Rodent Control in Franklin, Tennessee

The City's Building and Neighborhood Services page on property maintenance names three common violations, from piled-up rubbish to grass over 12 inches, and explains in its own words how each one relates to rodents. All three items below come from that page.

• Garbage and rubbish: Accumulated garbage and rubbish is the violation. The City says keeping rubbish in approved containers should help curtail rodent infestation and harborage.
• Grass and weeds: Grass and weeds over 12 inches are a violation, and keeping them down helps curb rodent harborage.
• Vehicles that do not run: Inoperable or unlicensed vehicles are the third item. The City says they can provide harborage for rodents.

The rules behind the page are Municipal Code 13-104 for weeds and sections of the adopted property maintenance code for rubbish and vehicles. Section 13-104 and the rubbish section do not mention rodents; the rodent link is the City's own explanation.

The same City page describes what happens once a violation is seen. Residents can report property standards violations online or by phone at (615) 794-7012.

• Notice of Violation: The property owner receives a Notice of Violation with a due date for the correction.
• Court citation: If the problem is not corrected by the due date, a citation to Municipal Court follows, and each day counts as a separate offense.
• City abatement: The City may correct the violation itself, for example by removing rubbish or cutting grass, and seek its costs.

Franklin's Municipal Code puts these two duties on the people who own or use a property. This is a summary, not legal advice.

City residential collection is available across Franklin, but the code says using it is not mandatory. If your home uses a City rollout container, Municipal Code 17-110 sets these rules.

• One cart per home: The City supplies one rollout container per residential service location under Section 17-110, sized to hold a week's waste.
• Earliest set-out: 7:00 p.m. the day before collection.
• Latest set-out: 7:00 a.m. on collection day.
• Off the curb: By 7:00 p.m. on collection day.
• Bag and tie everything: All waste is bagged and tightly secured before it goes in the cart, with nothing loose. Section 17-110 says this is partly to discourage animals from getting into containers. It names animals, not rodents.