Moorpark, CA Landscaping Rules: Composting (2026)

Moorpark Municipal Code § 8.36.085 states plainly that "the provisions of this chapter do not prohibit an individual or entity from composting green waste material as long as the compost pile, compost bin, or compost container is not visible from the street and conforms to applicable zoning and state regulations." The rule sits inside Chapter 8.36, Solid Waste, and its only two conditions are screening from street view and compliance with the zoning code and state law; it does not cap the size of a home compost pile or require a permit.

The chapter's definitions section, § 8.36.010, tells you what you may put in it: "green waste" covers leaves, grass clippings, brush, branches and other organic matter from landscapes and gardens, plus bare holiday trees, but excludes stumps or branches over six inches in diameter or four feet long and excludes invasive material such as yucca, cactus, bamboo, palm fronds and succulents, along with treated or painted lumber, because none of it is "suitable for composting." "Compost" itself is defined by cross-reference to 14 CCR § 17896.2(a)(4) as the product of controlled biological decomposition of source-separated organic solid waste, and a "community composting" operation is capped at 100 cubic yards and 750 square feet of feedstock and compost on site at any one time under 14 CCR § 17855(a)(4).

Because composting is folded into the solid waste chapter rather than carved out on its own, the chapter's general enforcement and nuisance provisions reach it: § 8.36.490 makes it "unlawful and a public nuisance for any person or entity to violate any term of this chapter," and § 8.36.820 authorizes the city manager or a designee to enforce Chapter 8.36 under Penal Code § 836.5.