Sedona's Landscaping Rules: The Rules That Matter

Every city handles landscaping rules a little differently. In Sedona, Arizona, there are 8 distinct rules that residents and property owners should be aware of. Some are stricter than what neighboring cities enforce, and others are more relaxed. Here is what you need to know.

Weed Ordinances

Sedona caps weeds, tall grass and uncultivated growth visible from public property at 12 inches, and declares taller growth a public nuisance along with dead or fire-hazard landscaping. The city can order it cleared and bill the owner if it isn't.

Key details: Max weed/grass height: 12 inches. Governing section: SCC 8.10.020(D). Notice period before city acts: 30 days. Notice method: Certified mail or personal service. Unpaid cost becomes: Lien on property, A.R.S. § 9-499.

Failure to cut weeds or tall grass after the 30-day notice under SCC 8.10.210 lets the city abate the condition itself and bill the owner for all removal costs, plus inspection and legal costs, which becomes a lien on the property if unpaid within 30 days. Separately, a Chapter 8.10 violation is a misdemeanor under SCC 8.10.190, with each day of continuing violation counted separately.

Tree Trimming

Sedona's Land Development Code makes tree and shrub maintenance a permanent duty of the property owner, not a courtesy: vegetation must be pruned so it never blocks traffic sight lines, tangles utility lines, or heaves sidewalks and pavement as it matures. Trees may not encroach into a required sidewalk, trail, or walkway's minimum width, and failure to maintain landscaping is itself a code violation.

Key details: Governing section: SLDC § 5.6.C(4)d, Landscape Maintenance. Duty holder: Owner, lessee, heirs, or HOA. Required upkeep: Regular pruning, debris and weed removal. Pruning limit: Over-pruning into unnatural shapes barred. Sidewalk rule: Trees may not block required walkway width.

Failure to maintain approved landscaping, including overgrown vegetation that blocks sight lines or heaves pavement, is expressly declared a violation of the Land Development Code under Section 5.6.C(4)d(3). Like other Code violations, it is enforceable under Section 1.7.A as a Class 1 misdemeanor or, at the discretion of a peace officer or the Code Enforcement Officer, a civil citation in Sedona Magistrate Court, with each day of noncompliance a separate offense; the City may also seek an order to correct or abate the condition.

Native Plants

Sedona's Land Development Code makes half of every development site's plantings native species drawn from the city's Administrative Manual, rising to 75 percent in the Oak Creek Zoning District, so a landscape plan that falls short of the ratio cannot pass review.

Key details: Baseline native ratio: 50% of site plantings citywide. OC District ratio: 75% native, riparian/upland appropriate. Source list: City Administrative Manual. Substitution cap: Nonnative species can't replace native percentage.

A landscape plan that understates native-species content fails Director review and cannot support a Certificate of Occupancy; Section 5.6.C(4)b requires a passing site inspection, or a surety of 125 percent of the landscaping cost, before occupancy is cleared. Once installed, letting native plantings die without replacement within 30 days under Section 5.6.C(4)d.2 is a separate, ongoing violation of the Land Development Code.

Artificial Turf

Sedona's landscaping standards ban artificial trees, shrubs, and plants outright but carve out one specific exception: artificial turf is not covered by that prohibition, so synthetic lawn areas are allowed under Section 5.6.C(1)b.5 of the Land Development Code wherever the section applies.

Key details: Artificial plants: Trees, shrubs, plants prohibited (5.6.C(1)b.5). Artificial turf: Expressly excluded from that ban. Turf area cap: 10% of landscape area (5.6.C(1)k). Floodplain exception: 500-year Oak Creek floodplain exempt.

Installing artificial trees, shrubs, or plants other than turf as landscaping violates Section 5.6.C(1)b.5 and can be cited as noncompliant landscaping during the pre-occupancy inspection required by Section 5.6.C(4)b, or as a maintenance violation under Section 5.6.C(4)d.3 if discovered later. Oversized turf coverage beyond the 10 percent cap in Section 5.6.C(1)k faces the same enforcement path toward correction.

The rules around artificial turf in Sedona lean permissive, but that does not mean anything goes.

