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

Section 15.30.010(A), titled Ground Cover Removal Prohibited, applies to any real property within the City of San Jacinto. Nobody may disturb the topsoil or remove ground cover and then let the property sit unoccupied, unused, vacant or undeveloped unless reasonable actions are taken to ensure adequate weed abatement and prevent the manmade generation of dust. The code names soil binders and windbreaks as examples of those actions. Weed abatement on vacant property is expressly allowed by discing, which the code defines as using a row or rows of concave circular steel discs to cut and pitch the soil, and other methods are also permitted.

Two extra conditions attach when weed abatement happens on vacant land. First, the property owner is responsible for clearing the property of any debris before starting, in order to decrease the risk of fire. Second, when discing is used for weed abatement, active water trucks must follow the discing machinery from May 1st through October 31st to help decrease the risk of manmade dust and fire hazards. Subsection B separately requires soil binders on exposed soil surfaces of property used for agricultural operations and inactive construction sites to temporarily prevent wind-induced erosion.

Vacant parcels also fall under the nuisance chapter. Section 8.44.050 applies to any property in the city, improved or unimproved. Item C.1 lists accumulations of dirt, litter or debris visible from a public street, item C.19 lists accumulations of junk, trash, refuse, lumber, rocks, dirt, broken concrete or asphalt and scrap materials, and item A.2 lists uncovered excavations of more than three feet in depth having a total volume in excess of six cubic feet. Subsection D makes fire hazards, as determined by the fire chief of the city, a nuisance. A notice under § 8.44.070 must allow an abatement period of not less than ten days.