Trinity County, CA Landscaping Rules: Artificial Turf (2026)

Trinity County's municipal code contains no provision banning, limiting, or requiring permits specifically for artificial or synthetic turf. As a rural, forested county without urban landscaping standards, installing synthetic grass on a yard is generally a private decision that needs no county turf permit. General county rules can still apply indirectly: any significant earthwork to prepare a base could implicate the Mass Grading ordinance (Code Ch. 15.24) if it exceeds 800 cubic yards of graded material or disturbs more than 20,000 square feet, and stormwater/runoff should not create a polluting discharge under the Water Quality Control Ordinance (Code Ch. 8.60). Statewide, California Civil Code § 4735 (as amended by AB 349, 2015) makes void and unenforceable any homeowners-association rule that prohibits, or has the effect of prohibiting, the use of artificial turf or other synthetic surfaces that resemble grass—so even within a Trinity County HOA, a flat ban on synthetic lawns is unenforceable, although the HOA may set reasonable installation guidelines. Note that near structures in this fire-prone county, fire-safety and defensible-space considerations under the Fire Safe Ordinance still apply to the surrounding landscape.