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

Section 4323(A) of the Lakewood Municipal Code declares six specific vacant-property conditions to be public nuisances per se, meaning the City does not have to prove harm case by case before acting. A structure counts as abandoned if it has gone unoccupied by an owner or tenant for a full year and its property taxes have been delinquent for more than a year. The same section reaches a structure left partially destroyed and visible from the street or a neighboring lot for 30 days, any building not finished within its permit deadline, a property that ignored a Planning and Environment Commission or Building Rehabilitation Board compliance order, and any structure boarded up for 120 days, defined as windows, doors, or roof and wall holes covered with boards, plywood, or cardboard.

Item 6 separately targets any vacant building or lot left accessible to trespassing, dumping, vandalism, or graffiti, which covers a bare vacant parcel even without a structure on it. Enforcement runs through § 4324: once a nuisance is not abated within 30 days of notice, the City Clerk sets a hearing before the Planning and Environment Commission, which can order the work done and a completion deadline. 7. Because Lakewood contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff for field enforcement rather than running its own police force, most nuisance complaints on vacant property are still investigated and cited by city Community Development or Public Works staff rather than deputies, with the Sheriff involved only if trespassing or vandalism in progress is reported.