Norwalk, CA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

020(E). Subsection (E)(1)(a) lists protecting and preserving native species and natural vegetation, and selecting water-conserving plant, tree, and turf species, especially local native plants, as the first two of five approved methods for meeting the project's maximum applied water allowance, alongside choosing plants suited to local climate, disease and pest resistance, applicable tree ordinances, and regional landscape program plant lists. Subsection (E)(1)(c) directs designers to use the Sunset Western Climate Zone System and weigh a plant's mature size and root behavior so native and low-water species are matched to the site's actual soil, slope, and exposure.

Subsection (E)(1)(f) separately discourages invasive species on the California Invasive Plant Council's list, steering designers toward native alternatives instead. The strongest protection sits in subsection (E)(1)(g): the architectural guidelines of a common interest development, meaning any condominium, planned development, community apartment project, or stock cooperative in Norwalk, cannot prohibit, or write conditions that have the effect of prohibiting, the use of low-water use plants as a group, which covers native plant palettes used to replace turf. That local rule tracks Civil Code Section 4735(a)(1) at the State level, so a Norwalk HOA cannot use its own CC&Rs to block a native, drought-tolerant landscape plan that otherwise meets the ordinance's water budget.