Jacksonville, Fla., looking at water-saving landscape rules

Water-saving landscaping rules being used now at Jacksonville businesses could become standard for new subdivisions, too.

 

The City Council was scheduled to vote March 24 on an ordinance to require new housing developments to use "Florida-friendly" landscape designs that control the amount of yard space planted with especially thirsty types of grass or plants.

 

Developers would have to get city approval of their landscape designs and sprinkler systems before they could get buildings permits in new subdivisions. Reviewers would look at factors like soil type and the ground's slope to decide whether the plants and watering systems are right for the site, a city planning employee, Mark Shelton, told members of the council's Land Use and Zoning Committee.

 

State law pushes communities to use the Florida-friendly approach, which Shelton told the committee "conserves water, it improves the aesthetics of yards and it encourages the diversity of plants." The council committee approved the ordinance 6-0, sending it to the full council.

 

City planners said they tried to leave developers flexibility in meeting the new standards. For example, a state rule that says "low water use" plants and grasses must cover at least 30 percent of a yard can be relaxed if the amount of high-water landscaping on the same lot decreases proportionately. Landscape designers already use lists of high-, medium- and low-water plants to lay out their plans.

 

Rules like those that Jacksonville is considering make turf companies nervous about customers relying too much on lists that promise one type of turf is heartier than another, said Betsy McGill, executive director of the 55-member Florida Sod Growers Cooperative.

 

"I've taken home plenty of things from the nursery that were supposed to be drought tolerant. But you know, I can kill them all," McGill told committee members.

 

Some committee members had the opposite worry, thinking the city hasn't said clearly what is and isn't acceptable in various settings. "Without some sort of standards ... what basis do you use," Councilman Bill Bishop asked. "What's the point of the ordinance if there's nothing in it to base decisions upon?"

 

The city deliberately avoided making lists of which grasses are acceptable as drought-tolerant or not, believing businesses will always want to introduce new varieties. But city lawyer Dylan Reingold told the committee city codes already mention reference sources for information about Florida-friendly plants that stay up to date as new products enter the market.

 

The new rules ultimately depend on city reviewers making sure developers have picked a sensible mix of plants, Planning Director Bill Killingsworth told committee members. "We want to provide flexibility," Killingsworth said. "However, if a reviewer noticed a plant that they considered inappropriate, then it would be that reviewer's responsibility to challenge [it]."