City Council

A. DISCUSSION REGARDING POTENTIAL PROHIBITION OR REGULATIONS\nFOR THE INSTALLATION AND USE OF ARTIFICIAL TURF OR SYNTHETIC\nGRASS ON CITY PARKWAYS\nCurrent State of California law encourages the use of drought tolerant\nlandscaping, including artificial turf or synthetic grass on residential properties.\nPursuant to the law, cities may adopt laws that provide standards for the type\nand installation of such materials, but may not adopt standards that would\neffectively preclude the use of such materials. State law is silent on the private\ninstallation of artificial turf on City property, such as a residential parkway.\nCurrently, the City of San Gabriel’s Landscape Code only addresses the use of\nartificial or synthetic turf on private property, but not within City owned\nparkways. At the May 16, 2023, City Council meeting, the Council requested that\nstaff return with information regarding a potential process to allow artificial turf\nor synthetic grass in the right of way. There is no known fiscal impact for this\nitem.\nCalifornia Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Determination: Not a Project as\ndefined in Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines.\nRecommended Action:\nStaff recommends that the City Council discuss the use of artificial turf on city-\nowned parkways, and direct staff to either prohibit the use of these materials\nor amend the standards to allow artificial turf on city-owned parkways. In either\ncase, staff will return with a formal Code amendment to implement City\nCouncil’s direction.