Chelan County, WA Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

67 of the Chelan County Code establishes the Chelan County Weed Board and sets out how the county recovers what it spends fighting noxious weeds in the unincorporated county, including on vacant and unimproved lots. 010 reorganized the weed board into five members: three appointed from the county's commission districts and two at-large positions filled from Chelan County PUD District Positions A and B, with the district's existing bylaws otherwise staying in force. 020; they are reimbursed only for actual and necessary expenses tied to their official duties, not paid a stipend for sitting on the board.

030, Collection of weed board eradication liens. When the weed board eradicates noxious weeds from a parcel and the owner does not cover the cost, that debt becomes a lien against the real property. The Chelan County treasurer collects the lien the same way it collects delinquent real property taxes, so it runs through the county's tax collection process rather than a separate civil suit. 170(5), and interest keeps accruing until the lien is paid, so an owner who lets the county do the eradication work ends up paying substantially more than clearing weeds before enforcement begins.

This section was last amended by Resolution 2017-74 on August 21, 2017. Because the eradication and lien authority runs countywide in the unincorporated area, it reaches any uncultivated or vacant parcel where noxious weeds have taken hold, not just farmland or occupied residential lots.