Title
REF210007/WATER AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN LANDSCAPING ORDINANCE
a. Introduce, waive reading, and consider an ordinance to add Chapter 16.63 to the Monterey County Code to establish regulations for water-efficient and energy-efficient landscaping in unincorporated Monterey County; and
b. Set December 7, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. as the date and time to adopt the ordinance
Location: County-wide
Proposed CEQA Action: Consider categorical exemption pursuant to Section 15307 and 15308 of the CEQA Guidelines.
Report
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Introduce, waive reading, and consider an ordinance to add Chapter 16.63 to the Monterey County Code to establish regulations for water-efficient and energy-efficient landscaping in unincorporated Monterey County; and
b. Set December 7, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. as the date and time to adopt the ordinance.
SUMMARY
State law requires the County to implement the state's Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO), or alternatively, the County may adopt and implement a water efficient landscape ordinance if the Board of Supervisors finds, based on evidence in the record, that it is at least as effective at conserving water as the state's MWELO. Absent a local landscape ordinance, the County has been implementing the MWELO. If the Board chooses to advance the landscape ordinance for adoption, that adoption would be scheduled on the consent calendar for the Board meeting on December 7, 2021.
DISCUSSION
Application of a local water efficient landscape ordinance in lieu of the MWELO requires a local agency must find, based on evidence in the record, that the local ordinance is "at least as effective in conserving water" as the MWELO (Government Code section 65595(c)(1)). The attached ordinance includes these findings. The reasons this ordinance is at least as effective in conserving water as the updated MWELO include the following: the elements of the MWELO identified in Section 65596 of the G...
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