Pottstown, PA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Borough Zoning Ordinance § 506, added by Ordinance 2171 on January 8, 2018, permits managed meadows only on parcels with a lot area of one-half acre or greater. A managed meadow must sit at least 20 feet from public rights-of-way and alleyways, and at least four feet from sidewalks, trails, pedestrian routes, parking areas, fences, property lines, freestanding walls and buildings. It cannot be located within any clear sight triangle at an intersection or driveway. Owners must cut the meadow down to a maximum height of six inches on or before April 1 of each calendar year, which keeps the planting from being treated as an overgrown-vegetation violation the rest of the year.

The Zoning Ordinance's definitions section, § 1400, defines a MANAGED MEADOW as an area intentionally planted with herbaceous plant material primarily comprised of native species, excludes woody trees and shrubs from qualifying, and requires the planting be kept free of species listed on the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's Noxious Weed Control Law list and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' Invasive Plant Species List, both of which are incorporated into the Borough Code by reference. Because the ordinance defines the use by species composition rather than by appearance, a meadow planted with common lawn weeds or ornamental nonnatives does not qualify and can be cited as an ordinary lawn-maintenance violation instead.