Marin County, CA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

030 has applicants submit a preliminary plan with the development application and a final plan with the Building Permit application, ideally prepared by a landscape professional. 040 lists nine landscaping objectives the Agency weighs when it reviews that plan; Objective G, 'Preserve native plant species,' calls for landscaping designed to use native plants as much as possible in order to preserve and enhance valuable plant habitats, create suitable habitats for wildlife, and protect endangered or threatened plants and animals. The same section pairs the native-plant objective with related goals: Objective B pushes landscaping toward soil stabilization and erosion reduction using non-toxic products and integrated pest management, Objective H requires a two-to-one replacement ratio for trees removed under a Tree Removal Permit, and Objective I calls for fire-safe plant selection that keeps vegetation clear of overhead power lines.

Because these are objectives rather than a fixed percentage or prohibited-species list, the Director has discretion in applying them project by project, and a landscaping plan that leans on ornamental or drought-tolerant non-natives isn't automatically rejected as long as it reasonably advances the Chapter's stated goals; there's no separate numeric native-plant quota anywhere else in Title 22.