Hanover County, VA Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Section 18-3 of the Hanover County Code, 'Offensive or unsanitary accumulations on certain property,' targets debris left sitting on smaller and more visible lots rather than large rural acreage. It reaches property within any recorded subdivision, any lot or parcel of one acre or less regardless of subdivision status, and any lot or parcel used commercially or for multi-family dwellings. On covered property, it is unlawful for any person to place or allow to remain out of doors any garbage, trash, rubbish or other refuse in a manner that is offensive, unsanitary, or that otherwise constitutes a nuisance; a violation is a class 1 misdemeanor.

Because the statute reaches anyone who 'allows to remain,' it applies whether the property is occupied, vacant or between owners, so a vacant lot inside a subdivision or under an acre in size, littered with construction debris, discarded appliances or accumulated trash, falls squarely within the section regardless of whether anyone lives there. Chapter 18's definitions in Section 18-4 supply the terms: 'garbage' means readily putrescible discarded material of animal, vegetable or organic origin, 'rubbish' covers combustible or slowly putrescible discarded material such as wood, printed matter, plastic, paper and yard trimmings, and 'refuse' is the umbrella term covering both.

Adopted with the rest of Chapter 18 by Ordinance No. 02-10 on December 18, 2002, Section 18-3 is enforced by the county alongside the separate weed-height rule in Section 18-22, which addresses vegetation rather than debris; a vacant lot can draw a citation for either an overgrown lawn or an offensive accumulation of trash, or both, and the two sections are prosecuted independently.