 364.12(3)(h). An emergency excavation posing imminent danger can be abated without advance notice, with a cost notice mailed within 14 days.