White Plains, NY

White Plains property maintenance code requires removal of noxious weeds and overgrown vegetation. Owners must control invasive species and keep yards maintained.

Native and pollinator-friendly plants encouraged in White Plains. No ordinance banning meadow-style lawns, but overgrowth rules still apply to manage heights.

Westchester County prohibits destroying, cutting or removing any tree, shrub or plant on county-owned property, including parks, without permission from the County Executive.

Once the County Executive declares a drought emergency, lawns may be watered only 4 hours a day in early-morning or evening windows, on odd or even days matching your street address.

Open burning of brush and yard waste is banned in White Plains year-round as a densely populated area under NY DEC rules. Statewide DEC Part 215 brush-burn ban also applies March 16…

White Plains has no defensible-space ordinance (not a wildland area). Property maintenance code requires removal of dead trees, dangerous limbs, and overgrowth that creates hazards or…

Small recreational fire pits with clean dry wood or charcoal are generally allowed if attended and kept small. Must comply with NY Fire Code §307 clearances and never burn yard waste…

White Plains is not in a designated wildfire zone. Westchester suburbs have minimal wildland-urban interface risk. NY DEC issues statewide high-risk warnings during spring burn-ban…

New York Penal Law bans most consumer fireworks statewide. Ground-based sparkling devices are legal by default outside New York City, though counties may opt out and about a dozen have…

Pool barriers must meet NYS Residential Code Appendix G: minimum 48-inch fence, self-closing/self-latching gate opening away from pool, bottom gap max 2 inches.

Above-ground pools over 24 inches deep require a building permit and full Appendix G barrier compliance. Pool walls 48+ inches tall may serve as the barrier if ladder is…

White Plains generally prohibits short-term rentals under 30 days in most residential zones under zoning code. No specific STR permit program; rentals under 30 days treated as…

Westchester's Room Occupancy Tax law treats short-term rental booking platforms as 'room remarketers' deemed to operate the hotel, making them liable to collect and remit the county's…

New York imposes state and local sales tax plus hotel-style occupancy taxes on short-term rentals statewide, and a 2024 registration law adds county-level registries and mandatory…

Industrial and mechanical noise (HVAC, compressors, loading docks) must meet dBA limits at property lines: 65 dBA daytime, 55 dBA nighttime in residential districts per zoning…

Aircraft operating from Westchester County Airport must comply with current federal rules and the airport's local noise abatement regulations under County Code § 712.421.

Westchester County requires landscaping and gardening licensees to use only EPA Phase 2, 2007-compliant leaf blowers operated per manufacturer specs; it sets no hours or seasonal ban.

New or rebuilt parking garages and open lots built or funded under a County contract must dedicate 10% of spaces to EV charging, or 50 spaces if the lot holds more than 250 vehicles.

New York Vehicle and Traffic Law sets uniform definitions and removal procedures for abandoned vehicles statewide, governing how police and municipalities take custody of and dispose…

New Yorkers outside New York City who get towed or booted from a private lot rely on General Business Law 399-v, not a statewide rate cap. The law applies only to lots with capacity…

In Westchester County parks, dogs must be licensed and kept on a leash no longer than six feet, with unleashed animals subject to impoundment.

Agriculture and Markets Law Article 15 establishes a uniform statewide apiary inspection program with mandatory disease control standards applicable to all hives in New York.

Agriculture and Markets Law section 107(5) preempts municipalities from enacting breed-specific dog regulations, ensuring uniform treatment regardless of breed across New York.

Under New York Agriculture and Markets Law §373, any police officer or humane society agent may seize a lost, strayed, homeless, or abandoned animal, cattle, goats, sheep, or chickens…

Environmental Conservation Law section 11-0512 universally prohibits possessing wild animals such as big cats, bears, wolves, and venomous reptiles as pets across New York.

