Haverhill, MA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Haverhill's zoning code folds rodent control into the general performance standards that apply to every use permitted by right, special permit, or variance in any zoning district. Section 255-6.3.3(9)(a) states that a permitted use cannot be conducted in a manner that emits fire, explosion, radioactive, or other hazards, noise, vibration, smoke, dust, odor, electrical disturbance, glare, or liquid or solid refuse and waste, and specifically lists conditions conducive to the breeding of insects, rodents, or other elements that adversely affect the surrounding environment. Section 255-6.3.3(9)(b)(5) adds a discharge-specific rule: no discharge into a private sewage system, stream, the ground, or a municipal sewage disposal system is allowed unless the Haverhill Health Department or another proper authority approves it, and no discharge may contaminate a stream, water supply, or standing water, or cause an accumulation of waste that breeds rodents or insects.

Together the two provisions reach both the general operating condition of a site, litter, standing waste, or debris that draws rodents, and the specific act of discharging waste in a way that creates a breeding condition. Because this sits in the general performance-standards article rather than a stand-alone health chapter, it applies broadly across zoning districts rather than only to the multifamily and mixed-use projects covered by the rest of Section 255-6.3. The Haverhill Health Department is named directly as the approving authority for discharges, giving it enforcement standing alongside the Building Commissioner and SPGA.