Durham, NC Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Article VI of Chapter 26 of the Durham City Code covers removal of trash and undergrowth from property. Section 26-181 finds that lots and tracts inside the city, occupied and unoccupied, privately and publicly owned, carry dense growths of weeds, vines, briars or undergrowth, and it declares those growths a public nuisance in three situations: they harbor rodents, vermin, mosquitoes or other pests, they sit close enough to houses and other structures to raise the hazards of disease, injury or fire, or they otherwise endanger the health, safety and welfare of residents. Section 26-182 makes it unlawful for any person to keep real property in a condition the article prohibits, and the definition of owner in § 26-184(b) reaches title holders, mortgagees of record, and anyone in possession, including tenants.

Enforcement starts with the housing code administrator, who posts a notice of violation in a conspicuous place on the property. The notice describes the location and the conditions and orders correction within ten days of posting. The administrator can extend that period by up to ten additional days when the extension is necessary and reasonable. Service is complete on posting, and the city also mails a copy to the owner listed on the county tax records. Under § 26-183(2)(a), the measured trigger for weeds and grass is growth over 10 inches within 100 feet of an abutting public street or 50 feet on all sides of a building, and the growth must be cut to not more than four inches.

An owner who disagrees can give written notice of appeal to the housing appeals board within the correction period, which stays city abatement until the board decides. Without a timely appeal, or after the board affirms, the administrator can enter and correct the conditions. Under § 26-187 the abatement cost plus interest of eight percent per annum becomes a lien collected like unpaid ad valorem taxes, and it can also attach to other real property the owner holds within the city or within one mile of the city limits, except the owner's primary residence. An owner who received two notices in the previous calendar year is a chronic violator under § 26-185 and can be sent an annual notice that lets the city act without further notice that year.