Pinellas County, FL Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Pinellas County Code § 58-304, in Article VIII of Chapter 58, applies only to the unincorporated area of the county (§ 58-303); incorporated cities enforce their own weed and debris codes. The prohibition itself reads: 'No person shall dump or cause to be dumped, or place or cause to be placed, or leave or permit to accumulate any garbage, refuse, rubbish, junk, debris, or similar noxious material of any kind or cause or permit the untended growth or excessive accumulation of weeds or other plant material on any property situate in the unincorporated area of the county, whether improved or unimproved.' 'Junk' is defined at § 58-301 to include inoperative appliances, derelict autos, boats and trucks, and furniture too damaged for its original use; 'rubbish' covers tree trimmings, grass clippings, palm fronds and stumps from landscaping or land-clearing.

The county's companion Lot Clearing article (§§ 58-326-58-340), cross-referenced from this section, sets the actual abatement mechanism used on unimproved parcels: 'excessive growth' is weeds or plants over 12 inches tall that are not cultivated or regularly tended (§ 58-326). Large or remote parcels are exempt, including contiguous holdings over five acres and property more than 150 feet from a public-road intersection or 600 feet from any improved property (§ 58-332). Before the county clears a lot, the environmental management department mails a certified written demand and posts a placard on the property and at the courthouse for at least ten days; the owner has ten days to comply (three days for a repeat violation) or request a hearing before the board of county commissioners (§ 58-334). If the county clears the lot itself, the actual mowing cost plus administrative costs become a lien on the property, bearing six percent annual interest starting 30 days after the lien is recorded (§§ 58-338-58-340).