Lakewood, CA Holiday Decorations: Lawn Ornament Rules (2026)

Section 4221 defines the parkway as the portion of a dedicated road, street or highway that has been planted with lawn, bush, tree or plant vegetation, typically the strip between the curb and the sidewalk in front of a house. 1, amended by Ordinance 2005-8 and Ordinance 2020-6, lists what cannot go there: cutting or injuring trees and root systems, damaging or defacing signs, benches or monuments, dumping garbage, running water or electrical lines across the strip to a curbside vehicle, and storing basketball hoops, skateboard ramps or bicycle ramps.

Subsection D is the specific rule for lawn displays: vegetation other than a City street tree cannot exceed six inches in height, and no sign, decoration, statue, lawn ornament, potted plant of any size, constructed planter or similar device can impede the safe ingress and egress of people from curbside vehicles or safe pedestrian use of the abutting sidewalk. 2, added by Ordinance 2020-6, makes the owner of the adjacent property responsible for installing, maintaining and irrigating the parkway's plant material, with the City responsible only for planting, trimming and removing its own street trees.

This structure fits Lakewood's origin as a post-war planned suburb of uniform single-family lots, where the parkway strip in front of nearly every home is treated as a shared, regulated space rather than private yard. 1 sets no penalty of its own, so a violation defaults to the code's general Section 1200 misdemeanor.