Boulder City Council on Thursday asked staff to revise proposed changes to the city’s landscaping code, its first major update in more than two decades, aimed at conserving water and improving wildfire resilience. Council will revisit the proposal on Dec. 18.
Read: Boulder may ban daytime lawn watering citywide in first major landscaping overhaul in 20 years
The new rules would ban lawn watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., when most irrigation water evaporates, with several exceptions. The ordinance also limits decorative or “non-functional” turf in new developments — the narrow strips of grass along sidewalks or in parking lots — while keeping it in places where people actually use it, like parks, sports fields and dog runs. It promotes drought-tolerant, fire-resistant plants such as sulphur buckwheat, western yarrow and blue flax, and restricts high-water species like Kentucky bluegrass in most new projects.
Council requested several revisions, including removing a three-foot height limit on urban agriculture, preserving tree cover requirements for remodels, eliminating landscape architect requirements and allowing more flexibility in rock mulch use, among others. Some councilmembers said the draft rules felt overly restrictive.
“I am very much in favor of wildfire hardening, but not everything that we do is going to be that much of a material difference in our ability to fight wildfires,” said Councilmember Mark Wallach, arguing that residents should have more control over their landscapes. “I don’t think five-foot tomato plants are going to be in the category of significance.”
Councilmember Matt Benjamin, who said his tomato plants reach seven feet tall this year, also opposed the height limit on urban agriculture. He supported eliminating daytime watering, citing lower water use at home when watering at night. It was “proof of cause that that’s the right direction to go for our community,” he said.
In a separate move, council approved the first reading of an ordinance to opt out of a new state requirement allowing graywater reuse, systems that treat lightly used water for flushing toilets or underground irrigation. Boulder currently bans graywater systems but could allow them in the future. A second reading is scheduled for Nov. 6.
I can’t believe Boulder has such an archaic restrictive graywater policy. So yesterday.
agree! it’s ridiculous! when water is so precious! one has to wonder who is really behind the anti-graywater move.
City is one of the biggest offenders, wasting water with daytime watering.
I am strongly in favor of hardening for wildfire and wise water use, and am very glad Council told staff to eliminate some of the restrictions in the proposed Landscape Ordinance, which were ridiculous. Regulating the height of garden plants and requiring only one size of gravel would have no effect whatsoever on mitigating fire, while justifiably irritating every homeowner, all of whom have paid for the hundreds of hours of staff time that went into this document. We hear of a budget crunch; maybe that will help the city focus on the big simple things that are proven to work, and not waste time and money on over-regulation which raretly is effective.