Lower Merion, PA Landscaping Rules: Artificial Turf (2026)

Section 155-3.12 covers sporting and physical recreation areas Township-wide. Subsection A bars any tennis court or other hard-surfaced area meant for sports or physical recreation from being built in a required setback at all. Subsection B then addresses artificial turf specifically: an artificial turf playing field generally cannot be built in a required setback either, but the Township carves out one exception, allowing an artificial turf field in the front setback of a primary road. The second half of Subsection B controls how artificial turf is treated for stormwater purposes: it is not counted as impervious surface, which would otherwise count against the impervious-surface caps in the district's Table 4.1 dimensional standards, if the field is designed to be permeable and the applicant demonstrates that its stormwater runoff coefficient is less than or equal to grass, with the drainage system maintained to keep that runoff coefficient in place, all subject to the Township Engineer's determination.

A homeowner or institution installing an artificial turf field therefore needs to satisfy the Township Engineer with drainage calculations to get the impervious-surface exemption; a field that cannot meet that permeability standard is instead counted as impervious surface like a patio or driveway, which can push a lot over its district's percentage cap under Table 4.1.