El Cajon, CA Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

195, the Water Efficient Landscaping ordinance, defines an "invasive plant species" as one "not historically found in California that spread outside cultivated areas and may damage environmental or economic resources" (Sec. 020). The prohibition attaches to the planting plan requirements a project must submit as part of a landscape documentation package. Under Sec. 030, that package requirement is triggered by any project needing a building or discretionary permit that installs 500 square feet or more of new irrigated landscaping, rehabilitates 2,500 square feet or more of irrigated landscaping, or is a cemetery project under the limited standards of Sec.

170. Once triggered, Sec. 195 under Sec. 360, and the city council may contract with a local water purveyor to help implement and enforce it. Penalties for violations tied to water waste from inefficient or noncompliant landscaping are monetary fines set by the city council based on the magnitude, duration, and frequency of the violation. Because the ban rides on the landscape documentation package trigger, a homeowner planting a small invasive shrub in an existing yard without a qualifying permit is not directly captured by Sec. 260, but any qualifying new-construction or major-rehab landscaping plan reviewed by the city will be rejected if it lists a listed invasive species.