How Fairfield Handles Landscaping Rules: A Practical Guide

Fairfield maintains 148 local ordinances across all categories, and 7 of those deal specifically with landscaping rules. Here is a breakdown of what the city actually requires, what is prohibited, and where Fairfield falls on the strict-to-permissive spectrum compared to other cities.

Tree Trimming

Fairfield Municipal Code Chapter 21 (Trees and Shrubs) prohibits anyone other than the property owner or city-authorized personnel from pruning, injuring, or destroying any tree on private or public land. Protected trees under Section 25.36 require a permit before significant pruning.

Key details: Chapter: FMC Chapter 21 Trees and Shrubs. Protected-tree code: FMC Section 25.36 Tree Conservation. Protected size: 6 inches caliper at breast height (4.5 ft). Heavy pruning: Treated as removal; permit required. Unauthorized removal mitigation: 3 inches replanted per inch removed.

Unauthorized injury or pruning of a street tree, park tree, or protected tree can lead to administrative penalties and replacement requirements at the 3:1 mitigation ratio. Civil cost recovery for damage to public trees is also available to the city.

Water Restrictions

Fairfield permanently prohibits landscape irrigation between noon and 6:00 p.m., aligns with statewide bans on watering non-functional turf at commercial sites (AB 1572), and tightens restrictions when Lake Berryessa drops to 50% or 37% full.

Key details: No-watering window: Daily noon to 6:00 p.m.. Non-functional turf: Prohibited at CII sites (AB 1572). Stage 2 trigger: Lake Berryessa at 50% full. Outdoor moratorium trigger: Lake Berryessa at 37% full. Fine schedule: Warning, $25, $50, $100.

First offense: written warning. Second: $25. Third: $50. Fourth and beyond: $100 per violation. Continued non-compliance can lead to flow restrictors or service termination under standard utility rules.

Weed Ordinances

Fairfield enforces weed and vegetation abatement under Chapter 27 (Community Preservation) using California Government Code authority. Notices issue in spring before fire season, and uncorrected properties are abated by city contractor with costs liened against the parcel.

Key details: Primary code: FMC Chapter 27 + Cal. Gov. Code Section 39501+. Annual cycle: Spring notices, pre-fire-season deadline. Defensible space: PRC Section 4291 (30+ ft from structures). Hearing right: Yes, before formal nuisance abatement. Cost recovery: Special assessment / property tax lien.

First step is a written notice. Continued non-compliance triggers administrative citations with escalating fines, city-contracted abatement, and a special-assessment lien. Repeat offenders may face misdemeanor prosecution and increased fines.

Native Plants

Fairfield encourages native and drought-tolerant plants and complies with California's Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO) for new and renovated landscapes that meet the state thresholds. There is no city ban on lawns for existing residential properties.

Key details: State framework: California MWELO (23 CCR Section 490+). New-landscape threshold: 500 sq ft permitted projects. Rehab threshold: 2,500 sq ft permitted projects. Future non-functional turf ban: AB 1572 (CII properties, phased). Incentives: Turf-replacement rebates via Water Division.

MWELO non-compliance is handled through the project plan-check process - landscape plans that do not meet MWELO are not approved. Existing residential lawns face no penalty for being installed, but water-use must still respect the noon-to-6 p.m. ban and any drought-stage restrictions.

Composting

Under California SB 1383, all Fairfield residents and businesses must subscribe to organic-waste collection and separate food scraps, food-soiled paper, and yard waste from the trash. Backyard composting remains permitted and counts as compliance for residents.

Key details: Authority: California SB 1383. Resident requirement: Subscribe + separate organics from trash. Business start date: January 1, 2022. Resident enforcement start: January 1, 2024. Cure period after notice: 60 days.

Following a notice and the 60-day cure period, repeated contamination or non-participation can result in administrative fines escalating per the city's enforcement schedule. The hauler may also bill for contamination-removal fees.

Rainwater Harvesting

Fairfield requires friable soil in every planted landscape area to maximize rainwater retention, per City Code Section 22A.18(c), and strongly recommends, without mandating, that covered projects capture runoff from a 1-inch or 85th-percentile 24-hour storm using rain gardens, cisterns, or catchment systems.

Key details: Mandatory: friable soil in all planted areas (§22A.18(c)). Recommended storm target: capture 1-inch or 85th-percentile 24-hr rain. Encouraged tools: rain gardens, cisterns, catchment systems. Must document if used: 24-hour retention/infiltration capacity. Applies to: covered new/rehab landscape projects.

The city does not fine a property for skipping cisterns, rain gardens, or a designed storm-capture target: subsections (a), (b), (d), and (e) all use "encouraged" or "recommended" language rather than a mandate. The one enforceable element is the friable-soil standard in subsection (c), checked the same way as the rest of the chapter, through Landscape Documentation Package review at plan check and sign-off at the Certificate of Completion, not through after-the-fact citations.

If you are coming from a city with tighter rules, you will find Fairfield gives residents more flexibility on rainwater harvesting.

Tree Removal & Heritage Trees

Removing a protected tree in Fairfield without City review is a code violation: Section 25.36.5 requires anyone wanting to take down a protected tree outside a City-reviewed project to obtain an Administrative Tree Removal Permit from the Director of Community Development first.

Key details: Governing section: FMC § 25.36.5(A). Permit type: Administrative Tree Removal Permit. Issued by: Director of Community Development. Review track: Minor Discretionary Approval, § 25.40.4. Illegal removal penalty: Infraction plus 3 inches mitigation per inch removed.

Removing, cutting down, excessively pruning, topping or otherwise causing the decline of a protected tree without a permit is unlawful under Section 25.36.4 and charged as an infraction under FMC § 1.7, enforceable by administrative citation; violators must also plant mitigation trees at three replacement inches for every inch removed, on top of any citation penalty.

This is not one of those rules that cities tend to ignore. Fairfield actively enforces its tree removal & heritage trees requirements.

The Bottom Line

Fairfield's landscaping rules rules are a mixed bag. Some areas are strict, others are relaxed, and the details matter. The best approach is to check the specific rule that applies to your situation rather than assuming Fairfield is broadly strict or permissive.

These rules come from Fairfield's publicly available municipal code. For complete penalty schedules, exemption details, and answers to common questions, see the individual ordinance pages throughout this guide.