Porterville, CA Water Use Rules: Turf Replacement Rebates (2026)
Key Facts
- Residential turf cap
- 25% of landscape area (Sec. 25-32A.23)
- Nonresidential turf
- Not allowed
- Commercial/industrial natural turf
- Prohibited absent a CUP (Sec. 25-32A.8)
- Parkway turf
- Banned in parkways under 10 feet wide
- New installations
- Warm season grasses only
Summary
Porterville caps how much lawn a property can keep under its water efficient landscape ordinance: residential turf cannot exceed 25 percent of the landscape area, nonresidential lots get none at all, and natural turf is banned outright in commercial and industrial zones under Municipal Code Sec. 25-32A.8 and Sec. 25-32A.23.
h. Natural turf is prohibited in commercial and industrial zone districts. However, when the city council finds that a logical and substantiated need exists for natural turf, e.g., for uses such as daycare centers or commercial recreation facilities, a conditional use permit may be approved with conditions specifying the reason natural grass is deemed necessary by the applicant, the allowed area of turf, and that all other water conservation requirements of this code are applied, regardless of the total landscape area. ... ... 4. Turf shall comply with all of the following: a. Turf shall not exceed twenty five percent (25%) of the landscape area in residential areas, and there shall be no turf in nonresidential areas; ... ... c. Turf is prohibited in parkways less than ten feet (10') wide, unless the parkway is adjacent to a parking strip and used to enter and exit vehicles.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 25-32A.8's landscape design criteria bar natural turf in commercial and industrial zone districts unless the city council finds a substantiated need, such as a daycare center or commercial recreation facility, and approves a conditional use permit setting the allowed turf area and confirming other water conservation requirements still apply; new turf installations citywide may use only warm season grasses, and turf cannot go on slopes steeper than a 1-foot rise per 4 feet of run where the toe meets impermeable hardscape. For projects using the prescriptive compliance option at Sec.
25-32A.23, available for landscape areas of 2,500 square feet or less, turf is capped at 25 percent of the landscape area in residential projects and barred entirely in nonresidential projects, barred again on steep slopes, and barred in parkway strips narrower than 10 feet unless irrigated by subsurface irrigation or another method producing no overspray or runoff. Community Development reviews these limits at plan check against the landscape documentation package, and Sec. 25-32A.11 requires a certificate of completion before the project is signed off. Ord. 1830, adopted November 17, 2015, put the current version of this division in place.
Violations & Fines
A landscape plan that exceeds the turf caps or installs prohibited natural turf without a conditional use permit can be rejected at plan check or held up at the certificate of completion stage. Sec. 25-32A.24 ties completed violations of the division to Chapter 1's general penalty: a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and six months in jail, or, at the city's election, an infraction billed under the Sec. 2-144 fine schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much lawn can I have at a house in Porterville?
Can a business install a grass lawn in Porterville?
Can I put grass in the parkway strip next to the street?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Porterville
California rules heatmap·Compare Porterville to another location·View the California water use rules overview
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