Legal News

Water-saving lawn removal at odds with OC codes

By Richard Binder

The road to litigation is sometimes paved with good intentions - and wood chips.

Two years ago Quan and Angelina Ha tore out the grass in their frontyard. As far as they were concerned, their reasoning was sound: the grass soaked up tens of thousands of gallons of water, and therefore hundreds of dollars, each year.  So, in drought-afflicted California, the grass had to go.

But city officials informed them that they were violating several city laws that require residents to cover significant ports of their front lawns with live ground cover. City codes mandate that 40% of a yard be landscaped predominantly with live plants, so the Has' original fix of covering the dirt with wood chips was unacceptable.  They also built a fence and planted drought-resistant greenery, like lavender and rosemary.  Still not good enough for the city.

Two months ago, the Has received a letter from the city informing them they had been charged with with misdemeanor code violations and must appear in court. Tomorrow the Has will appear in Orange County Superior Court to challenge the suit.

Did their water-saving scheme work, though?  Click here for details.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on March 02, 2010 (boomark / email).