Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Chapter 213 does not write a separate vacant-lot section. Instead, § 213-2 defines PREMISES as a lot, plot or parcel of land, including the buildings or structures thereon, and adds that for the purpose of the code a vacant lot is defined as a lot. Everything the chapter says about the exterior of premises therefore reaches an empty parcel. The Township Council's findings in § 213-3 name the target directly: structures and vacant lots that are or could become substandard, including through lack of maintenance of exterior premises and vacant lots, constitute a menace to the health, safety, welfare and reasonable comfort of the citizens and inhabitants of the Township.

The operative rule is § 213-19B. The exterior of the premises must be kept free of all nuisances and of hazards to the safety of occupants, pedestrians and other persons using the premises, and free of unsanitary conditions, and the owner or operator must promptly remove and abate them. The hazard list is not limited to its examples, but it names rubbish (brush, weeds, broken glass, stumps, roots, obnoxious growths, filth, garbage, trash, refuse and debris), dead and dying trees and limbs, holes and excavations that must be filled and repaired, and recurring accumulations of stormwater. For stormwater, adequate runoff drains must be provided and maintained, and the water cannot be drained to driving, parking or walking areas or to adjoining properties (§ 213-19B(5)). Section 213-19A adds that an owner or operator cannot defend a charge by pointing to a tenant or occupant.

The Senior Housing Inspector enforces (§ 213-8). A written notice must specify the violation, state the penalty and allow a reasonable time not to exceed 30 days, extendable by 30 days for good cause (§ 213-16B). If the owner does not abate, the Inspector reports to the Township Council, which after a hearing on at least five days' notice can adopt a resolution to abate at the owner's cost and charge the expense against the property. That charge becomes a lien added to the taxes next assessed, bearing interest at the same rate as taxes (§ 213-44).