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

Irvine's IBC Residential Mixed-Use Overlay District, Zoning Ordinance Chapter 5-8, sets compatibility standards for development near the San Joaquin Marsh and San Diego Creek to limit impacts on those riparian habitats. Section 5-8-4.A.1.b provides that landscape plans for areas located within 100 feet of the San Joaquin Marsh or San Diego Creek shall not include exotic plant species that may be invasive to native habitats, and specifies that exotic plant species not to be used include those species listed on Lists A and B of the California Invasive Plant Council's (Cal-IPC) list of "Exotic Pest Plants of Greatest Ecological Concern in California" as of October 1999 or subsequent documentation. Because the ordinance incorporates subsequent documentation, a landscape architect must check the current Cal-IPC inventory, not just the 1999 edition, when preparing a plan for a site within the buffer.

The same subsection also addresses building design in this buffer: structures four or more stories tall within 100 feet of the marsh or creek must avoid highly reflective glass and use non-reflective window angles to cut light and glare impacts on the habitat and reduce bird-collision risk, all subject to the satisfaction of the Community Development Director. Together, the two requirements, the invasive-species planting ban and the glare-reduction design standard, form the City's habitat-compatibility review for any residential or mixed-use project proposed within the overlay district's 100-foot creek and marsh buffer, and both are evaluated as part of the discretionary project approval rather than a separate permit.