James City County, VA Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

Sec. 23-3 of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance defines 'noxious weeds' by reference to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation's Virginia Invasive Plant Species List and to the state definition in Va. Code Sec. 2-800, and it names Johnson grass, kudzu and multiflora rose as examples the definition reaches. That definition does real work inside the ordinance's 100-foot vegetated buffer requirement along the county's tidal shores, wetlands and perennial streams. Sec. 23-7(c)(1)d lets a property owner remove noxious weeds from that buffer with the manager's approval, and the manager may require a professional forester or arborist's recommendation first; whatever is removed has to be replaced with other vegetation that filters runoff and controls erosion just as effectively.

For agricultural land inside the buffer, Sec. 23-7(c)(3)a requires the buffer area to be managed so surface water doesn't breach it, and it directs that appropriate measures be taken to keep noxious weeds from invading the buffer in the first place, tying the invasive-species rule to the county's broader water-quality performance standards in Sec. 23-9. None of this creates a countywide prohibition on growing kudzu or Johnson grass on ordinary upland lawn; the operative duty is buffer-specific, aimed at keeping the vegetated strip that filters stormwater before it reaches the Chesapeake Bay functioning as intended.

A landowner who disturbs the buffer while removing weeds without the manager's sign-off, or who fails to replant after removal, is treated the same as any other unauthorized buffer disturbance under the ordinance.