New York's Town Law § 300 makes adjoining landowners split the cost of a division fence along their shared boundary, but only when the land is actually used to keep animals…

New York lets you sell home-baked and other shelf-stable foods without a food processing license through the Department of Agriculture and Markets Home Processing exemption, which…

New York Social Services Law preempts municipalities from imposing additional licensing on family or group family day care homes and requires the Office of Children and Family Services…

Not applicable. White Plains is an inland Westchester County city with no coastline, tidal waters, or NYS DEC Coastal Erosion Hazard Area. No coastal development regulations apply.

White Plains is a regulated MS4 under the NYS SPDES General Permit. Illicit discharges to storm drains (soap, paint, motor oil, grass clippings) are prohibited. Post-construction…

Westchester County requires anyone holding an industrial or construction SPDES stormwater permit that discharges into its MS4 to fully comply with that permit and prove it to the…

New York Environmental Conservation Law and the Uniform Code require all municipalities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program to adopt and enforce minimum floodplain…

Westchester County issues no vape-shop license: that is New York State's job. County law controls the counter instead: e-cigarettes count as tobacco products, must sit behind a manned…

Westchester County caps non-consent tow charges at $65 for the first mile, $1.50 per added mile, and $5 per 24-hour storage day, enforced by the County Department of Weights and…

Anyone buying, selling, exchanging or pledging secondhand precious metals, gems, watches, coins or electronics in Westchester County must hold a county secondhand dealer license before…

Westchester County requires a county-wide master plumber's license, not a town-issued credential, before anyone may install, alter, test or repair plumbing systems requiring a permit…

Westchester County, not individual towns, licenses master electricians and electrical inspectors county-wide; no one may perform or hold themselves out as an electrician without a…

Westchester County's housing code requires existing lead-poisoning paint conditions in dwellings to be eliminated under the state Public Health Law's lead-poisoning prevention…

Westchester County's housing code requires owners furnishing heat to maintain dwellings at no less than 68 degrees Fahrenheit, measured 18 inches above the floor and three feet from an…

The county's Fair Housing Law bars landlords, brokers and agents from refusing tenants because their income includes Section 8 vouchers, social security, alimony, or other public…

Before filing a nonpayment eviction, a New York landlord must serve a 14-day written rent demand under RPAPL Section 711. The demand requires, in the alternative, payment of rent or…

New York's Good Cause Eviction Law (RPL Article 6-A) limits evictions and rent hikes for covered tenants in NYC by default, with optional adoption by other municipalities.

Real Property Law Section 238-a, added by the 2019 HSTPA, caps residential late fees at $50 or 5% of the monthly rent, whichever is less, and bars any late fee until rent is more than…

To end a tenancy or decline to renew, a New York landlord must give written notice scaled to how long the tenant has lived in the unit under Real Property Law Section 226-c: 30 days…

New York requires advance written notice before a landlord raises rent 5% or more, or declines to renew a lease. The notice window scales with how long the tenant has lived in the…

Since the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, New York landlords cannot collect a security deposit larger than one month's rent. Within 14 days after a tenant vacates…

New York's adverse possession period is 10 years of continuous, exclusive possession under RPAPL Sections 501 and 511. A 2024 budget amendment to RPAPL Section 711 clarified that…

Organized picnics or outings in Westchester County parks need a Parks Department permit obtained before the group arrives at the designated area.

Westchester County Health Department inspectors can enter and inspect any dwelling without a fee, during business hours, to check compliance with the county's housing hygiene standards.

Chain restaurants with 15 or more locations in Westchester County must post calories for every standard menu item on menus and menu boards, enforced by the County Health Department.

Owners of vacant grounds in Westchester County must keep the property free of rodent and vermin nuisances that affect public health, under the county's Sanitary Code.

Westchester County parks operate from dawn to dusk unless otherwise posted, per County Code § 765.201.

Westchester County requires every mobile food unit to hold a Health Department permit and display the operator's name, address and permit number in four-inch letters on both sides.

Food service establishments and retail food stores in Westchester County may give out single-use utensils, straws and condiment packets only when a customer requests them.

