Downey, CA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Section 5902 declares it unlawful for anyone to allow, cause, create, maintain, or suffer real property in a condition that creates specific nuisance conditions, two of which target rodent and vector control directly. Item 11(e) prohibits tree branches or other vegetation within five feet of a structure's rooftop where that growth would facilitate rodent or animal access to the building. Item 30 separately bars unsanitary, polluted, or unhealthful pools, ponds, standing water, or water-filled excavations likely to harbor mosquitoes, insects, or other vectors, whether or not the water also counts as an attractive nuisance; the code lists clouded, murky, or green water, bacterial growth, algae, and insect or animal remains as evidence of that harborage.

Downey enforces these conditions the same way it enforces every nuisance in Chapter 9: a violation is a misdemeanor under § 5903, punishable per the City's general penalty schedule, with each day the condition continues charged as a separate offense. The City can also pursue civil abatement under §§ 5904 through 5909, which lets it issue a formal notice of public nuisance, gives the responsible party a right of appeal to a hearing officer, and, if the condition isn't corrected, allows the City to abate it directly and recover its costs, including a lien against the property, under §§ 5918 through 5920.

Separately, for vacant properties specifically, § 8615(b)(9) repeats the same "pest or rodent infestation" prohibition as one of the standalone conditions a responsible party may not allow once a building or lot sits vacant, layering the vacant-property maintenance program on top of the general nuisance rule for any property that has gone unoccupied.