Cathedral City, CA Invasive Plant Rules: Front Yard Gardens (2026)

Cathedral City Municipal Code § 9.14.130 governs front yard landscaping in the R1 Single-Family Residential District. An approved landscaping and irrigation system must be installed within the front and street side yards at the time of construction of the main building, subject to the standards of Chapter 8.57. City parkways are included in the landscaping. Driveways and open parking shall not exceed fifty percent of the front and street side yards.

The invasive-plant language sits in the natural-areas clause. Natural areas can be integrated into the landscape plan, but only if they are free of invasive weeds or a source of blow sand. The section prints the phrase invasive weeds without listing species, so the Planning Department is the place to confirm a plant before it goes in a front yard. Landscaping must also be designed to prevent irrigation water from flowing over paved surfaces, turf areas are limited, and at least fifty percent of lot landscaping shall be native and/or drought-tolerant plant materials. The RE chapter carries the same text in § 9.12.130. The code ties planting to construction of the main building, so the design standard is checked when the house is built.

Chapter 8.57 supplies the water side of the rule. Section 8.57.010 adopts by reference Coachella Valley Water District Ordinance No. 1302.1, titled An Ordinance of the Coachella Valley Water District Establishing Landscape and Irrigation System Design Criteria, with a copy on file at the city clerk's office. Section 8.57.025 requires persons subject to the State Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance to comply with Sections 492.6(a)(3)(B), (C), (D), and (G). Section 8.57.020 lists monetary penalties from Appendix F of the district ordinance and termination of water service.