How Orem Handles Landscaping Rules: A Practical Guide

Orem maintains 119 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 Orem falls on the strict-to-permissive spectrum compared to other cities.

Rainwater Harvesting

New development and redevelopment in Orem must use site designs that infiltrate, evapotranspire, or harvest and reuse rainwater to keep runoff on-site. The Public Works Storm Water Utility enforces the standard under Orem City Code 23-4-8(7).

Key details: Governing section: Orem City Code 23-4-8(7)(B)(3)(a). Retention standard: Manage 80th-percentile rainfall event on-site. Post-retention discharge cap: 60 gallons/minute per acre. Enforcing office: Public Works, Storm Water Utility. Applies to: New development and redevelopment sites.

No grading, building, or stormwater management permit may be issued until the City's Storm Water Utility approves a Long-Term Storm Water Management Plan showing how the site meets the 80th-percentile retention standard. A developer claiming infeasibility must submit documentation quantifying why infiltration, evapotranspiration, or rainwater harvesting cannot be fully employed before the City will approve alternative design criteria. Disputes over retention requirements between the City and a developer are resolved under Utah Code 19-5-108.5.

Artificial Turf

Orem lets property owners substitute artificial or synthetic turf for living plants in required landscaped areas under City Code 22-14-13, but only turf meeting eight specific technical standards covering fiber type, blade length, UV protection, infill, and drainage. The turf may not be installed in the landscaped buffer strip between a public street and a required sidewalk.

Key details: Minimum blade length: 1.5 inches. Backing requirement: porous, UV-treated, tufted. Infill material: natural material such as sand. Prohibited location: street-to-sidewalk buffer strip. Counts toward: 50% (or 45%) living-cover minimum.

Turf that fails any of the eight technical standards, or that is installed in the street-buffer strip where it is barred, is treated as a landscaping violation under Chapter 22: a Class C misdemeanor carrying up to a $500 individual fine under City Code 22-1-6, with the Development Services Director able to require removal or a compliant reinstall.

Native Plants

Orem's landscaping code encourages, but does not mandate, xeriscaping: City Code 22-14-13 promotes native, low-maintenance, drought-tolerant plants combined with mulch or decorative gravel to meet landscaping requirements, pointing owners to a non-exhaustive species list in Appendix VV, and rewards heavy tree planting with a lower coverage floor.

Key details: Approach: encouraged, not mandatory. Species reference: Appendix VV, non-exhaustive list. Tree bonus: 3+ extra trees lowers floor to 45%. Base coverage rule: 50% living plant minimum. Counted materials: mulch, decorative gravel with plants.

Because xeriscaping is encouraged rather than required, there is no separate penalty for choosing traditional lawn instead. A property that fails the underlying coverage requirement entirely, native or otherwise, is cited as a Chapter 22 landscaping violation, a Class C misdemeanor under City Code 22-1-6 punishable by up to a $500 fine.

If you are coming from a city with tighter rules, you will find Orem gives residents more flexibility on native plants.

Tree Removal & Heritage Trees

Orem's landscaping maintenance rule, City Code 22-14-13, requires every required landscaped area to be kept neat and orderly, and specifically obligates owners to remove trees that pose a safety hazard or that are dead, decayed, or diseased, along with weeds and debris that endanger the public or neighboring property.

Key details: Must remove: hazard, dead, decayed, or diseased trees. Also required: pruning, mowing, weeding, watering. Governing section: Orem City Code 22-14-13. Applies to: any required landscaped area. Penalty: Class C misdemeanor, up to $500.

Letting a hazard tree, dead landscaping, or accumulated debris sit in a required landscaped area is a Chapter 22 zoning violation: a Class C misdemeanor under City Code 22-1-6, punishable by up to a $500 fine for an individual or $1,000 for a corporation, with each day of noncompliance a separate offense.

Tree Trimming

Orem City Code Section 11-1-3 declares dead, decayed, diseased, or hazardous trees, weeds, hedges, and overgrown or uncultivated vegetation a public nuisance when they are in a hazardous condition, obstruct pedestrian or vehicular traffic, or are likely to harbor pests, requiring property owners to trim or remove them.

Key details: Code Section: Orem City Code 11-1-3 (item 16). Trigger: Hazardous, traffic-obstructing, or pest-harboring trees/vegetation. Owner duty: Trim or remove hazardous/obstructing trees and hedges. Penalty: Class C misdemeanor (11-1-8) plus abatement. Healthy private-tree pruning: Not separately regulated.

A tree or hedge condition that meets Section 11-1-3 may be declared a nuisance; under Section 11-1-8 maintaining a nuisance is a class C misdemeanor (prosecutable by citation or Information), and the City may abate the condition and recover costs. Owners typically receive a code-enforcement notice and a deadline to trim or remove the offending vegetation before penalties or City abatement.

Weed Ordinances

Orem City Code Section 11-1-3 declares noxious weeds on vacant lots or other property, along sidewalks or the outer edge of a public street, or weeds that constitute a fire hazard a public nuisance; the property owner must abate them by discing, plowing, or mowing weeds within four inches of the ground and removing the cut weeds.

Key details: Code Section: Orem City Code 11-1-3 (item 10). Numeric lawn-height cap: None; trigger is fire hazard or encroachment. Required abatement: Mow/disc/plow within 4 in of ground. After cutting: Cut weeds must be removed. Penalty: Nuisance abatement + class C misdemeanor (11-1-8).

Overgrowth meeting Section 11-1-3 may be declared a nuisance; the City can require mowing to within four inches and removal of the cut material, abate the condition if the owner fails to act, and recover abatement costs. Maintaining the nuisance is also a class C misdemeanor under Section 11-1-8.

Water Restrictions

Orem has no fixed year-round watering-day or watering-hour ordinance for residents; mandatory odd-even watering days (by street address) are imposed only when the City Manager declares a Severe Stage water shortage under the City's Water Shortage Management Plan, while everyday outdoor irrigation is governed by efficiency expectations and Utah's water-wise landscaping statute.

Key details: Year-round watering-day limit: None codified for residents. Mandatory odd-even days: Only in Severe Stage shortage. City regional parks window: 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.. Other City parks/parkways window: 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.. HOA turf-strip rule: No required lawn in strip under 8 ft (Utah Code 57-8a-231).

There is no standalone fine schedule for everyday over-watering; restrictions become enforceable only after the City declares a Critical Stage, at which point the City mandates reductions 'with enforcement.' Water-conservation directives are administered by the City Manager or designee and publicized through City channels during any rationing effort.

The Bottom Line

Orem'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 Orem is broadly strict or permissive.

All of the above reflects Orem's municipal code as of our last review. If you need specifics on fines, exemptions, or filing requirements, the detailed ordinance pages linked above have the full breakdown.