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Should smaller lawns and drought-tolerant plants be required?

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Tuesday, February 9. 2010
Comments (31)
In an effort to ease the strains of drought, encourage lush landscapes and enhance photosynthetic landscapes, some west coast communities are taking aim at a beloved fixture of suburban domesticity: the lawn.

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#1 Andy on 02/09/10 at 07:26 AM
I believe the 'Grass Police' in other cities already have too much power. There is already too much government control over what I can do on MY land that I bought and paid for. We already have ordinances regarding yards and property that aren't enforced. Why not work on those.
Besides, there is already a shortage of 'enforcement' personnel in agencies that need to be there ie: public safety.
#2 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 07:37 AM
Wow there is no way they could try to enforce something like this is there? This is a scary thought to think that they will begin monitoring how you landscape your own property, to this type of extreme.
#3 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 08:02 AM
Boy this sure is a timely article. You can walk around my yard and drown. The ponds are full and the water table is up to where it should be.
#4 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 08:27 AM
Wow I'm a Democrat and I disagree with that. The government should stay out of my house and my yard. now more drought resistant grass would be nice if you could afford it. Any of the nice grass is just way to expensive.
#4.1 tterry on 02/09/10 at 10:25 AM
You being a democrat I am shocked you think gov. should stay out of this one because,you want to keep people in power that think they are in charge of every portion of your life.
#4.1.1 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 11:13 AM
You're slow if you think this person is a Democrat.
If it were true, they would not start off their sentence with "Wow I'm a Democrat and I disagree with that."... as if democrats believe in over-regulation (exept when it comes to lawn care). It is merely a talking point of the republican attack machine...tax and spend.. blah blah blah
#4.1.1.1 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 09:33 PM
Your right they should have said, I'm a republican and my neighbors grass offends me so I'm going to run over there and kill it. And when my neighbor asked why I did that I'm going to tell him because the grass was an immediate treat to my way of live and it was not the same shade as most of the grass in the neighborhood so it was now in hell where it belonged. Then preach about how good his grass was and turn around and steal his neighbors wallet.
#5 Enoc Siuol on 02/09/10 at 09:09 AM
You spend your leisure time to till it, level it, irate it, plant it, fertilize it, water it, water it, water it, cut it, water it, cut it, rake it, de-weed it, pre-emergent it, over and over again. Then consider the cost. The kids play inside with video games. What insanity.
#6 Go away on 02/09/10 at 09:24 AM
I think the government already has their nose in our business enough already, to tell folks what and how much of something they can have on their property like this is absurd.

Besides, bad timing, kind of irrelevant to be whining about conserving water while we are being flooded and stuck in the mud for the past several months.
#7 Anon on 02/09/10 at 10:04 AM
I agree that people should take steps to conserve water, especially when there is a drought. Responsible citizens should realize the need to cut back in areas, or at least follow the watering schedule when it is appropriate. But I completely disagree with the enforcement of restrictions on how large a lawn I can create on my personal property. I believe the real issue at stake is property rights, and the government already has too much control, they should not be granted any new powers on our property rights. If the city were to place restrictions and force me to cover my yard with a certain percentage of non-lawn landscaping they would have to pay to landscape my yard and every other property owner which would probably amount to at least $5-10,000 per lawn. And I would sell my property as soon as possible with my brand-new landscaping and move where I can use my land how I want to.
#8 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 10:21 AM
People should be able to do what they want with their property, assuming it does not affect others. But the water supply is not part of personal property. When someone is taking more community water than their neighbors to water their lawn and there is a drought, something must be done. The government should NOT have to enforce what common sense should dictate. However, due to lack of common sense and consideration of others..so be it. But there has to be a better way than this. I dont care how big the lawn is, as long as the grass is dead during a drought.
#9 Enoc Siuol on 02/09/10 at 11:49 AM
Yes, your land is yours until you assume room temperature and then someone else has to come behind and clean up the possible mess left behind by those arrogant retards who think they have the right to turn the land in to a huge toxic junk pile. You don’t own your land but become stewards of the land, you just pay taxes on. It is kind a crazy when you think you can actually “own” land.
#10 anon on 02/09/10 at 12:29 PM
Why not!?! The gov't already dictates how much water I can use per flush of my toilet - which is right where our country is headed!!!
#10.1 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 03:16 PM
Lol....YOU don’t decide how much water to flush. The company that built your inefficient toilet decided the amount. The government did the right thing by reducing the amount of water wasted per flush. The companies who build the toilets don’t really care...they have no conscience.
And that logic can be found in many other areas where some regulation is needed. Don’t always believe the “government regulation is always bad” hype. I am astounded that people can complain about anything..do you have a problem with a lower water bill? Do you think that government regulation in food and medicine is also a bad idea or do you think e. coli is good?
Our country is going down the drain because of Faux News and their misinformation propaganda machine.
#10.1.1 anon on 02/09/10 at 05:33 PM
A little e. coli helps build the immune system :)

