This Section provides regulations for the removal or harvesting of specified desert native plants in order to preserve and protect the plants and to provide for the conservation and wise use of desert resources. The provisions are intended to augment and coordinate with the Desert Native Plants Act (Food and Agricultural Code §§ 80001 et seq.) and the efforts of the State Department of Food and Agriculture to implement and enforce the Act.
(a) Definitions. Terms and phrases used within this Section shall be defined in Division 10 (Definitions) and/or defined by the California Food and Agricultural Code. The California Food and Agricultural Code definition, if one exists, shall prevail over a conflicting definition in this Development Code.
(b) Applicability. The provisions of this Section shall apply to desert native plants specified in Subdivision (c) (Regulated Desert Native Plants) that are growing on any of the following lands, unless exempt in compliance with § 88.01.030 (Exempt Activities):
(1) Privately owned or publicly owned land in the Desert Region.
(2) Privately owned or publicly owned land in any parts of the Mountain Region in which desert native plants naturally grow in a transitional habitat.
(c) Regulated Desert Native Plants. The following desert native plants or any part of them, except the fruit, shall not be removed except under a Tree or Plant Removal Permit in compliance with § 88.01.050 (Tree or Plant Removal Permits). In all cases the botanical names shall govern the interpretation of this Section.
(1) The following desert native plants with stems two inches or greater in diameter or six feet or greater in height:
(A) Dalea spinosa (smoketree).
(B) All species of the genus Prosopis (mesquites).
(2) All species of the family Agavaceae (century plants, nolinas, yuccas).
(3) Creosote Rings, ten feet or greater in diameter.
(4) All Joshua trees.
(5) Any part of any of the following species, whether living or dead:
(A) Olneya tesota (desert ironwood).
(B) All species of the genus Prosopis (mesquites).
(C) All species of the genus Cercidium (palos verdes).
(d) Compliance with Desert Native Plants Act. Removal actions of all plants protected or regulated by the Desert Native Plants Act (Food and Agricultural Code §§ 80001 et seq.) shall comply with the provisions of the Act before the issuance of a development permit or approval of a land use application.
(Ord. 4011, passed - -2007)