Inglewood Municipal Code § 5-112 Water Efficiency in the Landscape

The purpose of this Section is the promotion of the value and benefits of landscapes while recognizing the need to invest water and other resources as efficiently as possible; the establishment of a structure for designing, installing and maintaining water-efficient landscapes in new projects; and the establishment of provisions for water management practices and water waste prevention for established landscapes.

(a) Provisions of this Section shall be applicable, except as provided in subsection b of this section, to:

(1) All new and rehabilitated landscaping for public agency projects and private development projects that require a permit; and

(2) Contractor or developer-installed landscaping in residential projects;

(3) New and rehabilitated projects subject to this Section shall conform to the provisions in Sections 5-111 through 5-118.

(b) This section shall not apply to:

(1) Homeowner-provided landscaping at single-family and multifamily projects of four or fewer units if the landscaping is in accordance with the water-efficient landscape design guidelines contained in the Site Plan Review procedures of Chapter 12 of the Inglewood Municipal Code;

(2) Any project with a landscaped area less than two thousand five hundred square feet only if developed or rehabilitated in accordance with the water-efficient landscape design guidelines in Chapter 12, Site Plan Review Procedures;

(3) Cemeteries;

(4) Registered historical sites;

(5) Ecological restoration projects that do not require a permanent irrigation system;

(6) Mined-land reclamation projects that do not require a permanent irrigation system;

(7) Public lands except to the extent feasible of incorporating water-efficient maintenance practices on a routine basis or a reclaimed water source is used as prescribed by Section 5-113;

(8) New subdivisions of up to ten units if a model home or a demonstration garden is established in compliance with the adopted design guidelines of Chapter 12, Site Plan Review Procedures;

(9) Planted areas of up to five thousand square feet where site design and conditions permit a separate water meter to be installed and the planted areas are designed, installed and maintained in accordance with the design guidelines of Chapter 12, Site Plan Review Procedures;

(10) Exemptions granted by the Director authorized to issue the required permit to any of the design and improvement standards of this Chapter. Such exemptions may be granted if the Director finds that the proposed design or improvement is in substantial compliance with the purpose and intent of this Chapter.

(Ord. 91-6 3-5-91; Ord. 93-20 7-20-93)

(a) Definitions.

"Compost"

has the same meaning as in 14 CCR Section 17896.2(a)(4), which stated, as of the effective date of the ordinance codified herein, that "compost" means the product resulting from the controlled biological decomposition of organic solid wastes that are source separated from the municipal solid waste stream, or which are separated at a centralized facility.

(b) Property owners or their building or landscape designers, including anyone requiring a building or planning permit, plan check, or landscape design review from the City, who are constructing a new (residential, public, institutional, or commercial) project with a landscape area greater than five hundred square feet, or rehabilitating an existing landscape with a total landscape area greater than two thousand five hundred square feet, shall comply with 23 CCR, Division 2, Chapter 2.7, Sections 492.6(a)(3)(B), (C), (D), and (G) of the Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO), including sections related to use of compost and mulch as delineated in this Section.

(c) The following compost and mulch use requirements that are part of the MWELO are now also included as requirements of this Section. Other requirements of the MWELO are in effect and can be found in 23 CCR, Division 2, Chapter 2.7.

(d) Property owners or their building or landscape designers that meet the threshold for MWELO compliance outlined in subsection (b) above shall:

(1) Comply with 23 CCR, Division 2, Chapter 2.7, Sections 492.6(a)(3)(B), (C), (D) and (G) of the MWELO, which requires the submittal of a landscape design plan with a soil preparation, mulch, and amendments section to include the following:

(A) For landscape installations, compost at a rate of a minimum of four cubic yards per one thousand square feet of permeable area shall be incorporated to a depth of six inches into the soil. Soils with greater than six percent organic matter in the top six inches of soil are exempt from adding compost and tilling.

(B) For landscape installations, a minimum three-inch layer of mulch shall be applied on all exposed soil surfaces of planting areas except in turf areas, creeping or rooting groundcovers, or direct seeding applications where mulch is contraindicated. To provide habitat for beneficial insects and other wildlife up to five percent of the landscape area may be left without mulch. Designated insect habitat must be included in the landscape design plan as such.

(C) Organic mulch materials made from recycled or post-consumer materials shall take precedence over inorganic materials or virgin forest products unless the recycled post-consumer organic products are not locally available. Organic mulches are not required where prohibited by local fuel modification plan guidelines or other applicable local ordinances.

(e) The MWELO compliance items listed in this Section are not an inclusive list of MWELO requirements; therefore, property owners or their building or landscape designers that meet the threshold for MWELO compliance outlined herein shall consult the full MWELO for all requirements.

(f) If, after the adoption of the ordinance codified in this Section, the California Department of Water Resources, or its successor agency, amends 23 CCR, Division 2, Chapter 2.7, Sections 492.6(a)(3)(B), (C), (D), and (G) of the MWELO September 15, 2015 requirements in a manner that requires the City to incorporate the requirements of an updated MWELO in a local ordinance, and the amended requirements include provisions more stringent than those required in this Section, the revised requirements of 23 CCR, Division 2, Chapter 2.7 shall be enforced.

(Ord. 22-07 4-5-22)