La Plata County, CO Landscaping Rules: Artificial Turf (2026)

Section 70-17 of the La Plata County Land Use Code sets the turf rule for unincorporated La Plata County, Colorado. Under subsection III.A, the installation, planting or placement of nonfunctional turf, nonfunctional artificial turf, and invasive species is prohibited as part of a new development project or redevelopment project on any portion of an applicable property. The rule attaches to development review under the Land Use Code, not to a zone district, so it reaches projects outside the Animas Valley as well as inside it.

Existing turf gets a defined path. Nonfunctional turf and nonfunctional artificial turf that was legally installed, planted or placed can be repaired and maintained until a proposed new development project or redevelopment project requires bringing the site into compliance with the code in place at the time of that project. The trigger is the next project, not a calendar date.

Functional turf and functional artificial turf are treated differently. When either is proposed, the landscaping plan narrative required by subsection VIII.A.5 must identify the currently applicable federal or state laws and explain how the proposed development complies with them. The code's definitions chapter lists functional turf, functional artificial turf and nonfunctional artificial turf as defined terms, and those definitions decide which side of the prohibition a lawn falls on.

The same section carries a waiver path. Subsection IV.G allows an applicant to submit a written request to the director to waive one or more standards in subsection III. The request must identify the specific standard, describe the site size, topography or other features that make compliance not technologically feasible or impractical, state the adverse impacts involved, and describe an alternative that complies to the maximum extent feasible. The director can grant the waiver only in writing, in the director's sole discretion, and the written waiver names the waived standard and the approved alternative.