Howell, NJ Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Howell Township Code § 232-7 requires an owner or tenant in possession of land in the Township to remove brush, weeds, dead and dying trees, stumps, roots, obnoxious growths, filth, garbage, trash, debris, junk and disabled vehicles or parts thereof where removal is necessary and expedient for public health, safety and general welfare or to eliminate a fire hazard. A disabled vehicle is one that is unregistered or incapable of operation upon a public roadway. The duty reaches vacant and unimproved land because it is tied to possession of land, not to a building.

The notice step is in § 232-8. The Director of Public Works or the Code Enforcement Officer notifies the owner or tenant to remove the material within 10 days after the notice. If the owner or tenant refuses or neglects to do so within that time, the Township removes it under the direction of the Director of Public Works.

Cost recovery follows in § 232-9. The Director of Public Works certifies the cost to the Township Council, which examines the certificate and, if correct, charges the amount against the land. The charge becomes a lien, is added to the taxes next assessed and levied on the land, bears interest at the same rate as taxes, and is collected by the same officers in the same manner as taxes. Under § 232-10, disabled vehicles removed this way are towed by an authorized towing operator at the direction of the Director of Public Works, the Code Enforcement Officer or a Howell Township police officer, stored at the operator's premises, and handled under Title 39.

The adopted Property Maintenance Code adds standards in § 232-4. Section 301.3 requires vacant structures, premises and vacant land to be maintained in a clean, safe, secure and sanitary condition so as not to cause a blighting problem. Section 302.4 provides that a general growth of weeds or grass shall not be in excess of 12 inches. That section's definition of weeds excludes trees, ornamental shrubbery, flowers, garden vegetables, compost piles and plants customarily cultivated by farmers or gardeners.