Ontario, CA Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Ontario Municipal Code Sec. " The same section also reaches related conditions on any lot: rubbish, tin cans, or other waste matter on a vacant lot (subsection (j)) and a lack of adequate landscaping or ground cover sufficient to prevent blowing dust and erosion (subsection (p)). Enforcement runs through the same Chapter 22 process used for any property nuisance: the Code Enforcement Director serves a Notice of Violation describing the deficiency and setting an abatement deadline (Sec. 04); the owner may request a hearing within 10 days (Sec.

05); and if the owner does not plant, irrigate, or screen the lot in time, the City may install and maintain the grass, landscaping, or an irrigation sprinkler system itself and recover the cost, the same remedy subsection (w) sets out for yards and parkways, applied here to vacant lots under (x). Unpaid costs, including inspection expenses and attorneys' fees, become a personal obligation of the owner collectible by a lien recorded with the San Bernardino County Recorder's Office under Cal. Gov. Code Sec. 1, or as a special assessment under Sec. 5 (Sec. 07). A second nuisance finding against the same owner within two years triggers treble abatement costs under Sec. 08(f).