Pre-Approved Sustainable Landscape Templates

The City of Santa Barbara is seeking landscape architecture services to develop pre-approved sustainable landscape templates and plant palettes. This initiative aims to help property owners more easily, affordably, and quickly complete lawn replacement and landscape retrofit projects to comply with new statewide requirements under California AB 1572. This law prohibits the irrigation of nonfunctional turfgrass with potable water at commercial, institutional, and industrial properties, with most property owners needing to comply by January 1, 2028. The selected Landscape Architect will be responsible for developing a pre-approved list of plants and example palettes, which will be reviewed and approved by the Historic Landmarks Commission and the Architectural Board of Review (Design Review Boards). The scope of work includes the development of a Landscape Plan Template with standard details for relevant storm water BMPs and irrigation design, as well as design guidance for the end user. The City and Environmental Incentives (EI) will provide insights and example template documents from other jurisdictions in Orange County and San Diego to guide the development process.