Shenandoah, TX Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Texas counties have no general police power to regulate vacant lot appearance, grass height, or routine trash in unincorporated areas. Under Local Government Code Chapter 343 (County Nuisance Abatement), Montgomery County may abate genuine public health nuisances on vacant parcels (stagnant water breeding mosquitoes, accumulations of rubble harboring rodents, unsecured open wells/excavations) after written notice to the owner, but it cannot impose a general mowing standard. HB 2127 (Texas Regulatory Consistency Act, 2023) further preempts counties from adopting ordinances inconsistent with state law. Inside the City of Conroe, Chapter 38 of the Code of Ordinances governs nuisances: grass and weeds over 12 inches on vacant lots are a public nuisance, owners receive 10 days' notice, and failure to abate allows city mowing with costs assessed as a lien against the property. In The Woodlands (unincorporated township governed by The Woodlands Township and The Woodlands Community Association/Village Associations), vacant residential lots must comply with recorded deed restrictions enforced by Covenant Administration, including mowing, weed control, and prohibition on dumping. Illegal dumping on vacant property (any location in the county) is a state crime under Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 365, with penalties escalating by weight and volume of material. Property owners should also watch for tall-grass complaints to Precinct Commissioners, which are routed to the relevant city or HOA since the county itself has no mowing ordinance.