Water Restrictions

Sedona's Land Development Code limits lawn or turf coverage to 10 percent of a project's overall landscape area to conserve water, with a floodplain exception and a Director waiver available when the grass species and irrigation method are shown to use little water.

Key details: Turf cap: 10% of overall landscape area. Floodplain exception: 500-year Oak Creek floodplain (FEMA). Waiver: Director may allow more with low-water species/irrigation. Irrigation mandate: Permanent underground irrigation required (5.6.C(4)c).

Exceeding the 10 percent turf cap on a project subject to Section 5.6 blocks landscape plan approval and, if built anyway, a Certificate of Occupancy inspection under Section 5.6.C(4)b; a project can be required to remove excess turf or substitute low-water plantings before occupancy is cleared. A water feature that fails to recirculate under Section 5.6.C(1)l is enforced the same way, through the same inspection.

Tree Removal & Heritage Trees

Sedona bars removing any existing tree, or stripping topsoil, without a site development, tree removal, grading, or landscape plan, and even then a tree can only come out if it meets one of four listed criteria under the Land Development Code's Tree Preservation standards.

Key details: Plan required: Site dev, tree removal, grading, or landscape plan. Removal criteria: 4 listed grounds only (5.6.C(5)b). Protective fencing: 1 ft past dripline, min. 3 ft tall. Replacement: Same quantity, minimum size, if criteria not met. Disposal deadline: Removed within 2 weeks of cutting.

Removing a tree without a qualifying plan or outside the four listed removal criteria is a violation of the Tree Preservation standards and can require replacement planting under Section 5.6.C(5)d in the same quantity and minimum size as what was cut down. Failing to install required protective fencing before construction, or failing to maintain it, exposes the applicant to correction under the site development or grading plan approval it accompanies.

This is one of the stricter rules in Sedona's municipal code. If you are unsure whether your situation complies, it is worth checking with the city before proceeding.

Rainwater Harvesting

Sedona lets homeowners install rainwater harvesting tanks in side and rear setback areas, but the Land Development Code caps how close and how tall they can be. The rule sits inside the citywide setback-exceptions table, alongside solar and geothermal equipment.

Key details: Minimum distance to property line: 5 feet. Maximum height in setback area: 8 feet. Where allowed: Side or rear setback, any district. Permits: Required if connected to potable/wastewater system.

There is no separate rainwater-harvesting citation; a tank that violates the five-foot property-line buffer or the eight-foot height limit in the setback area loses its Section 2.24.D(4)(b) exception and is treated as an unpermitted encroachment into the required setback, enforceable the same as any other zoning violation under SLDC Article 8's administration and enforcement provisions. A tank plumbed into a potable or wastewater connection without the required building/plumbing permit under SCC 13.05.010 is a separate code violation.

Sedona is more permissive than most cities when it comes to rainwater harvesting. That said, there are still limits.

Composting

Sedona has no standalone composting ordinance, but its wildlife-feeding law exempts "compost piles that are fully contained and made inaccessible to wildlife" from the citywide ban on feeding or attracting wildlife under SCC § 6.15.040(G). An open or accessible pile loses that exemption and becomes a violation.

Key details: Compost exemption: Must be fully contained, wildlife-inaccessible. Open pile: Counts as prohibited 'edible material'. Exception voided: If pile attracts wildlife anyway. Required fix: Modify, contain, or stop the activity. Penalty if cited: $150.00-$500.00 escalating fine scale.

A compost pile that draws wildlife loses its § 6.15.040(G) exception and is treated as a feeding violation: a first citation is a written warning under § 6.15.080(A), a second within 90 days carries a civil fine up to $150.00, a third within 180 days runs $150.00 to $500.00, and repeat offenders face a class 3 misdemeanor. Each day an attracting pile remains uncorrected can count as a separate offense under § 6.15.070.

Sedona is more permissive than most cities when it comes to composting. That said, there are still limits.

The Bottom Line

Compared to many U.S. cities, Sedona gives residents more room on landscaping rules. 3 of the 8 rules here are rated permissive. But permissive does not mean unregulated. There are still requirements, and the city does enforce them when violations are reported.

Keep in mind that Sedona can amend these rules at any council meeting. For the most current version of any rule mentioned here, check the specific ordinance page, where we track updates as they happen.