New businesses, apartment complexes and homeowners association common areas in Celina would no longer be allowed to water ornamental grass under a landscape code rewrite the City Council takes up Tuesday, Nov. 10.
The proposal replaces the landscaping and tree preservation section of the zoning ordinance with rules built around xeriscape, the practice of designing with low-water plants and decorative stone instead of irrigated turf. The Planning & Zoning Commission recommended it 5-0 in October, and staff recommends approval. The changes would apply only to new projects, as state law requires.
What changes
The draft sorts grass into two kinds. "Functional" turf is lawn people actually use: athletic fields, playgrounds, programmed recreation areas and some pet relief areas. Everything else is "non-functional" and, under the new rules, would have to follow xeriscape standards.
- Commercial and multifamily sites: irrigated turf grass would be eliminated and xeriscape required in all landscape areas. Unwatered grass could be allowed in back-of-house areas with staff sign-off, and temporary irrigation would be allowed only to get new grass established.
- HOA open space and parkways: non-functional areas, such as roadside parkways, would have to be xeriscaped. Functional lawns could still be irrigated.
- Landscape buffers: irrigated turf would be removed from the requirements here too, including HOA parkways.
- New homes: the current limit that keeps stone, gravel and other non-plant materials to 30% of a front yard would be dropped. Builders and owners could use irrigated grass, xeriscape or any mix in the front yard and corner side yard. The requirement that every new home's front yard have an automatic underground sprinkler system would be struck.
Some things stay. Trees and planting beds would still be required on every lot, trees would get bubblers and shrub beds would use drip lines. Artificial turf would remain banned in yards visible from a street. The plant list would also lose some high-water species.