Lafayette Parish, LA Landscaping Rules: Rainwater Harvesting (2026)
Key Facts
- Residential rain barrels
- unregulated, no permit needed
- Applies to
- City of Lafayette + unincorporated parish
- Commercial trigger
- parking above required count + cushion
- Open-space credit
- up to 75% via green infrastructure
- Other parish cities
- not covered (Broussard, Youngsville, etc.)
Summary
The parish code sets no permit or rule for a home rain barrel, but § 89-151 defines rooftop 'irrigation cisterns' as approved Green Infrastructure that developers can use to offset excess parking and earn open-space credit, in the City of Lafayette and the unincorporated parish alike.
Irrigation cisterns: barrels or containers that recycle rooftop captured storm water and temporarily store runoff from rooftops for later use as irrigation and/or other non-potable uses, such as toilet flushing.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 65).
Full Breakdown
Lafayette's Land Development Code defines 'irrigation cisterns', barrels or containers that capture rooftop storm water for later irrigation or toilet-flushing use, as one recognized form of Green Infrastructure (§ 89-151). That designation carries weight for developers: under § 89-39(g)(5), commercial and mixed-use parking lots that exceed the required space count plus an allowed cushion (10 to 40 extra spaces depending on lot size) must provide green infrastructure, cisterns included, equal in area to the excess spaces. Under § 89-40(d)(2), that same low-impact landscaping earns up to 75% open-space credit. Both sections apply in the City of Lafayette and the unincorporated parish alike, per § 89-39(a)(1).
Violations & Fines
No penalty attaches to putting up a rain barrel: it's unregulated. A developer who exceeds the parking-space cushion without providing equivalent green infrastructure or porous pavement instead can't get the site plan approved.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to install a rain barrel in Lafayette Parish?
Does this green infrastructure rule cover the whole parish?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lafayette Parish
Compare Lafayette Parish to another location·View the Louisiana landscaping rules overview
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