Monterey Park, CA Landscaping Rules: Artificial Turf (2026)

Section 21.08.080(W) of the Monterey Park Municipal Code sets the city's landscaping standard for the R-1, R-2 and R-3 residential zones and treats artificial turf as an approved substitute for live grass, not a variance from it. In the R-1 zone, most of the open front-yard area visible from the street must combine vegetative landscaping and permeable material, such as mulch, decomposed granite, gravel or stone, with native or drought-tolerant plants; synthetic grass qualifies only if it has lifelike individual blades that emulate real grass and a pile height of one and three-fourths inches or more.

For R-2 and R-3 multi-family lots, the code layers on numeric planting minimums, two 24-inch box specimen trees per dwelling unit, one five-gallon shrub per 40 square feet of landscaped area, ground cover reaching 50 percent coverage within a year, and a grass strip across the 25-foot front setback at least 15 feet deep from the back of the sidewalk, before allowing the same synthetic grass standard, but only upon City Planner approval. Every landscaping and irrigation plan for these zones must be submitted for City Planner sign-off before the city issues a building permit, and any irrigation system installed must be low-flow or drip.

Separately, the city's nuisance chapter lists a front yard that lacks turf, other planted material, decorative rock, bark or ground cover, so as to cause dust or debris, as a public nuisance, so a bare or neglected yard remains a code violation even where synthetic turf would have satisfied the landscaping requirement.