<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<baltimore-city-law heading="Subtitle 7 – Weeds">
  <section prefix="§" num="5-701" heading="Responsibility of persons in charge.">
    <text>Every person in charge of any property is obligated, jointly and severally, to comply with the requirements of this subtitle.</text>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 99-548</annotation>
  </section>
  <section prefix="§" num="5-702" heading="Cutting grass, weeds, etc., required.">
    <text>No person in charge of any land may allow:</text>
    <para num="(1)">any grass, weeds, or other rank vegetation on that land to reach a height of 8 inches or more; or</para>
    <para num="(2)">any grass, weeds, or other rank vegetation on an abutting sidewalk, gutter, or alley to reach a height of 4 inches or more.</para>
    <annotation type="Prior Codifications">City Code, 1976/83, art. 11, §161(1st cl.)</annotation>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 99-548</annotation>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 15-427</annotation>
  </section>
  <section prefix="§" num="5-703" heading="Destroying noxious weeds, etc., required.">
    <para num="(a)" heading="In general.">Every person in charge of any land must keep that land free from ragweeds, wild mustard, wild lettuce, wild parsley, common thistle, milkweed, poison ivy, and all other noxious weeds.</para>
    <para num="(b)" heading="Permitted methods.">The person in charge must destroy any noxious weeds on the land by:<para num="(1)">spraying with a chemical compound approved by and applied in accordance with the requirements of the United States Environmental Protection Agency;</para>
      <para num="(2)">cutting and removal;</para>
      <para num="(3)">digging under; or</para>
      <para num="(4)">any other method that the Commissioner approves.</para>
    </para>
    <annotation type="Prior Codifications">City Code, 1976/83, art. 11, §161(2nd cl.)</annotation>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 99-548</annotation>
  </section>
  <section prefix="§" num="5-704" heading="Notice to person in charge.">
    <text>Whenever the Commissioner of Health discovers a violation of this subtitle, the Commissioner may issue a written notice to the person in charge, as provided in Subtitle 2 {“Nuisance Abatement — Generally”} of this title.</text>
    <annotation type="Prior Codifications">City Code, 1976/83, art. 11, §§162(1st sen.), 163</annotation>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 99-548</annotation>
  </section>
  <section prefix="§" num="5-705" heading="Abatement by Public Works.">
    <para num="(a)" heading="In general.">
      <para num="(1)">If the condition is not corrected within 10 days of the notice, the Commissioner may notify the Director of Public Works, who must proceed to correct the condition at the expense of the person in charge.</para>
      <para num="(2)">Grass, weeds, and other rank vegetation must be cut to a height of not more than 3 inches.</para>
    </para>
    <para num="(b)" heading="Costs and expenses.">All costs and expenses incurred by the Director of Public Works are a lien on the property as provided in Subtitle 2 {“Nuisance Abatement — Generally”} of this title.</para>
    <annotation type="Prior Codifications">City Code, 1976/83, art. 11, §162(2nd sen.)</annotation>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 99-548</annotation>
  </section>
  <section prefix="§§" num="5-706 to 5-707" reserved="true" />
  <section prefix="§" num="5-708" heading="Enforcement by citation.">
    <para num="(a)" heading="In general.">In addition to any other civil or criminal remedy or enforcement procedure, this subtitle may be enforced by issuance of an environmental citation as authorized by City Code &lt;cite data-path="|1"&gt;Article 1&lt;/cite&gt;, Subtitle 40 {“Environmental Control Board”}.</para>
    <para num="(b)" heading="Process not exclusive.">The issuance of an environmental citation to enforce this subtitle does not preclude pursuing any other civil or criminal remedy or enforcement action authorized by law.</para>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 99-548</annotation>
  </section>
  <section prefix="§" num="5-709" heading="Penalties.">
    <para num="(a)" heading="In general.">Any person who violates any provision of this subtitle is guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction, is subject to the penalties specified in this section.</para>
    <para num="(b)" heading="Basic penalty: $500.">Except as specified in subsection (c) of this section, the penalty for a violation is a fine of not more than $500 for each offense.</para>
    <para num="(c)" heading="Violation after notice: $1,000.">For a person who receives a notice under §5-704 {“Notice to person in charge”} of this subtitle and fails to comply with that notice, the penalty is a fine of not more than $1,000 for each offense.</para>
    <annotation type="Prior Codifications">City Code, 1976/83, art. 11, §161(2nd par.)</annotation>
    <annotation type="History">Ord. 99-548</annotation>
  </section>
</baltimore-city-law>
