Hemet, CA Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

1(a) of the Hemet City Code declares a public nuisance whenever any one of a long list of conditions exists on real property in the city, and subsection (a)(3) puts vacancy itself on that list: real property, or any building or structure on it, that is abandoned, uninhabited, or vacant for more than six months is a nuisance regardless of whether the structure is secured against entry. The definitions section, 30-32, fleshes out what counts as vacant, pointing to overgrown or dead vegetation, accumulated mail and newspapers, past-due utility notices, disconnected utilities, and accumulated trash as evidence a property has been abandoned.

Two more clauses reach an unimproved or vacant lot specifically: subsection (a)(20) requires landscaping or approved ground cover in any yard area as required by the Hemet Zoning Code, with visible front and side yards mowed and maintained to the satisfaction of the community development director, and it flatly disqualifies weeds, dirt, gravel, broken concrete, decomposed granite, or plastic sheeting from counting as acceptable ground cover. Subsection (a)(24) separately bars parking or storing vehicles, trailers, campers, boats, or recreational vehicles on any portion of an undeveloped or vacant property unless the owner holds a current city permit for it.

Enforcement runs through the same abatement machinery as every other nuisance in this article: the city serves a written notice of abatement with a compliance period, the responsible person has ten calendar days to file a free appeal with the city clerk before the notice becomes final, and an uncontested notice lets the city record a declaration of substandard property against the parcel with the Riverside County Recorder's Office.