Updating Artificial Lawn Code Regulations in San Jose, California

If you are a resident of San Jose, California, you’ll want to check with the city before installing a synthetic grass lawn at your home or business. That’s the opinion of San Jose Mercury News columnist Dennis Rothrock after talking to city officials. Rothrock recently wrote that depending on the type of fake grass installation you have, you might be in violation of city ordinances.

Rothrock had originally written that it was illegal to have an artificial grass lawn in San Jose, leading residents to ask him to provide the specific law that prohibits such installations. After speaking with the San Jose code enforcement officer Jamie Matthews, Rothrock clarified that while fake grass is not specifically banned by city codes, the code enforcement office does consider it to be illegal if it is “attached to a paved impervious surface such as concrete.”

Individual town ordinances or homeowners’ association regulations about artificial grass lawns are often nebulous. This is one reason why it’s best to leave installation to experts who know how to put synthetic lawns in place in ways that are legal and the most efficient.