Yuba City, CA Landscaping Rules: Native Plants (2026)

Sec. 6004(d), titled Turf allowance/drought tolerant materials, sets the maximum amount of lawn in required landscape areas at 25%, while stating that the use of drought tolerant plant materials is encouraged. This sits inside a broader set of landscaping-material standards: Sec. 6004(c) requires that within five years of planting, all landscape areas carry at least 50% area coverage from ground cover, lawn, shrubbery, or other living vegetation, and that all unpaved areas be planted with an effective combination of trees, ground cover, lawn, shrubbery, or approved dry landscape materials, which is where drought-tolerant and native-style plantings can substitute for turf.

Sec. 6004(a) also requires varied tree and plant species, capping any one species at 60% of plantings on a site, which pushes designs toward a broader, hardier plant palette rather than a single ornamental turf-heavy scheme. These landscaping standards apply under Sec. 6001 to new construction, enlargements, and changes of use, but they specifically exempt one-family residences, halfplexes, and two-family residences, so the 25% turf cap is a rule for commercial, industrial, and larger multi-family landscape plans reviewed by the Planning Commission or City Council, not a limit on what a homeowner plants in a private yard.

Landscape plans go through the two-stage review in Sec. 6002, a preliminary conceptual plan followed by a detailed plan specifying plant species, irrigation, and quantities before installation.