Lawrence, MA Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Two sections in the Lawrence code work together to police vacant and unimproved lots. 130, in the solid-waste chapter, is the older dumping ban: no person shall deposit wastepaper, house refuse, ashes, store or house sweepings, or any other form of rubbish in the streets, alleys, lanes, areas or vacant lots, other than public dumps in the city. It comes from prior code Section 12-13 and predates the 2002 property maintenance recodification. 70(G), in the newer Building and Property Maintenance Code, layers on a broader standing-condition duty that applies whether or not a lot is vacant: all yards, courts, or lots shall be kept free of accumulations of trash, garbage, waste, rubbish, refuse, junk, and other noxious or offensive materials or substances which may cause a fire hazard or may act as a breeding place for vermin or insects; storage of miscellaneous items must be within enclosed structures or screened.

70(G), regardless of who put it there. Both provisions name inspectional services personnel, along with police and fire department personnel, as enforcing persons, so a vacant lot complaint can be actioned by any of those departments rather than routed through a single office.