Santa Clara County, CA Landscaping Rules: Artificial Turf (2026)

Installing artificial (synthetic) turf is permitted in unincorporated Santa Clara County, and there is no County ban on it for residential yards. Statewide, California Civil Code section 4735 protects owners by prohibiting homeowners' associations from enforcing rules that ban artificial turf or other synthetic surfaces that resemble grass, so an HOA cannot categorically forbid synthetic lawns (though it may impose reasonable, non-prohibitive aesthetic standards). At the County level, the main consideration is the Sustainable Landscape Ordinance: projects with 500 square feet or more of new or modified landscape area that are tied to a building, grading, or planning permit must comply with the ordinance's water-efficiency rules.

Because synthetic turf uses no irrigation, it is generally treated as a non-planted, non-water-using surface rather than as qualifying living landscape, so it does not count toward required living-plant cover under the ordinance's plant-based compliance options and must still meet stormwater and drainage expectations. There can also be drainage, permeability, and runoff considerations for large installations. For a typical homeowner replacing a lawn with synthetic turf and not triggering a permit threshold, no County landscape permit is required. Larger projects, or turf installed as part of a permitted development, should be reviewed against the Sustainable Landscape Ordinance and any grading or stormwater requirements.