Edmonds, WA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Chapter 22.100 ECDC, the Firdale Village Site Design Standards, applies to all development within the Firdale Village MU zone, including its subdistricts, per ECDC 22.100.000(A). This is the mixed-use neighborhood centered on Firdale Avenue in south Edmonds; the requirement does not extend to other zones in the city. Under the general landscaping subsection of ECDC 22.100.050, a project's site landscaping plan must incorporate a range of landscape materials, trees, evergreen shrubs, groundcovers and seasonal flowers for color and visual interest, and within that plan, native and drought-tolerant species must make up at least 20 percent of all landscaped area.

ECDC 22.100.000(A) tells applicants that the chapter's "shall" and "must" language marks a mandatory standard rather than a suggestion, distinguishing it from the "should"/"may" language used for merely encouraged design choices elsewhere in the same chapter. The native-plant share is written with "shall be used where possible" language for the plant choice itself, paired with a firm "minimum of 20 percent" figure for the coverage share, so a landscape plan showing less than one-fifth native or drought-tolerant material in its planted area does not meet the standard absent a documented site constraint.

Firdale Village landscape plans are reviewed alongside the chapter's broader open-space, parking-lot screening and lighting standards as part of project design review, and a plan that falls short can be sent back for revision before the city issues approval. This 20 percent floor sits inside a wider landscaping package for the district, which also requires one tree per 10 parking stalls and 90 percent ground coverage in five years for parking-lot landscape beds under ECDC 22.100.050(B).