A few Colorado Springs City Council members expressed some skepticism Monday about a proposed rule that would limit the size of high water use lawns for newly constructed homes.
"I just have a hard time telling American citizens what and when and how they are able to do something on their own property," Councilman Randy Helms said.
The new rule would limit how much high water use turf grass, like Kentucky bluegrass, could be planted when a new home is built to 25% of the property that is open to landscaping and not covered by the home, sidewalk and driveway. The rule would also require high water use lawns be no less than 100 square feet in size, Planner Supervisor Morgan Hester said. No existing homes would be subject to the new rule.
For example, if a home had 1,000 square feet of ground available for landscaping, under the new rule 250 square feet of it could be planted with high water use grass, she said.
The goal of the rule is to help ensure the city can sustain its rapid growth with the water resources available. The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department issued 2,861 permits for single family homes in 2021, a presentation to city council on Monday showed. The city is also expecting many thousands of new homes to go in over the coming decades as the population grows from about 470,000 to 723,000 over the next 50 years, according to Colorado Springs Utilities projections.
"I want to make sure we have regulations that can support and sustain that growth," Director of Planning and Development Peter Wysocki told the council during the presentation. As someone who loves lush grass and trees himself, he said, it's a fine balance.
The discussion about lawns followed an announcement by the Bureau of Reclamation on Friday that Lake Powell's water level is expected to temporarily drop below 3,525 feet in elevation soon. The elevation is set to help protect electric generators at the lake. The lake's elevation reflects an abnormally dry winter season on the Colorado River basin, the bureau said. Colorado Springs relies on water from the basin for some of its water supplies.
The rule would allow new homeowners to plant other native grasses that could cover more area in their yards, such as buffalo grass, blue grama grass and shady fescue, Hester said.
Councilman Dave Donelson questioned whether those native grasses could provide the same playing spaces residents are accustomed to enjoying.
"You can go out and walk barefoot in your backyard in blue grass. I don’t know if that's the same with these low water use grasses," he said.
Councilwoman Nancy Henjum and Councilman Wayne Williams both seemed open to the new rules, although Williams was interested in greater detail about how the rules would be enforced if someone made additions to their home that changed the amount of land available for landscaping.
If the city doesn't take some steps around regulating landscaping and water use and the community experienced an extended drought, drastic steps might be necessary, Williams said.
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