Palm Desert, CA Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Palm Desert Municipal Code § 8.70.190 is the weed and vegetation rule for improved property in the City of Palm Desert. It requires grounds, landscape, shrubs, plants and vegetation that are viewable by the general public from a public right-of-way, or viewable from neighboring properties, to be adequately maintained. The section prints no height in inches or feet for grass or weeds. Instead it names three tests: vegetation that is likely to harbor rats or vermin, vegetation that constitutes a fire hazard, and vegetation that substantially detracts from the appearance of the immediate neighborhood or reduces property values there.

Any dead, decayed, diseased or hazardous hedges, weeds, shrubs or overgrown vegetation, cultivated or uncultivated, that meets a test is not permitted and must be promptly removed. The section defines "adequately maintained" as a condition that does not substantially detract from the appearance of the immediate neighborhood or reduce surrounding property values. A third sentence covers the street edge: no tree, shrubbery or plant can grow onto or over the public right-of-way so that pedestrian or vehicular traffic is impaired, or so that vehicle operators cannot clearly observe safety signs and signals.

The nuisance chapter backs this up. Section 8.20.020(T)(10) lists dead, decayed, diseased or hazardous trees, hedges, weeds, shrubs and overgrown vegetation as a nuisance, and subsection (R) reaches the substantial lack of maintenance of grounds, landscape, shrubs, plants or vegetation viewable from a public right-of-way or from neighboring properties. Subsection (T)(11) defines refuse and waste matter to include weeds, palm fronds, leaves and grass, so cut trimmings left on the property count as well.

Chapter 8.70 declares violations of its standards a public nuisance that the city can abate under Chapter 8.20, and the city can also pursue other legal or equitable remedies under the code or state law. Inspection can be done from public rights-of-way, with the owner's or occupier's consent, or under a court-issued warrant. For abandoned or distressed property, § 8.21.030(B) goes further and requires the property to be kept free of weeds, dry brush, dry grass and dead vegetation.