Alpharetta, GA Water Use Rules: Turf Replacement Rebates (2026)

Alpharetta's Unified Development Code does not require turf replacement citywide, but inside the North Point Overlay it rewards developers who swap conventional lawn and permanent sprinkler systems for water-efficient landscaping. Sec. 2.10.11.D.12.a sets the benchmark in numeric terms: a project must reduce potable water used for landscape irrigation by 50% from a calculated midsummer baseline case, which the code treats as the water a conventional turf-and-irrigation landscape would consume during peak summer demand. A project can hit that 50% reduction through either of two named methods: utilizing all xeriscape plant materials and providing no permanent irrigation system, or using only captured rainwater with an irrigation system, meaning a cistern or rain-harvesting setup rather than a potable tap.

The reward is a single point toward the Sustainable Landscaping Measure, one line in the overlay's EcoDistrict Measures and Values Table that developers combine with other measures, such as bio-retention or pervious paving, to reach the 2-, 5-, 7- or 10-point minimums the overlay sets for different project sizes under Sec. 2.10.11.B. The applicant must also satisfy the companion invasive-species exclusion in Subsection b to claim the point, and must document the water savings with a landscape plan, irrigation plan and species list per Subsection c.

Because this is an optional point rather than a citywide turf mandate, a routine remodel outside the density-bonus or redevelopment thresholds never has to convert its lawn to qualify for a permit.