Grass Valley, CA Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Nevada County does not publish a single standalone 'vacant lot' ordinance, but two frameworks clearly reach undeveloped parcels in the unincorporated county. First, Nevada County Code Article 8 (Solid Waste) makes the owner, operator, or occupant of any property 'vacant or occupied' responsible for safe and sanitary storage of all solid waste until it is legally removed, and it is unlawful to deposit or allow accumulation of solid or liquid waste on any lot or parcel other than an approved disposal site (Sec. G-IV 8.2). So a vacant lot used as a dumping ground is a code violation. Second, and more significant in this wildfire-prone county, the Hazardous Vegetation Abatement Ordinance (Ordinance No. 2463) requires defensible space and hazardous vegetation abatement. California Public Resources Code 4291 requires 100 feet of defensible space around structures, but the county ordinance extends beyond that: it ensures defensible space is maintained on parcels adjacent to improved parcels and along emergency access and evacuation routes, and it adds hazardous-vegetation maintenance requirements for private roadways not covered by PRC 4291 (for critical egress private roads, vegetation must be cleared roughly 10 feet back from the roadside edge and limbed up). The ordinance applies only in the unincorporated county area and includes a fee structure and an abatement program. Complaints about hazardous vegetation are filed with the Office of Emergency Services' Defensible Space Division, and if an owner fails to abate, the county may abate and recover costs. Vacant lots are therefore governed by the county's solid-waste, nuisance, and hazardous-vegetation rules rather than by a dedicated vacant-lot statute.