Coconut Creek, FL Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

Coconut Creek Code § 13-444(b) treats composting as a encouraged practice with site conditions attached. The code says composting of yard wastes provides many benefits and is strongly encouraged, and that other recycled solid waste products are available and should be used when appropriate. Nothing in the section requires a resident to compost, and it prints no bin size, no setback for a pile and no permit.

What the city does regulate is where and how yard waste sits. Under (b)(2)a.7, yard wastes cannot be disposed of or stored by shorelines, ditches, swales or the vicinity of storm drains. Yard waste and compost sites must be hidden from street view, maintained to prevent odor and be free of weeds. Item 6 adds that turf or grass clippings, vegetative material and vegetative debris can never be washed, swept or blown into stormwater drains, ditches, conveyances, water bodies, wetlands, sidewalks or roadways, whether intentionally or accidentally.

The code also states the preferred use for cut material. Item 8 says turf and grass clippings should be left on the lawn to replace nutrients, and shredded clippings and leaves should be used for mulch or be composted for use as fertilizer. Diseased material should not be mulched and should be properly disposed of to avoid spreading disease. Mulch itself must be organic, weed-free, sterilized and certified arsenic free, and cypress mulch is not permitted under § 13-444(a)(4). A two-inch minimum depth is required in planting areas, with a ring around each tree at least two feet beyond the trunk and a four-inch band of soil kept mulch-free at the base.

These yard standards sit beside the mowing and height limits. St. Augustine turf is mowed by removing no more than one-third of the leaf blade and kept at a height no less than three inches, which is what lets clippings be left in place.