Pasco, WA Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)
Key Facts
- Trash/litter trigger
- PMC 9.90.040(6), filthy or trash-covered vacant lots
- Dead-plant trigger
- Dead over 3 frost-free months, PMC 9.90.040(15)
- Penalty
- Up to $500 per day the condition continues
- Unpaid cleanup bill
- Separate $500 infraction after 30 days
- Third violation
- City may seek Superior Court writ of abatement
Summary
PMC 9.90.040 declares a nuisance any "filthy, littered or trash-covered ... vacant lots" and any lot where dead plantings for over three frost-free months let weeds spread onto neighboring residential property. The City can notify the owner, abate the lot itself if ignored, and bill up to $500.00 per day the condition continues.
(6) Filthy, littered or trash-covered cellars, house yards, barnyards, stable yards, factory yards, vacant areas in rear of stores, vacant lots, houses, buildings, alleyways, or premises; or placing, dropping, disposing, throwing away, or otherwise discarding litter, garbage, refuse, cans, bottles, paper or paper material, metal, organic or inorganic material, upon property other than in receptacles or areas as designated in Chapter 8.05 PMC; ... (15) Lawns, shrubs, trees or other plantings that have been dead for more than three frost-free months; and any front or rear yard areas on any lot, parcel or tract of land in a residential district of this City that has become populated with weeds to the extent that it subjects neighboring residential properties to weed growth.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 4837, passed May 4, 2026).
Full Breakdown
05 PMC. 100: the Director of Community and Economic Development or a designee sends the owner or occupant written notice to remove the trash, debris, or weeds within a specified period, and if the deadline passes, the City may enter the vacant lot, clean and level it, and remove the material at the owner's expense, plus reasonable legal and administrative costs. Unpaid bills 30 days after billing become a special assessment lien filed with the Franklin County Auditor. On a third violation of the chapter, the City can instead seek a writ of abatement in Franklin County Superior Court and recover its legal and abatement costs there.
Violations & Fines
PMC 9.90.090 sets the base penalty at a code infraction "not to exceed $500.00," and for a vacant lot specifically, adds that anyone who lets debris "become a fire hazard or cause or create an unsanitary or unsightly condition" faces up to $500.00 for that violation too, with "each day that such condition ... is maintained" constituting a separate infraction. An owner who fails to pay the City's cleanup bill within 30 days of billing commits a further $500.00 infraction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Pasco cite me for trash on a vacant lot I own?
What if the plants on my vacant lot just died and weeds took over?
What happens if I ignore the City's notice to clean up a vacant lot?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pasco
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