Flagstaff, AZ Landscaping Rules: Artificial Turf (2026)

The Flagstaff Zoning Code's landscaping standards, administered by Community Development, single out artificial turf for tighter treatment than living plant material. Section 10-50.60.050.B.3.e bans artificial shrubs outright but permits artificial turf, provided it is installed over a permeable base so stormwater can still infiltrate rather than sheet off the lot. The code then applies two limits that keep artificial turf from swallowing a yard: first, an artificial turf area never counts toward the square footage a development must landscape under Table 10-50.60.050.B, Required Plant Quantities, so a homeowner cannot substitute turf for the trees, shrubs, and groundcover the table requires; second, the artificial turf area is capped at whatever square footage the property's oasis allowance permits under subsection C.

For multifamily residential uses, that oasis allowance runs up to five percent of the site or 100 square feet per dwelling unit, whichever is greater; for most other uses it is capped at two and one-half percent of the site. Because artificial turf is measured against the oasis cap, a lot that has already used its oasis allowance on live, non-drought-tolerant plantings or a vegetable garden has no separate allowance left for artificial turf, and vice versa. Community Development reviews artificial turf as part of the landscape plan required for new development and additions; code compliance can still act on a complaint that turf exceeds the oasis cap or lacks a permeable base.