Hayward, CA Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

The prohibition sits inside the Landscape Design Plan requirements of Hayward's Bay-Friendly Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance, Sec. 07(a)(2), which governs "Plant Material" for any new landscape project of 500 square feet or more, or a rehabilitated landscape of 2,500 square feet or more, requiring a building or landscape permit, plan check or design review under Sec. 03. " Sec. 04(ff) defines an invasive plant species as one "not historically found in California that spread outside cultivated areas and can damage environmental or economic resources," noting that county agricultural agencies may separately regulate the same species as noxious weeds, and pointing to the California Invasive Plant Inventory and the USDA invasive and noxious weeds database as reference lists.

The same plant-material subsection also requires selecting species suited to soil and climate, matching mature plant size to avoid damaging sidewalks, buildings and power lines, and grouping plants by water need into hydrozones. Anyone submitting a landscape design plan for a covered project to the Planning Division must show compliance with subsection (H) alongside the water-efficient landscape worksheet required by Sec. 05 before a building or landscape permit issues. The rule applies to new construction, rehabilitated landscapes, and to cemeteries under the narrower cross-reference in Sec. 03(a)(4), though it exempts registered historical sites, ecological restoration projects without a permanent irrigation system, and existing botanical garden collections open to the public.