Texas City, TX Landscaping Rules: Artificial Turf (2026)

Section 160.088 governs landscaping in Texas City, Texas, and its subsection (H) is the sentence about synthetic materials: synthetic or artificial lawn or plant material shall not be used to satisfy the requirements of the landscape requirements. The purpose clause explains why living plants are the standard, stating that landscaping is intended to reduce the negative effects of glare, noise, erosion and sedimentation caused by expanses of impervious or unvegetated surfaces. Under subsection (F), all plant material shall be maintained at all times in a living and growing condition.

The requirement itself applies in multi-family and mobile home districts and all non-residential districts, excluding District E-1 (Central Business). The chart in § 160.088(B) sets a minimum percent of lot area to be landscaped: 20 in Districts C and C-1, 10 in D, D-1, E-2, G-2 and O-P, 15 in P-I, and 5 in E, E-3, E-4, F, F-1, G and H. Except in districts C, C-1 and MH, a minimum of 50% of the required landscaping area is located in the front one-half of the lot, and driveways, paved walks, rights-of-way and easements for streets or alleys do not count.

Trees carry a separate count. One tree per 500 square feet of designated landscaped area is required, with a minimum of one tree per lot or tract, planted in areas visible from the street and not in the right-of-way. Trees are a minimum of three-inch caliper, staked and wrapped, and are chosen from live oak, red oak, cedar elm, bald cypress and similar species approved by the Director of Parks and Recreation. Tree species are a minimum of seven feet overall height immediately after planting.

A landscaping plan demonstrating compliance goes to the Building Official when the building permit is applied for. Section 160.088 does not address turf in a single-family yard beyond that one sentence, because its chart lists no row for Districts A or A-1.