Dallas, TX Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Sec. 18-13 defines PREMISES broadly: the lot itself plus the parkway strip between the property line and the curb, and the strip between the property line and the center of an adjacent alley, so a vacant lot owner answers for the full frontage, not just the platted parcel. A defense to the 12-inch cap requires the entire strip within 100 feet of the property's perimeter to be trimmed, and a defense to leaving cuttings on site requires that the clippings be mulched, raked, or composted in a manner the director approves.

Sec. 18-14 adds a separate duty: even below 12 inches, an owner must take every precaution to keep weeds, grass, or other vegetation from becoming a nuisance or fire hazard, a duty the fire marshal enforces directly under Sec. 18-15. Before the city sends a crew onto private property, Sec. 18-17 requires the director to give the owner seven days' written notice, served in person, by mail to the address on file with the county appraisal district, or, if personal service fails, by newspaper publication or by posting a placard on the lot.

A mailed notice returned as refused or unclaimed still counts as delivered. If the same owner lets the lot go again within a year of a notice for a health-or-safety hazard, the city can skip notice entirely and cut the lot itself. Sec. 18-18 lets the city bill the owner for its actual mowing costs and, if unpaid, file a statement with the county clerk creating a privileged lien on the property, second only to tax liens and street-improvement liens, carrying 10 percent interest, enforceable by a foreclosure suit filed in the city's name.