Vacant-lot upkeep is enforced by your city, village, or town, not a countywide code. The county's clearest reach onto vacant land is the state noxious-weed duty and, near lakes, shoreland vegetation rules.
Waukesha County has no general vacant-lot maintenance ordinance for privately owned parcels. Mowing, debris, and overgrowth on empty lots inside cities and villages are enforced under those municipalities' codes; in unincorporated towns that adopted county zoning, county land-use standards may apply. Two county-relevant hooks exist statewide: Wisconsin's noxious-weed duty (Wis. Stat. 66.0407) requires the owner to destroy noxious weeds regardless of whether a lot is occupied, and Waukesha County's shoreland ordinance protects vegetative buffers on lakefront and streamside lots.
Owners who ignore noxious weeds can have them destroyed by the weed commissioner and be charged the cost; other upkeep is enforced locally.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Waukesha County, WI
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Waukesha County, WI
Waukesha County does not set a general wildlife-feeding ban for residents; rules come from state DNR regulations and local ordinances. Wisconsin restricts fe...
Waukesha County, WI
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Waukesha County, WI
Waukesha County has no ordinance banning or specifically regulating artificial turf on ordinary lots. Near lakes and streams, though, artificial turf counts ...
Waukesha County, WI
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Waukesha County, WI
Rain barrels and rain gardens are legal and encouraged in Waukesha County; there is no county ban on collecting rainwater. In the shoreland zone, rain garden...
See how Waukesha County's vacant lot maintenance rules stack up against other locations.
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