Meriden, CT Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Meriden's Anti-Blight Ordinance, adopted under Connecticut General Statutes § 7-148(c)(7)(H)(xv) and codified at Chapter 159, reaches vacant land as well as buildings. Section 159-3 defines PREMISES to include any parcel 'either occupied or unoccupied by any dwelling or nondwelling structure,' and separately defines a VACANT PARCEL as 'a parcel of land with no structure(s) thereon,' so an empty lot is squarely covered. The BLIGHT definition lists overgrown shrubs, brush or weeds as one of eighteen conditions that alone can make a property blighted, alongside rodent harborage, garbage scattered in the yard, noxious plants such as poison ivy or ragweed left unchecked, and stagnant water where mosquitoes may breed.

Section 159-2 prohibits any owner, agent, tenant, firm or corporation in control of the property, taxable or tax-exempt, from creating, allowing or maintaining a blighted premises. The Director of Development and Enforcement enforces the chapter under § 159-4, with the Director of Health and Human Services and the City Manager assisting in an advisory role, and any property under an active citation is placed on a public Blight List under § 159-5 until the violation is corrected. Citations may be issued under § 7-152c of the Connecticut General Statutes, and an unpaid fine becomes a lien on the property under § 7-148aa of the General Statutes, recorded and enforced per § 159-7.

Land preserved as open space, conservation easements or wetlands, and property the City recently acquired through foreclosure, are exempt for a limited period under the EXEMPT PROPERTY definition.