Kennewick has no native-plant mandate or No Mow May exemption. The KMC 9.48.010(4) twelve-inch Weed Hazard rule still applies, but irrigated, living natives generally fall outside the rule because the trigger covers dead or unirrigated vegetation.
The Kennewick Municipal Code does not require native or drought-tolerant plant selection on private property. KMC 18.21 (Landscaping) sets minimum landscape requirements for new commercial, multi-family, and subdivision development — including a recommended-tree list published by the city — but does not force native-only design. Because KMC 9.48.010(4) keys off dead, dried, or unirrigated vegetation, an irrigated native garden of basin big sagebrush, rabbitbrush, blue flax, or bluebunch wheatgrass kept healthy generally avoids the 12-inch trigger. Kennewick Irrigation District actively promotes water-conservation landscaping using low-water-use plants and runoff capture. WSU Extension's Benton County Master Gardener program publishes Columbia Basin native and xeric plant guides that residents can use to comply with both 9.48 and 18.21.
Native plantings that go dormant and read as dead vegetation over twelve inches still trip KMC 9.48.010(4) and the 20-day Code Enforcement notice. Native landscape choices for KMC 18.21 plans must still meet the approved planting list at site-plan review.
Kennewick, WA
Industrial-source noise crossing into Kennewick residential neighborhoods is capped by WAC 173-60-040 at 60 dBA during the day and 50 dBA between 10:00 p.m. ...
Kennewick, WA
Motor vehicle noise on Kennewick streets is governed by the statewide motor vehicle noise performance standards in WAC Chapter 173-62, which set in-use sound...
Kennewick, WA
Tri-Cities Airport (KPSC) is operated by the Port of Pasco and sits across the Columbia River in Franklin County, not Kennewick. Aircraft noise in Kennewick ...
Kennewick, WA
Amplified music in Kennewick is regulated under the Kennewick Municipal Code's public-disturbance noise provisions, which treat amplified sound that is plain...
Kennewick, WA
Kennewick has not codified a gas leaf blower ban, a decibel cap specific to leaf blowers, or restricted hours of operation. Use is governed by the general pu...
Kennewick, WA
Persistent or habitual barking, howling, or other animal noise that disturbs the peace is regulated as a public-disturbance noise nuisance under the Kennewic...
See how Kennewick's native plants rules stack up against other locations.
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