Novi, MI Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Section 21-17 is the city's catch-all weed rule: it applies to any lot, place, area, or parcel of land regardless of whether it holds a structure, reaching vacant and unimproved land that Section 21-19's subdivided-and-occupied test does not cover. It bans noxious weeds identified in Section II of Michigan's Act 359 of 1941 (MCL 247.62 et seq.) or any other species the city designates as poisonous, injurious or a common nuisance, and separately bans any weeds or grass over eight inches within 150 feet of a road right-of-way, whether or not the plant is on the state's noxious list.

The only carve-out is for fields actually growing a small grain crop like wheat, oats, barley or rye. Section 21-18 sets the cutting duty for noxious weeds covered here, twice a year in the last halves of May and July, and Section 21-20 requires the building official to publish a biannual newspaper notice reminding every owner, occupant or lot holder, subdivided or not, of that duty. If an owner of a vacant or unimproved parcel ignores the mailed ten-day notice under Section 21-21, Section 21-22 lets the city enter and abate by cutting or spraying, and for parcels with no ascertainable owner, such as an abandoned subdivision, strip mine or gravel pit, Section 21-22(c) directs the matter to the Oakland County Board of Commissioners instead.

Abatement costs plus an administrative charge become a lien on the parcel under Section 21-23, collected like delinquent property taxes. Community Development's building official and code enforcement staff run this program citywide.