Conway, AR Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Conway Municipal Code Section 5.09.10.C singles out unimproved property for its own maintenance duty: all vacant structures, the premises around them, and vacant land generally must be kept in a clean, safe, secure and sanitary condition so the parcel does not become a blighting influence or a threat to public health or safety. The companion numeric standard lives in Section 5.09.11.D, which caps grass or weeds at eight inches in height in every zoning district in the city, vacant or occupied. The only carve-out is for property zoned A-1 (agricultural), and even that exception has a limit: where an A-1 parcel abuts developed property, the owner must maintain a fifteen-foot buffer along the shared lot line, and grass and weeds inside that buffer strip are still capped at eight inches.

Section 5.09.17 separately restates the duty in plainer terms, requiring every property owner and occupant in the city to cut weeds and grass and remove garbage, rubbish and stagnant water that could breed mosquitoes. Enforcement runs through the abatement procedure at Section 5.09.18: the city's code official issues a written Notice of Violation giving the owner seven calendar days, counted from the day after the notice is delivered, to mow or otherwise correct the condition. If the deadline passes with the property still out of compliance, a Code Enforcement Officer may enter the lot, have the weeds or grass cut, and bill the owner for the cost, which the city can then place as a lien against the property under A.C.A.

Section 14-54-903. Because no separate fine amount is written into Chapter 5.09 for a bare grass-and-weeds violation, the general penalty in Section 1.32.01 applies: up to five hundred dollars, or up to two hundred fifty dollars per day if the violation continues after conviction.