Lafayette, IN Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Chapter 8.07 defines a managed natural landscape as a deliberately planned, installed, and maintained landscape of native or ecologically appropriate grasses, sedges, forbs, wildflowers, shrubs, and trees. Section 8.07.020 makes unmanaged lawn grass or weeds over 10 inches a nuisance citywide, but Section 8.07.030(B) exempts intentionally planted managed natural landscapes from that cap. Owners must still prevent invasive species growth and encroachment into sidewalks, alleys, or neighboring properties, and avoid creating visibility hazards. Even a qualifying landscape must keep the public right-of-way strip, the tree lawn between sidewalk and street, under 10 inches except for trees.

Section 8.07.030(D) clarifies the exemption never overrides the county's Unified Zoning Ordinance or other local regulations. If code enforcement finds a violation, Section 8.07.040 requires the City Engineer to serve a written violation notice giving the owner seven days to abate, with a continuous abatement notice allowing the city to re-abate later violations that year without further notice. Appeals go to the Board of Public Works and Safety within five days, which tolls the abatement period. If the owner does not act, the city can enter and abate the nuisance itself, then bill the owner for equipment, personnel, and administrative costs, with unpaid invoices certified to the County Auditor and collected as delinquent taxes. The exemption was added by Ordinance 2026-08, adopted April 6, 2026, which also renumbered the older abatement sections in the chapter.