Utah City Officials Discuss Residential Landscape Requirements

City officials in Orem, Utah, have been looking at changing its residential and commercial landscaping requirements for most of the year, but continued the City Council discussion after a first-draft review Tuesday.

The case of an elderly woman who was arrested in a dispute with Orem over her brown lawn in July 2007 put the city's landscaping requirements under the spotlight. Orem's ordinance requires homes to have 70 percent of their front yards landscaped, not including driveways or parking areas, Jason Bench, a planner with Development Services, said earlier this year. He said at the time that whatever changes are made to the landscaping ordinance would not allow yards with no vegetation, meaning Betty Perry's brown lawn would still not be acceptable under city code.

Stan Sainsbury, development services director, said the ordinance is being reworked in order to make it possible to have a more water-wise yard in Utah's desert environment. One proposal allows up to 30 percent of landscaping to be in materials such as rocks, bark, mulch, boulders, benches, fountains and so forth, as an alternative to grass.

"What we don't want to see is someone filling their whole yard with concrete," Sainsbury said. That loophole does exist in the ordinance now, he said.

During discussion Tuesday in a meeting to review the agenda for the City Council meeting, Sainsbury said the 30-percent figure is "not a magic number," but a starting point from which the council can work.

Mayor Jerry Washburn brought up the issue of whether the city would be trying to outlaw having large recreational vehicle pads by limiting the amount of concrete areas permitted in a yard. Proposed figures were 50 percent for a driveway leading to a two-car garage; 55 percent for a three-car garage; 60 percent for a four-car garage; and 30 percent for a corner lot where front and side yards are combined.

Sainsbury acknowledged that RV pads, as well as circular driveways such as those installed by the city on properties impacted by a stree widening a few years ago, may not have been factored in as city staff researched the issue.

Orem resident Tim Hakala said he has been "very much pro-lawn" in the past, but having lived in Arizona, has learned the realities of living in a desert. He noted that there are also issues with sensitivities to chemicals and fertilizers used on lawns.

"If a homeowner is willing to invest in his yard, we should tend to let [him] make the right decisions," Hakala said, adding that home improvement efforts should be encouraged, rather than discouraged. He said his first reaction was to "bristle" at the 55 percent figure, and to wonder who would measure or enforce the matter.

Councilman Carl Hernandez suggested the city might want to consult with home builders and real estate agents for their perspectives on the landscaping issues. Councilwoman Karen McCandless said the Utah State University Extension Service and master gardener groups might also be able to give valuable input.

"I think it's a work in progress," said Councilman Mark Seastrand of the proposed changes. "Advancement to be more flexible, but more reasonable, is a good direction."