El Paso City Code tit. 18, ch. 18.46, art. I — General Provisions | El Paso City Code (Supp. No. 95, Update 4: codified through Ordinance No. 019889, enacted June 23, 2026) — City of El Paso

El Paso City Code § 18.46.010 Title.

18.46.010 - Title. This chapter shall be known as the landscape ordinance for the City of El Paso, Texas. (Ord. No. 019874, § 1, 5-12-2026)

El Paso City Code § 18.46.020 Purpose.

18.46.020 - Purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to set forth the minimum requirements for the landscape of commercial, new residential subdivisions, and local government property development within the corporate limits of the city. These regulations prescribe design standards that create aesthetic value, improve water conservation and air quality, reduce heat-island effect, provide pedestrian shade and encourage a plant palette that is distinctive, appropriate, and authentic to El Paso. (Ord. No. 019874, § 1, 5-12-2026)

El Paso City Code § 18.46.030 Interpretation.

18.46.030 - Interpretation. The provisions of this chapter shall control all other landscape requirements in any other ordinance in the El Paso City Code, except Chapter 15.13 (Water Conservation) and Title 21 (Smart Code) of this Code. When there is a conflict between the requirements of this chapter and any condition or agreements imposed on the property by separate ordinance, the more stringent requirement shall apply. (Ord. No. 019874, § 1, 5-12-2026)

El Paso City Code § 18.46.040 Application.

18.46.040 - Application. A. This chapter shall apply to commercial, new residential subdivision development described under Title 20 (Zoning), within the incorporated area of the City of El Paso, Texas. Application includes any project that meets the commercial building code standard for new construction and the addition to any structure or parking surface for which a commercial building permit is required. For all development to which this chapter applies, the interior parcel as well as the parkway and sidewalk are subject to requirements for landscape and irrigation. B. New residential subdivision development shall comply with the street tree requirements under Article II, Section 18.46.70.D.3 of this chapter. C. Exemptions. 1. Projects on land owned by the federal or State of Texas governments. 2. Any change of use in either zoning or occupancy classification without new construction, in an existing development. 3. The addition or expansion to an existing building or existing site with a footprint area of less than three thousand square feet or if the existing landscape within the development would satisfy the requirements of this chapter if the entire development were treated as a new project under this chapter. 4. Temporary placements not exceeding time period as prescribed in Title 20. For school sites, temporary placement of building not exceeding time period as prescribed in Title 18. 5. Playing fields or courts used for sporting activities. (Ord. No. 019874, § 1, 5-12-2026)

El Paso City Code § 18.46.050 Definitions.

