Seldom used still probably have maintenance. As well as cars going through, even if not often, its more than an abandoned place.
Seldom used means marginally maintained. The store or landlord or whatever has a budget for it. They might have had a 5-year maintenance contract paid up front.
Abandoned is abandoned.
They hire a guy with weedkiller to hit the rarely used lot at least once a year. An abandoned lot is abandoned, nobody is maintaining it.
And grass and other prolific “weeds” that spread via air and bird droppings are really, really good at finding nooks and crannies in which to take root and thrive. Without weed killer it’s only a matter of months until plants start sprouting in cracks in the parking lot. Hydraulic pressure inside the wis really effective at busting a small fault in the pavement wide open
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Asphalt is a bit spongy and actually relies on vehicle traffic to keep it compressed. When there is zero traffic it starts lifting up and cracks appear.
Cars constantly moving cause air currents moving wind blown seeds, which are only stopped from moving when they settle into a crack. Water gathers in the cracks making germination easier.
It is a question of maintenance. Most commercially zoned property that has tenants in place pays a service to maintain the landscaping in the warm weather and clear snow in the cold weather. The tenants pay rent, a part of which offsets the cost of those services. The landscapers typically weed-whack the parking lot as part of their contract. If the property is abandoned, however, there is no one to pay for those services.
Even seldom used lots are still likely maintained by somebody who pulls or sprays the weeds, resurfaces the parking lot with tar every few years, cars that do drive on it do damage/kill weeds, even if not as regularly as on a heavily used parking lot.
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