Showing ordinances that apply to Shelter Island Heights, NY
Shelter Island Heights is an unincorporated community (population 1,601) in Suffolk County, New York. Because Shelter Island Heights is not an incorporated city, it does not have its own municipal code. Instead, Suffolk County ordinances apply directly to properties here. The native plants rules below are the ones that govern your area.
Suffolk County actively promotes native Long Island plant species to protect the sole-source aquifer and Pine Barrens ecosystem. The Long Island Native Plant Initiative and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County provide plant lists. Towns increasingly require native plantings in subdivision landscape plans.
Suffolk County Local Law 41 of 2013 prohibits the sale of certain invasive species countywide, one of the first such bans in the US. The Suffolk County Parks Department uses native-only planting in new installations. Town subdivision codes (e.g., Southampton 330-81.4) require a percentage of native plants in new landscape plans. Homeowners face no restrictions on replacing turf with native meadow provided property maintenance codes are met with a formal management plan.
Sale of listed invasive species: up to $1,000 per plant under Local Law 41. Subdivision planting violations: certificate of occupancy withheld until compliance.
See how Shelter Island Heights's native plants rules stack up against other locations.
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