Cathedral City, CA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Section 13.80.070 of the Cathedral City Municipal Code puts the duty on any person owning, leasing, occupying or having charge or possession of premises in the city. The condition prohibited is maintaining the premises so that it creates a habitat for termites, insects, vermin or rodents that presents a threat to the health and safety of the public, a threat to property, or both. The section prints no trap, bait or extermination procedure and no number of days; it targets the habitat, meaning the conditions that shelter or feed the pests.

Several neighboring nuisance sections supply the specifics. Section 13.80.085 covers stagnant water, refuse, rubbish, garbage, dead animal carcasses, offal, animal excrement or other waste that emits unreasonably offensive odors or may cause or attract insects. Section 13.80.165 makes it a nuisance to maintain stagnant or still water or a marshy condition that harbors and breeds mosquitoes or other poisonous or objectionable insects. Section 13.80.120 reaches swimming pools, ponds and other bodies of water that are abandoned, unattended, unfiltered or not otherwise maintained so that the water becomes polluted. Section 13.80.080 applies to an abandoned or permanently vacated building that becomes accessible to unauthorized persons or is allowed to become infested with vermin or rodents.

Code compliance officers enforce these sections through Title 13. The officer inspects, then issues a notice of public nuisance and order to abate that lists the code sections violated, the actions needed and the correction deadline (§§ 13.90.010, 13.90.020). An appeal to the administrative appeals officer is filed in writing with the city clerk within ten calendar days from completed service (§ 13.90.120). A nuisance that presents an immediate threat to public health and safety can be abated by the city at once (§ 13.110.010), and the owner of record answers for the costs (§ 13.120.010).