What is NAOS revegetation and how much of my open space can I revegetate in Scottsdale?

You cannot simply replant your protected open space with whatever you like in Scottsdale. NAOS revegetation is the specific, city-controlled process of replanting a disturbed piece of your lot with native desert plants so it can count again as Natural Area Open Space (NAOS), the protected desert the city requires you to preserve. Under Scottsdale's Environmentally Sensitive Lands (ESL) ordinance, revegetated areas can make up no more than 30 percent of your required NAOS, and the planting has to follow a city-approved program using plant species and density that match the surrounding natural desert. The rest of your NAOS has to stay as undisturbed, original desert. This surprises owners who assume the protected part of their lot is theirs to garden. It is not. It is held to a preservation standard the city enforces.

Below is what NAOS revegetation actually is, the 30 percent cap and how it works, the planting-program rules, a special break for land that was already scarred, and how to plan around all of it.

What NAOS revegetation means

NAOS revegetation is the city-approved process of restoring a disturbed area back to native desert so it can serve as protected open space again. First, know what NAOS is. Scottsdale's ESL ordinance requires a share of every property in the overlay to be permanently preserved as natural area open space. That share is recorded against the lot so it stays wild. The ordinance covers about 134 square miles of the city's desert and mountain land. It protects features like vegetation, washes, and ridgelines from development.

Most NAOS is simply undisturbed desert that you leave alone. Revegetation is the exception. It lets a disturbed area, say a spot that got graded or cleared, be replanted and then credited as NAOS. The key word is "credited." A revegetated area only counts as open space if it is done to the city's standard, not as ordinary landscaping. That is why the rules below exist: the city wants restored desert to actually function like desert, not like a yard with a few cactuses.

For how NAOS sits alongside your buildable area, see what is a building envelope or NAOS easement on an Arizona custom lot, and for the wider review process, see Scottsdale ESL ordinance and design review explained.

The 30 percent cap, and why it exists

Revegetated land can count for no more than 30 percent of your required NAOS, so at least 70 percent of your protected open space has to be original, undisturbed desert. The ESL ordinance is direct on this point. The code states that revegetated areas "shall qualify as NAOS, but shall not constitute more than thirty (30) percent of the required NAOS," and that the provision "cannot be used to increase the maximum percentage of revegetated NAOS above thirty (30) percent."

This cap is the single most important number for an owner who wants flexibility with their open space. It means you cannot strip a lot, build, and then "make it up" by replanting the cleared ground as NAOS. The math limits you. If your lot must preserve, say, 10,000 square feet of NAOS, only about 3,000 of that can be revegetated; the other 7,000 has to be desert you never touched.

The reason is conservation. Original Sonoran Desert holds mature saguaros, established palo verde and ironwood, undisturbed soil, and wildlife habitat. A freshly planted area cannot match that for decades. Capping revegetation at 30 percent keeps most preserved land as the real thing. How much NAOS your lot needs in the first place depends on slope. The share climbs with steeper, higher-desert terrain. See the percentages in what is a building envelope or NAOS easement.

What a city-approved planting program requires

To have a revegetated area count as NAOS, you have to submit a planting program that the city approves, and it must match the surrounding desert in species and density. This is not a suggestion to "use some native plants." The ordinance sets real content for the plan. Per the code, planting programs "may include transplanted and seeded methods of application and shall include a list of proposed plant species and quantities," and they "shall be consistent with the slope aspect of the surrounding natural vegetation, and shall be consistent with the species and density of surrounding vegetation and adjacent natural desert."

In plain terms, the plan has to:

• List the exact plant species and quantities you will install, not a generic "desert mix."
• Match the surrounding desert, both the kinds of plants and how densely they grow, so the restored area blends with the natural land next to it.
• Match the slope aspect, meaning plants suited to that face of the slope and its sun and drainage.
• Use approved methods, which can include transplanting salvaged plants and seeding.

A smart move in Scottsdale is plant salvage: before grading, a crew tags and boxes mature native plants like saguaros, barrel cactus, and ocotillo, then replants them in the revegetated NAOS. That preserves established specimens, helps the area read as natural faster, and supports the planting program the city wants to see.

The 2:1 break for already-scarred land

Scottsdale gives a partial credit for revegetating land that was damaged long ago, but it costs you two square feet of work for every one you get back. The ordinance addresses lots that were already torn up before the rules took hold. On land "stripped of natural vegetation or scarred prior to January 1, 1990," the NAOS requirement for the parcel is reduced by two square feet for every one square foot of revegetated NAOS, a 2:1 ratio.

This matters mostly for older, previously disturbed parcels, not raw desert. Say your lot has an old graded pad, an abandoned road cut, or a cleared area from before 1990. Restoring it can shrink the NAOS the lot must carry, but at a 2-to-1 rate. You revegetate 2,000 square feet of old scar, and your required NAOS drops by 1,000. It is a real tool on the right lot. It does nothing on land that was never disturbed. A surveyor and the city's ESL staff can tell you if your parcel qualifies, based on its documented condition before that 1990 date.

How to plan your build around NAOS revegetation

Plan your home, grading, and landscaping so that you respect the NAOS first and treat revegetation as a limited tool, not a workaround. Owners run into trouble when they assume they can replant their open space freely, or build into it and restore it later. The 30 percent cap and the undisturbed-desert standard close that door. Plan from the protected area inward.

A practical approach:

• Pull your recorded NAOS area and the ESL requirement for the parcel before design, so you know how much desert is locked and where.
• Treat the NAOS as off-limits to grading and ordinary landscaping. It is not yard space.
• Salvage plants before you disturb anything. Boxed natives feed the planting program and the rest of the lot's planting.
• Keep revegetation to its real role, restoring a limited disturbed area to native desert under an approved plan, capped at 30 percent of required NAOS.
• Submit the planting program with species, quantities, and density that the city can approve in one pass.

One caution on money. A NAOS plan can come with a financial-assurance or guarantee requirement from the city, to make sure the revegetation actually takes. The specific instrument and any dollar amount vary and are set by the city at approval, so do not assume a figure. Confirm the current revegetation cap, the planting-program requirements, and any assurance obligation with Scottsdale Planning and Development Services before you finalize your site plan. ESL provisions are updated over time. A builder who works inside the ESL overlay, like Jematell Homes, designs the home to fit the buildable area and reads the NAOS rules at the start. That way the open space is protected by design, not fixed after a failed review.

The Jematell Homes approach

We run the land due diligence before you commit to a lot. If you are planning a custom home in Scottsdale, Rio Verde, or the greater Phoenix metro, we are happy to walk through your project.

Sources

• City of Scottsdale Code of Ordinances Sec. 6.1060 Open Space Requirements (Municode)
• City of Scottsdale: Guide to Natural Area Open Space (NAOS)
• City of Scottsdale: Environmentally Sensitive Lands Overlay (ESL)