San Francisco, CA Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Section 735(a)(1) defines a Blighted Vacant Lot in separate parts, and a lot must satisfy both. Part (A) looks at structures: the property contains no buildings or structures that are occupied, inhabited, used, or secured so that the public may not gain entry without the owner's consent. A lot with an occupied building is outside the rule, and so is one whose structures are secured well enough that the public cannot get in. A bare lot with no structures at all meets this part automatically.

Part (B) looks at the lot's condition. Any accumulation of filth, garbage, decaying animal or vegetable matter, waste paper, weeds, vegetation overgrowth, dead or decaying trees, litter, trash, unsanitary debris, or waste material qualifies, and the definition closes with a catch-all for property otherwise not kept in a clean and sanitary condition, so the itemized list is not exhaustive. The phrase any accumulation means the section sets no minimum quantity; overgrown weeds or dead trees alone can tip a lot into blight. Once a lot meets the definition, maintaining it is unlawful.

The Director of Public Works then abates it under the Community Preservation and Blight Reduction Act in Administrative Code Chapter 80, which supplies the procedural spine: notice to the owner, penalties, recovery of the City's cleanup costs, and debt collection if the owner does not pay.