Waynesville, MO Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

Section 210.075, most recently amended by Ordinance No. 2064 on November 21, 2013, prohibits any person, firm or corporation controlling any lot, tract, or parcel of land or any part thereof from keeping or permitting the public nuisances the section lists to exist on the property. Among the listed nuisances relevant to a vacant or unimproved lot are the accumulation of trash, debris, garbage, construction waste, rubbish, ashes, old lumber, used tires, parts of derelict vehicles, old metal, or decaying animal or vegetable matter on the premises or a public way, and any inoperable, unlicensed or abandoned automobile, truck, boat, trailer or similar vehicle left in a residential area or public right-of-way and not kept inside a fully enclosed building.

A commercial vehicle repair or sales business gets a narrow exemption if the vehicle is secured behind an opaque fence, kept for no more than three months, or organized in an orderly manner on the rear of the premises. When the department responsible for code enforcement or the City Administrator's designee finds a violation, it must send a written Notice to Abate giving the owner ten (10) days to clear the lot; a repeat violation on the same property within forty-five (45) days can be abated by the city without any further notice.

If the owner does not comply, the city can perform the work itself at a labor cost of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per hour with a minimum charge of one hundred dollars ($100.00), plus disposal charges, and bill it all as a special tax bill and lien on the property, with a fifty dollar ($50.00) administrative fee added for preparing the lien paperwork. An owner can appeal the abatement order to the City Administrator within the same ten-day period, and a further appeal on non-court matters can go to the Mayor or the Roads and Grounds Committee.