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

Under Vacaville Municipal Code Section 14.27.030.060(A)(1)(g), part of Chapter 14.27, Provisions for New Construction or Rehabilitated Landscapes, the city tells applicants preparing a landscape design plan that using invasive plant species, specifically those catalogued by the California Invasive Plant Council, 'is strongly discouraged.' This sits inside a broader plant-selection standard requiring species to be matched to the site's climate, geology, and topography, using tools like the Sunset Western Climate Zone System, and weighing horticultural traits such as invasive surface roots that can damage sidewalks or foundations.

The ordinance defines 'invasive plant species' in Section 14.27.020 as plants not historically found in California that spread outside cultivated areas and damage environmental or economic resources, noting that Solano County's agricultural commissioner may separately regulate some of these as noxious weeds under state law. Because Chapter 14.27 applies only to landscape documentation packages submitted for new construction or rehabilitated landscapes over the code's size thresholds, the discouragement language is reviewed by the Director of Community Development at the plan-check stage rather than enforced against existing yards.

There is no citywide ban on planting or possessing invasive ornamental species outside this landscape-permit review, and the code does not list specific prohibited species by name, instead pointing applicants to the California Invasive Plant Council's inventory.