IA SF498

Counties and cities are prohibited from adopting or enforcing ordinances that establish landscape design standards, including specific products, materials, or aesthetic methods, for commercial or multifamily residential zones

Local governments may still regulate landscaping to create buffers between commercial/multifamily zones and other differently-zoned areas

Exceptions allow local regulation of landscaping for compliance with Iowa Code chapter 317, public safety concerns (such as obstructing motorists' views), and topsoil conservation/storm water runoff requirements

Private parties retain the right to establish landscape design standards through private covenants, restrictive covenants, or other contractual agreements among commercial property owners

"Landscape design" is defined broadly to include land arrangement, roadway alignment, building locations, parking areas, grading, drainage, and planting, but excludes building/facility design, public infrastructure, and land surveys