Actually, I do agree that the lower water usage fixtures are good but that wouldn't make a very good blog post to agree with the gov't :) :) :)
#10.1.2 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 10:50 PM
Who are you to say what I should and shouldn't have a problem with. If I want to and can afford to water my grass everyday then it is my right as an American and land owner or renter to do that. If there is drought then yes common sense dictates that I not waste water, but no drought then why not? Why not prepare for the dry season by having rain barrels and then use that water for lawn and garden care.
#11 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 01:11 PM
Sensible solutions tend to scare the uninformed and just minorly incovenience the privileged. The proposal described is focused primarily upon new home construction, and represents practices that a lot of west coast and southwestern communities have already voluntarily begun (because their water supply problems make Atlanta's seem little more than a drippy faucet).

Too many people let fear and greed rule over what passes for them as "thinking."

I remember at the peak of the last drought, the AJC ran an article about the wealthy in Buckhead and similar areas of Atlanta paying tens of thousands of dollars to drill into the deep water table, beyond the state's water restrictions, to water the landscapes they had already spent tens of thousands of dollars on.
#12 Rankin Fyle on 02/09/10 at 03:17 PM
Do you want water to drink or to use on the grass? There are ten million people now in this state. Don't you understand how water demands have changed and will contnue to increase?
#13 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 03:29 PM
i will plow my yard and cut all the trees down before I let somebody tell me how to landscape my property
#14 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 03:48 PM
no liberal idiot is going to tell me what to plant on my property that i pay taxes on. its time these idiots learn they cant force people to do whatever they want. if they want a war i know how they can get one. come on my property and try to force me to do what they want. the only planting will be my foot in their behind.

#12, you dont own the water. until you do then you can tell me what to do with it. otherwise put a cork in it.

government has nothing to do but pass stupid laws? they need to worry about the mess they already made and get their minds off making another one. the only thing they are going to accomplish is a war against our own. those that need the government to think for them and those of us who dont.
#15 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 06:47 PM
Hey Enoc Siuol, so you don't mind if the gov't tells you what kind of yard to have?

Communism is coming in loud and clear!!
#15.1 Enoc Siuol on 02/10/10 at 04:26 AM
Government is already telling you what type of yard you can have by setting in watering restrictions during drought. What I am saying is, we as an individual live on this planet for 80 years or so. This planet has been here for 4.5 billion years. We seem to think because we pay money to live on a piece of land we have the right to do any darn thing we want to it. I say BULLSH!#.
This is the same idiotic thinking corporations have when they destroy the environment beyond repair. This earth does not belong
to us. We just have the privilege to live here for as long as the human race exist. This self absorbed, self righteous thinking is what has turned this world into our own massive garbage dump.
#16 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 06:51 PM
the only idiot here is you.. conservatives passed homeland security..there is your government interference.
#16.1 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 07:33 PM
and what are you besides just another finger pointing, lame brain, liberal idiot? lots of us real americans are getting about fed up with yall.
#16.1.1 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 09:39 PM
A real american would realize and respect my right to say anything I want. What's going to happen when you get fed up with what I say you going to attack me, throw me in jail. Thats right the constitution only counts for people who think just like the puppet you are.
#16.1.2 Anonymous on 02/09/10 at 10:39 PM
good thing your in the minority.
#16.2 Anonymous on 02/10/10 at 06:23 AM
What has Homeland Security have to do with watering lawn and gardens on the west coast? It is that type of ignorance that people try to pass off as educated and informed. People like you should stay with just reading and keep your fingers OFF the keypad.
#17 Watching as America Spins out of Control on 02/09/10 at 06:59 PM
Yep and who put all these idiots in office?
#18 Enoc Siuol on 02/10/10 at 04:41 AM
Clearly, we live in a culture where we live mostly lives of privilege, and think of most of our privileges as rights.
#19 cats on 02/10/10 at 06:53 AM
In drier climates, xeriscaping just makes dollars and sense, but the question here is, should gov't tell us that we can only have a certain size lawn?
Whatever you already own now will not be affected. If you are buying a new home, this may....MAY... become an issue someday.
Colorado is a dry state. Our property size there was affected because of the cost of land. But I can see that lot size there could be impacted because of the water situation.
#20 Mark on 02/10/10 at 11:53 AM
What all of you fail to realize,is one day water will be more precious than oil. All of you that continue to lay down toxic fertilizers, not only hurts you and your family (ever heard of cancer?), it hurts everyone down stream. The same goes for irrigation. 99% of people don't have a clue that they are wasting precious water, using up natural resources to treat the wasted water, and pump it back to them, only to have them waste it again. What's it going to be, get your egos' out of the way and for once, consider conservation. Quit putting celebrities on such a huge pedestal, focus on more important issues such as water conservation and your own pollution and start doing something positive to help correct these serious situations. After all, we're dealing with humans, which from the above remarks, is a scary situation.
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