The council voted unanimously Tuesday night to start looking at ways
to allow the synthetic turf at homes and businesses
By MELANIE HICKEN
GARDEN GROVE – The city's ban on the use of synthetic turf ban is on
its way out.
The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to begin the process
of updating a city ordinance that completely bans the use of the
artificial grass.
"I think it's very difficult to tell people you can't have a brown
lawn but don't put a green one in if it's artificial," said Mayor
William Dalton. "The point is you still have to offer people
alternatives. This is an alternative that is very viable. I'd rather
see artificial than brown lawns."
Marlem Mason and Cookie Smith, two residents who installed synthetic
turf at their respective homes and have led the charge against the
ban, were among about 40 people who attended the meeting. Of the 12
residents who spoke on the turf issue, all were in favor of
overturning the ban.
The council asked city staff to come back at a later meeting with
several options for allowing the fake grass in residential and
commercial properties and to look into the safety and environmental
effects of synthetic turf.
"I think we do need a little more time to study as far as what the
pitfalls are," Dalton said.
Dalton also told staff to halt any enforcement of the synthetic turf
ban until the issue had been decided.
Garden Grove is one of five Orange County cities where synthetic turf
is completely banned in both residential and commercial uses.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Water District of Orange County offers a
rebate to households that install synthetic turf. Of seven water
rebates denied because of bans, three were in Garden Grove, according
to the water district.
The ordinance had been enacted in 1992 for aesthetic reasons, staff
members said.
Some of the residents who spoke had already installed or were planning
to install synthetic turf and were upset that they could not receive
the rebate.
Several shared pictures of their turf, and a turf supplier brought a
sample to show the council how the grass has been improved in the past
decade.
Residents also talked about how easy the turf is to maintain and keep
looking nice. They stressed its water saving abilities, especially
during the current drought situation in California. And the lower
water bills, they said, don't hurt either.
Synthetic turf can save around 45 gallons of water a year per square
foot of grass replaced, which can add up to thousands of gallons per
household, experts say.
"I hope my city doesn't take too long to wake up to the water crisis
that is looming," said resident Connie Naranjo, who plans to install
synthetic turf at her home soon.
For other residents, the issue was more about government control.
"The subject of my lawn should be my business as long as it's not an
eyesore," said David Lauthboren, who has lived in Garden Grove for 45
years.
The cities of Santa Ana, La Palma, Stanton and Orange have similar
residential and commercial bans, according to a water district
document. Ten other Orange County cities have various synthetic turf
restrictions and guidelines and many homeowners associations across
the county ban and restrict turf as well.
Several residents who supported changing the ban emphasized there will
still need to be some sort of standards set.
"I think there would need to be some consideration, like real grass,
where it needs to look presentable," said resident Rod Powell.
The council members agreed, and said that they would like to see how
other cities handle turf restrictions.
Overall, the council members expressed support for removing the ban soon.
"The less we restrict what people can do," said Councilman Mark Rosen,
"the better off we are."
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