9 rules for unincorporated Imperial County, California.
Verified from official government sources
Unincorporated Imperial County has no fixed numeric grass-height limit. Title 9 Division 18 makes it unlawful for any owner or occupant to let land become overgrown and infested with weeds and other vegetation, using a 'fire menace when dry' and 'noxious or dangerous' standard rather than an inch measurement (Title 9 §§91801.00-91801.01).
Imperial County has no general ordinance requiring permits to trim or prune trees on private property in unincorporated areas. Trees that overgrow into a fire menace or otherwise become noxious or dangerous can be abated under the Title 9 Division 18 weed-and-vegetation provisions, and obstructions in street rights-of-way must be cleared.
Unincorporated Imperial County does not have a heritage-tree or general tree-removal permit ordinance for private property. Homeowners may generally remove trees on their own land. Trees planted to satisfy a development's required landscaping must be kept alive and maintained under Title 9 Division 3.
Title 9 Division 18 makes it a misdemeanor to let land in unincorporated Imperial County become overgrown and infested with weeds and other vegetation. Weeds include brush that becomes a fire menace when dry plus noxious or dangerous growth. The county can declare a public nuisance, abate it, and lien the property for costs.
Title 9 Division 3, Chapter 2 is Imperial County's water-conserving landscape ordinance. New non-residential, multi-family, and subdivision landscaping must limit supplemental irrigation to an average of no more than 30 inches of water per year, use low-volume/drip irrigation and automatic rain-shutoff controllers, and group plants by water need. The state MWELO also applies.
Imperial County's Title 9 Land Use Ordinance contains no ordinance prohibiting or specifically permitting residential rainwater harvesting. California law broadly allows rooftop rainwater capture for landscape use. In this low-rainfall desert, most landscape irrigation comes from Imperial Irrigation District Colorado River water rather than captured rain.
Imperial County's landscape ordinance (Title 9 Division 3) requires plants suited to the region, grouped by water need and irrigated separately, with a 30-inch/year supplemental-water cap and 3 inches of organic mulch in shrub areas. It references drought-tolerant plant guides such as 'Trees and Shrubs for Dry California Landscapes,' encouraging low-water and desert-adapted species.
Imperial County's landscape ordinance (Title 9 Division 3) repeatedly states that ornamental rock, gravel, artificial turf, or other artificial-cover areas do NOT count toward a development's minimum required landscaped percentage. Artificial turf is allowed, but covered projects must still provide live, irrigated landscaping to meet their landscaped-area minimums.
California's SB 1383 requires organic-waste diversion countywide. In the Imperial Valley the program is run by the Imperial Valley Resource Management Agency (IVRMA), whose members include the County of Imperial. Residents must use organics (green-cart) collection or, where allowed, self-haul or compost on site; backyard composting is one accepted way to divert organics.
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