Westchester County bans food service vendors and stores from possessing, selling or using expanded polystyrene foam cups, plates, trays and takeout containers.

The New York Bag Waste Reduction Law (Environmental Conservation Law §27-2801, enacted 2019, enforced March 2020) bans most single-use plastic carryout bags statewide. Counties and…

New York prohibits the sale and distribution of expanded polystyrene foam food containers and loose packing peanuts statewide under Environmental Conservation Law Article 27.

County Code § 712.314 bars removing a protected or specimen tree, or disturbing its dripline, on Westchester County-owned property without prior authorization.

Westchester County requires written approval from the Commissioner of Public Works and Transportation before anyone plants, removes, trims, or damages a shade tree on a county road…

Westchester County parks bar keg or bulk-container alcohol, but allow canned or bottled drinks in food-consumption areas; some sites ban alcohol outright.

Westchester County bans smoking at every place of employment, including the outdoor areas of restaurants and bars, with no exception besides dedicated retail tobacco shops.

Every waste generator in Westchester County must separate recyclables from solid waste at the point of generation under the county's Source Separation Law.

Westchester County licenses Class D and Class L haulers to collect garden and yard waste, and sets the county's leaf-collection season as October through January.

Westchester County bans dumping dirt, debris, waste or hazardous material on any county-owned street, park, lot or waterway without site-specific authorization.

Westchester County's only codified plate-camera rule is Chapter 708. Images and license plate data from school bus stop-arm cameras must be destroyed 90 days after an alleged violation…

The county runs a red-light camera demonstration program at up to 50 intersections at a time, needing city consent for cameras inside White Plains, Yonkers, Mount Vernon or New…

Westchester County bars selling, leasing or renting e-bikes and electric mobility devices unless their battery and electrical system carry UL, IEC, ANSI or SAE safety certification.

New York draws a hard line between a golf cart and a low-speed vehicle. A low-speed vehicle is defined by Vehicle and Traffic Law § 121-f as a limited use automobile with a maximum…

Westchester County's Health Department can order the abatement, suppression or removal of any property condition it finds detrimental or prejudicial to life or health, entering…

Westchester County has imposed a 3% Room Occupancy Tax on hotel and motel rentals since January 1988, collected by the County Commissioner of Finance and waived only for permanent…

Westchester County exempts garage, yard, estate and moving sales from secondhand dealer licensing only if held on residential property, capped at 96 hours and four sales per year.

Executive Order No. 10 of 2018 bars any plant species listed as Prohibited or Regulated under New York's invasive species regulations from all Westchester County parks, roadsides, and…

New York Cannabis Law allowed municipalities a one-time opt-out window before December 31 2021, after which the Office of Cannabis Management uniformly licenses retail dispensaries…

New York law lets adults 21 and over grow cannabis at home and preempts municipalities from prohibiting it, setting uniform plant limits and secure storage requirements statewide.

New York Labor Law §652 sets a tiered statewide minimum wage that leaves no room for local wage ordinances. As of January 1, 2026 the rate is $17.00/hr in NYC, Long Island, and…

New York mandates paid sick leave under Labor Law § 196-b and paid family leave under Workers' Compensation Law Article 9, with statewide coverage that applies to nearly every private…

New York requires a state-issued concealed carry license under Penal Law § 400.00, with mandatory training and a long list of statewide sensitive locations where carry is forbidden.

