Warren, MI Landscaping Rules: Artificial Turf (2026)

41 of the zoning ordinance governs the parkway strip, the area between a property's lot line or sidewalk and the curb or traveled portion of the street. Stones and rocks are barred outright except inside a curbed planter or boxed area capped at three feet by three feet; the City Council can approve a larger planter only if it finds the enlargement will improve the property. In residential zones, the entire parkway strip must be maintained with grass, sod, or artificial turf. Commercial and industrial parcels, or residential parcels abutting a commercial or industrial use, carry the same grass-sod-turf requirement, but the ordinance allows a concrete strip up to three feet wide immediately next to the curb, plus decorative shrubbery capped at three feet in height.

A further exception lets the City Council authorize a fully paved parkway strip on commercial or industrial parcels where the strip between sidewalk and curb is ten feet or less, provided the concrete is poured to a minimum four-inch depth and the owner first obtains a permit from the Division of Buildings and Safety Engineering under Section 9-101 of the Code of Ordinances. The rule traces to Ordinance No. 39 separately makes property owners and occupants responsible for the cleanliness and maintenance of the area between their lot lines and the adjoining street and curb.