Peoria, AZ Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Section 23-75(h) of the Peoria City Code requires owners and operators of an urban or suburban vacant lot with any disturbed surface, within the City's federally designated air-quality non-attainment area, to stabilize that surface once the lot sits unoccupied, unused, or undeveloped for more than fifteen calendar days. The compliance deadline runs sixty calendar days from the disturbance, and the owner must choose one of four listed measures: revegetating with ground cover, applying water or chemical or organic stabilizers, restoring the land to a natural undisturbed state, or applying gravel uniformly across the disturbed area.

Section 23-75(i) exempts any vacant lot with less than half an acre, 21,780 square feet, of disturbed surface from the stabilization duty entirely. The rule sits alongside a related duty in Section 23-75(j) for vacant lots disturbed by motor vehicle or off-road vehicle trespass, which can be satisfied instead by fencing, signage closing off access, or the same gravel and stabilizer treatment. Section 23-76 separately declares any vacant lot maintained out of compliance with Section 23-75 to be a public nuisance subject to abatement under the City Charter, and the City can withhold rezoning approval and site plan, plat, or building permit approvals for a noncompliant parcel under Section 23-78 until it comes into compliance.

Section 23-77(c) sets the civil penalty for a Section 23-75 violation at not less than $250 for a first offense and $500 for the second and any later offense, with Section 23-77(d) counting each day of noncompliance as a separate violation and Section 23-77(e) authorizing the City Attorney to seek an injunction against continued violations.