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

Township Code §§ 439-28 and 439-29 apply to any lot in Irvington, built or vacant. Section 439-28 declares it a nuisance to permit ragweed, goldenrod, poison ivy, poison sumac or other noxious or poisonous weeds injurious to health to grow on a lot, and § 439-29 requires the owner, lessee, tenant or occupant to remove them at their own expense within five days of receiving notice from the Township Health Officer. Notice can be delivered in person, left with a household member over 14, or mailed to a nonresident owner's last known address under § 439-30.

A separate, more detailed layer applies once a lot is registered as vacant under Chapter 460, Article VII: § 460-73 requires registered vacant properties to be kept free of weeds, dry bushes, dead vegetation, junk, debris, building material and garbage, with no accumulation of flyers or discarded items that make the lot look abandoned, and requires visible yards to stay landscaped to code. If the Public Officer determines a vacant lot is a nuisance under § 460-69, § 460-70(C) further requires the owner to fence the front (and side, if a corner lot) with a six-foot solid wood fence on posts no more than eight feet apart, sunk 24 inches into the ground, with a maintenance gate, under a permit from the Department of Housing, Division of Buildings.