Santa Cruz County, CA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Chapter 13.13 SCCC, the Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance, states its own purpose at § 13.13.010(B): to promote sustainability and mitigate climate change in new landscaping projects by installing native plants and habitat enhancements, avoiding invasive plants, improving soils, minimizing stormwater runoff, and providing shade. That purpose carries through to the operative landscape design standard at § 13.13.060(C)(1), which requires that plants selected for a covered project be consistent with the site's climate, soil and topography, applicable fire district fuel modification and defensible space guidelines, and County implementing documents such as agricultural buffer guidelines, significant tree replacement requirements, and the urban forestry master plan.

Subsection (C)(2) then adds that planting trees and protecting and enhancing existing native species and natural areas is strongly encouraged, though the chapter stops short of mandating a native-species percentage; the enforceable numeric standard instead lives in § 13.13.060(B)'s 25 percent cap on turf, high water use plants and water features, which pushes projects toward lower-water and, in practice, often native plantings to fill the other 75 percent. A "native plant" is defined at § 13.13.020(24) as a plant indigenous to Santa Cruz County and suited to the ecology of the present or historic natural community of the project vicinity. Section 13.13.060(C)(7) separately discourages, and lets the Director restrict or prohibit, invasive plants such as those listed by WUCOLS or the California Invasive Plant Council. This chapter applies to the same covered projects as the turf-area rule, new, expanded or rehabilitated landscapes requiring a building, grading or discretionary permit under § 13.13.030, so small residential landscaping of 500 square feet or less and simple remodels or ADUs remain exempt from the native-planting encouragement along with everything else in the chapter.