18.46.050 - Definitions. The following terms as used in this chapter shall be defined as follows: "Approved plant list" means the combined lists of plants and shrubs contained in the City of El Paso Plant List on file with the building official. "Caliper" means the measurement of the thickness of a tree; the minimum diameter of a tree as measured six inches above the grade for trees under four inches in diameter and twelve inches above grade for trees four inches in diameter and larger. For multiple trunk trees, the diameter shall be based on the caliper of the largest trunk plus half the caliper of the next two largest trunks. "Canopy tree" or "shade tree" means any tree that has a minimum canopy width of twenty feet at maturity. "Deciduous" means a plant that sheds its foliage annually. "Evergreen" means a tree or shrub having foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. "Frontage" means the property line where a parcel of land, lot, or site abuts a public right-of-way that is not an alley. "Frontage landscape buffer area" means the area from the public right-of-way line into the property, along the frontage street. "Gross building area" means the total enclosed area of a building, taken from exterior dimensions, including covered patios, detached or attached pedestrian shade producing site amenities and walkways that provide pedestrian shade, but excluding architectural attachments such as window awnings, fire escapes, overhangs, or fabric shades. "Ground cover, inorganic" means material such as mulches and/or gravel used as ground covering and placed to prevent erosion, lower soil temperature and maintain soil moisture levels. "Ground cover, vegetative" means perennial plant material that will not exceed eighteen inches in height at maturity, installed in such a manner as to provide continuous aesthetic cover of the ground surface and placed to prevent erosion, lower soil temperature and maintain soil moisture levels. "Hardscape" means rock or stone, concrete, asphalt, brick, or similar solid material, distinct from inorganic ground cover in that it is material that can provide a smooth and stable surface. "Impermeable surfaces" means any surface such as roofing, solid surface plastic materials, solid surface oil impregnated materials, concrete, asphalt, etc. through which water will not readily penetrate. "Landscape area" means that area of the lot that is required by this chapter to be landscaped, to include the frontage landscape buffer used to meet the landscape requirements specified in this chapter. It does not include the parkway or the parking lot trees. "Low impact development (LID)", means small scale and site-integrated storm water management strategies that imitate predevelopment hydrology. LID practices include bioretention, engineered soil, swales, vegetated filter strips, storm water planters, and rainwater harvesting. "New development", as it pertains to this title, means development that meets the commercial building code standard for new construction and the addition to any building, structure, or parking surface for which a building permit is required. "Palm" means a long-lived plant of the family Palmae having a minimum eight feet unbranched clear trunk crowned by large pinnate or palmate leaves. "Parcel" means a lot or property envelope defined by property lines. For the purposes of this chapter the parcel includes the frontage buffer and the parking lot. Parkways and sidewalks are not within the parcel but rather in the city right-of-way. "Parking lot" means any paved or unpaved area, not including a street or alley right-of-way, containing one or more parking spaces for motor vehicles and intended as an accommodation for patrons, customers, and employees. "Parking spaces" means those spaces for the parking of any vehicle. This excludes eighteen-wheel tractors and their trailers, and motor vehicle dealership inventory stock stalls. "Parkway" means the planted area of right-of-way between the property line and the roadway. "Permeable paving" consists of treatments that provide stormwater infiltration while serving as a structural surface. "Pond" means a depression in the soil intended to retain and/or detain both stormwater and all excess irrigation water. A pond area can be used to install required landscape. "Project area" refers to portions of the parcel as well as the parkway and sidewalk subject to landscape requirements by the provisions of this chapter. "Shrub" means a perennial plant, deciduous or evergreen, including cacti and succulents, generally multi stemmed and smaller growing than a tree. "Street oriented building" means a building placed on a lot such that its principal orientation is toward the street and is located within twenty feet from the property line to the face of the building. Street oriented buildings preclude parking in any space between the sidewalk and the building. "Tree, buffer" means a deciduous or evergreen canopy tree that is planted in the required buffer areas. Branching structure shall be maintained at a minimum height of seven feet above the sidewalk area ground, three feet from the trunk. "Tree, parking lot" means a deciduous canopy tree which is installed and located in the parking lot area. Branching structure that shall be maintained at a minimum height of seven feet above the drivable surface ground, three feet from the trunk. "Tree, project" means a deciduous or evergreen canopy tree which is installed in the required landscape area excluding street, buffer, and parking lot areas. If located near a walkable or drivable surface, branching structure shall be maintained at a minimum height of seven feet above the sidewalk area ground, three feet from the trunk. "Tree, street" means a deciduous canopy tree which is installed in the parkway area of the right-of-way. Branching structure that shall be maintained at a minimum height of seven feet above the drivable surface ground, three feet from the trunk. "Unit of plant material" means one thousand square feet of landscape area, with one project deciduous or evergreen tree having a minimum caliper size of two inches and a minimum height of ten feet and a minimum of thirty shrubs of five-gallon size, with a minimum height of eighteen inches. "Visibility triangle" means that area formed by intersecting property lines and a diagonal line joining the property lines at points twenty feet from their intersection. The purpose of a visibility triangle is to provide visual clearance and safety. It is the responsibility of the design professional who seals the permit documents to note the visibility triangle. (Ord. No. 019874, § 1, 5-12-2026)

El Paso City Code § 18.46.060 Plan submittal standards.

18.46.060 - Plan submittal standards. A. The landscape design work and documents shall comply with the Texas State Occupations Code, Section 1052.003, Practice of Landscape Architecture. The permit documents shall include the following information: 1. Construction documents for landscape and irrigation, drawn to a legible scale using current line type and notation conventions. 2. Coverage and parking calculations and required plant units, notation of exemptions and variances used. 3. Plant tags with reference to a legend that shows plant type, botanical name, common name, size, height, and quantity. 4. Site plan with location and dimensions of existing and proposed structures, pedestrian access routes, hardscape, inorganic ground cover types, site contouring and existing easements. 5. Noted and dimensioned locations and required clearances of all built and relevant features of the site such as visibility triangles, curb cuts, ingress and egress, utilities, signs, fire hydrants, and FDC connections. (Ord. No. 019874, § 1, 5-12-2026)