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

Hercules folded its weed standard into the 2024 International Property Maintenance Code rather than write a separate weed ordinance. Section 9-5.02 adopts the 2024 IPMC, including appendices, by reference as one of the Title 9 technical codes administered under Chapter 1 of Title 9, and Section 9-5.03 keeps a copy on file with the Chief Building Official for public inspection. Section 9-5.04 then amends the model code's own Section 302.4, 'Weeds,' to read that all premises and exterior property must be kept free of weeds or plant growth over twelve inches, a rule that reaches vacant, unimproved parcels exactly as it reaches occupied lots because 'premises' under the Property Maintenance Code is not limited to built structures.

A separate, older enforcement path reinforces the same limit for problem lots: Section 4-10.04 of the Nuisance Abatement chapter (Title 4) independently declares dead, decayed, diseased or hazardous weeds and other vegetation a public nuisance when they endanger public safety or damage neighboring property, and overgrown vegetation a nuisance whenever it harbors vermin, causes detriment to neighbors, or creates a fire hazard. Either code section lets the City act: a Property Maintenance Code violation is enforced under Title 9's general penalty scheme in Section 9-1.03 (infraction, or misdemeanor if the City elects to prosecute), while a Nuisance Abatement finding triggers the notice-and-abatement procedure in Section 4-10.06, giving the owner fifteen to thirty days to cut the growth before the City does it and bills the owner.