Los Banos, CA Invasive Plant Rules: Prohibited Species (2026)

02 of the Municipal Code defines an 'invasive plant species' as a species not historically found in California that spreads outside cultivated areas and can damage environmental or economic resources, noting that county agricultural agencies may separately regulate such species as noxious weeds and that the California Invasive Plant Inventory and the USDA's invasive and noxious weeds database maintain the reference lists. 06(a)(1)(G), the landscape design plan criteria applied to every new development project of 500 square feet or more and every rehabilitated landscape of 2,500 square feet or more that needs a building, landscape, plan check, or design-review permit.

The provision states plainly that using invasive plant species, such as those on the California Invasive Plant Council list, is strongly discouraged. It stops short of an outright prohibition, so the City has no permit denial or citation built specifically around planting an invasive species; the discouragement instead sits alongside the ordinance's broader push toward native and climate-appropriate plants, and toward avoiding plants with invasive surface roots that could damage buildings, sidewalks or power lines. A project applicant preparing the required landscape design plan and Landscape Documentation Package is expected to account for this guidance, and Public Works reviews the plan before signing a certificate of completion.