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

Section 54-63 of the Wylie Code of Ordinances makes it an offense for anyone owning, claiming, occupying or supervising any real property in the city, occupied or unoccupied, to let stagnant or unwholesome water, filth, carrion, weeds, rubbish, brush, refuse, junk or garbage accumulate on it, on any easement across it, or on the adjoining street or alley right-of-way up to the paved surface; the section also folds in whatever the Texas Health and Safety Code section 343.011 defines as a nuisance. For raw or uncultivated agricultural tracts specifically, section 54-65 sets a 12-inch weed height cap within 150 feet of any adjoining property under different ownership or a street right-of-way; if crops are being actively grown within that 150-foot buffer, the same 12-inch cap applies to the strip between the crop and the boundary, so long as sight lines for traffic are not blocked.

Because vacant land often has no structure to trigger a building inspection, the code enforcement department relies on this nuisance declaration and the section 54-66 notice-and-abatement process: a written notice starts a ten-day compliance clock, after which the city can mow or clear the lot, bill the owner for the cost plus the Appendix A administrative fee, and record the unpaid balance as a lien against the property, carrying ten percent yearly interest.