Mason County, WA Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Section 6.72.090 of the Mason County Sanitary Code prohibits any owner, lessee, renter, occupant, or person in charge of property, including vacant parcels, from maintaining junk, trash, boxes, litter, discarded lumber, construction debris, salvage materials, scrap metal, or discarded furniture, appliances, and vehicle parts in a front yard, side yard, rear yard, right-of-way, or vacant lot; the section declares these items a public nuisance subject to abatement. Subsection (1) separately bans 'attractive nuisances' accessible and dangerous to children on the same vacant parcels, including abandoned mobile homes, junk recreational vehicles, and broken or neglected equipment, machinery, bathroom fixtures, refrigerators, and freezers.

Subsection (2) folds in the excess inoperable and junk vehicle limits of § 6.72.040, and subsection (3) authorizes the health officer to issue a written notice and order to correct or remove a nuisance once found, explaining the abatement procedure and the deadline for correction. Under subsection (3)(D), the owner, occupant, or user has fourteen days to file an administrative appeal under Mason County Development Title 15, Code Section 15.11.020, with the current health fee schedule's appeal fee attached. If the responsible party fails to abate, § 6.72.090(4) lets the health officer abate the nuisance at that person's expense and recover the cost in court, and § 6.72.095 adds a ten percent administrative charge, with a minimum of ten dollars, to all abatement costs.

Unpaid abatement bills become a special assessment lien recorded with the Mason County auditor and collected with the property's delinquent taxes under RCW 84.56.020, and any hearing to contest such a lien must be requested within fourteen calendar days of the assessment.