Commerce City, CO Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Section 6-2012 splits the weed and grass duty by whether land is developed. "Undeveloped property" is defined as any property that lacks structures or is not served by water, sewer, electrical and natural gas infrastructure. Any undeveloped parcel larger than one acre must be kept to no more than sixteen inches of weeds and grass on the lot itself, and no more than eight inches in the adjacent public right-of-way, the strip running from the property line to the street centerline. Subsection (c) prevents an owner from splitting a large vacant tract to dodge the limit: two or more contiguous lots, tracts or parcels of undeveloped property under single ownership are aggregated into a single property for this section, whether or not they are platted separately, though parcels split by a public or private road are not treated as contiguous.

The same exceptions that apply to developed land also cover vacant ground: ornamental grasses, wetlands, native plant materials on the city's approved list, and certain long-farmed right-of-way strips are excused from the maintenance duty under subsection (d). Because vacant-lot weeds fall under the nuisance chapter, a violation is a civil infraction under section 6-1003, pursued in municipal court or the administrative hearing process. Overgrown vacant land bordering a street or posing a hazard can be abated by the city without prior notice under section 6-1004, with the cost of that cleanup plus a fifteen percent administrative fee billed back to the owner through the section 3-2103 collection process.

Absent a more specific fine, Section 1-5's general penalty of up to $300 and ninety days in jail, with each day a separate offense, otherwise applies.