Sunnyvale, CA Water Use Rules: Turf Replacement Rebates (2026)

020, sets the thresholds: new landscaping of 500 square feet or more for a new single- or two-family dwelling, or for any other use, must meet all chapter requirements, while smaller new installations under 500 square feet answer only to the minimum-landscaped-area rule. Rehabilitation projects between 1,000 and 2,500 square feet must comply fully except for the irrigation audit; rehab projects above 2,500 square feet owe the full audit too. 050, Option 1 bars turf and high water-use plants outright and requires at least 80 percent of installed plants to be native, low water-use or no-water-use species.

45 landscaped-area split for residential projects, reversed for nonresidential. 45 for nonresidential sites. 060 layers on planting rules: a minimum three-inch mulch layer on exposed soil, compost worked in at four cubic yards per 1,000 square feet, and any permitted turf limited to tall fescue or similar low-water varieties, banned on slopes over 10 percent next to hardscape. 130 requires a third-party certified irrigation audit and report submitted before the building official approves occupancy, plus a maintenance schedule filed before final inspection. Existing single-family or two-family landscaping not tied to new construction is exempt, as are registered historic sites, ecological restoration projects and community gardens.