Lawn Ban Delayed Despite Slipping Conservation

Despite the plummeting rate of water conservation, the Santa Clarita City Council delayed action Tuesday on a proposal to ban planting of new lawns during the summer.

Citing concerns that the ban would unfairly penalize the nursery and landscaping industry without attacking water waste, the council voted unanimously to send the proposal back to its newly formed drought committee, which had recommended a moratorium on new lawns from June through September.

Such a ban would work against the city’s desire “to promote landscaping and greenery in the valley, and it’s detrimental to the nursery industry,” Councilwoman JoAnne Darcy said during a break in the meeting.

Councilwoman Jan Heidt noted that previous recommendations affecting other industries, such as restrictions on new swimming pools, had also been struck down.

The measure comes just four months after the council prohibited hosing down pavements, restricted watering to every other day and scaled back outdoor watering between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. The proposed modifications would lift the ban on daily watering but forbid watering during those hours or for more than 10 minutes in any one area of lawn.

The drought committee made the recommendations after watching water conservation rates shrivel drastically since the original ordinance passed in March. A reduction of 51.1% that same month dwindled to 20% in April, then to a mere 6.8% in May--far below the goal of 25%.

But Jurgen Gramckow of the California Sod Producers Assn. objected to the proposal at Tuesday’s meeting.

“The landscape and nursery industry has already been hit hard by the drought,” and the measure would result in only a negligible reduction of 0.2% a month, he said.

Councilwoman Jill Klajic, the lone dissenter against the original drought ordinance, said there was still not enough evidence that the city faced a severe water shortage.

“My particular concern with the whole idea is whether or not we are suffering from the drought,” she said. “I’m just not sure that these little things are necessary.”

The council asked the drought committee to review and then resubmit its recommendations after two more months of study.

The committee’s proposal also states that recyclable bottles and cans do not need to be thoroughly washed before being tossed into collection bins.