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

Section 38-36 of the Medford Revised Ordinances gives the board of health direct authority over unkempt or overgrown lots anywhere in the city, without limiting the rule to a particular zoning district. Subsection (a) lets the board order any privately owned lot cleaned by its owner or the owner's agent, and subsection (b) authorizes the board to post a notice on the lot itself directing the cleanup, which serves as the formal trigger for the compliance clock. Under subsection (c), the owner has five business days from that order to comply; if the owner neglects to act within that window, the board of health or a designee is authorized to enter the land directly and clean it themselves.

Subsection (d) then converts the city's cleanup expenses into a lien against the property, collectible in the same manner as real estate taxes, which means unpaid cleanup costs can accumulate with the same priority and enforcement mechanism as a delinquent tax bill. The ordinance was adopted by Ordinance No. 631 in 1998 and amended by Ordinance No. 642 in 1999. Because enforcement runs through the board of health rather than the building department, vacant-lot complaints in Medford, such as overgrown weeds, accumulated debris or unsanitary conditions, are directed to that office rather than to zoning or code enforcement.