New York Penal Law treats a vehicle as a public place for firearm purposes, requiring a valid pistol license to transport a handgun and strict storage rules for long guns and…

New York's Upstate Gaming Economic Development Act divides the state into two casino development zones. Zone One is New York City plus Nassau, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, and…

New York grants no automatic right to run charitable gambling. General Municipal Law Article 9-A lets a town, city, or village opt in to games of chance by local law or ordinance, but…

New York's Penal Law never criminalizes playing a private card game or betting pool: it only criminalizes advancing or profiting from gambling. Penal Law § 225.00(3) protects anyone…

Sports betting is legal in New York only through operators licensed by the state Gaming Commission under Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law Section 1367-a. Nine mobile…

New York has no comprehensive HOA act. Condominiums get a statutory common-charge lien under Real Property Law § 339-z that is foreclosable like a mortgage but junior to a first…

New York homeowners association boards answer to Not-for-Profit Corporation Law Section 621. A member of record for at least six months, or a holder of five percent of any voting…

New York voids HOA bans on solar power and EV charging. Real Property Law § 342 (Solar Rights Act) makes any restriction effectively prohibiting a solar system unenforceable and void…

New York's Electric Vehicle Rights Act, Real Property Law Article 9-D Section 343, bars homeowners' associations statewide from adopting rules that effectively prohibit or unreasonably…

New York Real Property Law Section 339-j strips condominium boards of managers of the power to enforce any by-law, rule, or resolution against a unit owner who displays a United States…

New York creates an assessment lien by statute only for condominiums. Real Property Law § 339-z gives the board of managers a lien on each unit for unpaid common charges that outranks…

New York condominiums have no inherent power to restrict unit leasing: under Real Property Law § 339-v(2)(a), by-laws "may also provide for" leasing restrictions only if the board…

No section of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law authorizes sobriety checkpoints by name. The practice rests on Court of Appeals case law, chiefly People v. Scott, applied against…

New York is one of the few states that put the right to record police into its own statute rather than leaving it to case law. Civil Rights Law § 79-p, headed "Recording certain…

New York has no stop-and-identify statute. Criminal Procedure Law § 140.50(1) lets a police officer who reasonably suspects a felony or a misdemeanor defined in the Penal Law stop you…

New York wrote an unusually specific rule into the Penal Law when it legalized adult-use cannabis: § 222.05(2) provides that no conduct made lawful by that section shall constitute the…

Agriculture and Markets Law Article 25-AA governs certified agricultural districts statewide and limits how local zoning can apply to working farms inside them.

NY Agriculture and Markets Law §301-309 protects sound agricultural practices in certified Agricultural Districts from local ordinances and private nuisance suits. The Commissioner…

In New York, affixing a political sign, poster, or notice to property you neither own nor have permission to use, a utility pole, highway structure, or another person's land, is…

New York's Solar Rights Act, Real Property Law Article 9-C, section 342, voids any homeowners' association rule that effectively bans rooftop solar. A restriction counts as an illegal…

New York's Unified Solar Permit and Real Property Law section 342 limit how municipalities and HOAs may restrict residential solar installations, ensuring permit access statewide.

New York Public Health Law §1399-cc raised the minimum age to purchase tobacco and vapor products to 21 (Tobacco 21 Act, signed 2019). New York also bans the sale of all flavored vapor…

New York prohibits the sale of flavored vapor products statewide under Public Health Law § 1399-mm-1, allowing only tobacco-flavored e-liquid for legal retail sale.

Vehicle and Traffic Law section 375(41) governs every light added to a New York vehicle beyond the lamps the law already requires, and it opens with a near total prohibition: no light…

New York grants a dash cam no designated place on the windshield. Vehicle and Traffic Law section 375(30) makes it unlawful to operate a motor vehicle with any object placed or hung in…

New York prohibits lane splitting outright. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1252(c) makes it illegal to operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows of…

New York does not allow license plate covers of any kind. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 402(1)(b)(ii-a) states flatly that number plates shall not be covered by glass or any plastic…

New York does not ban radar detectors in private passenger cars. Vehicle and Traffic Law section 397-a prohibits using a radar or laser detector only in a motor vehicle with a gross…

New York allows studded snow tires, but only within a fixed season and only within precise dimensional limits. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 375(35-a) makes it unlawful to drive a motor…

New York requires at least 70 percent light transmittance through the front windshield, both front side windows and the rear window under Vehicle and Traffic Law section 375(12-a)(b)…