Jackson, TN Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Unlike the six-inch mowing rule in § 13-103, which exempts unplatted 'undeveloped land,' § 13-104 reaches every owner of record of real property in the City of Jackson, Tennessee, including vacant and unimproved lots that have been subdivided or otherwise sit along dedicated streets. The section bars creating or permitting the growth of trees, vines, grass, underbrush, or the accumulation of debris, trash, litter or garbage where the condition endangers the health, safety or welfare of other citizens or encourages the infestation of rats and other harmful animals.

Where that growth or debris impedes traffic flow or pedestrian access, or poses an immediate threat to public health, safety or welfare, the city is not bound to the standard notice-and-cure timeline: it may shorten the abatement period and immediately abate the condition itself, then bill the property owner for the cost. An owner who disputes an immediate abatement charge can appeal the cost to the Chancery Court. As with the weed ordinance, a single certified notice served under § 13-105 for a § 13-104 violation is sufficient for the rest of that calendar year, meaning the city does not have to re-notice the same vacant lot before abating a repeat violation and billing the owner again.

Because § 13-104 has no 'undeveloped land' carve-out, an empty, subdivided lot sitting idle is squarely covered even where the same parcel would escape the six-inch grass rule in § 13-103.