Parker, CO Water Use Rules: Turf Replacement Rebates (2026)
Key Facts
- Effective date
- covenants effective on/after April 1, 2003
- Rule
- cannot mandate turf grass in cultivated vegetation
- Consequence for violating clause
- void ab initio, unenforceable
- Water use cited for traditional turf
- 20-50 gal/sq ft/yr
- Recommended benchmark
- 18 gal/sq ft/yr (29 in irrigation)
- Owner's voluntary turf use
- remains protected
Summary
The Town of Parker prohibits any restrictive covenant adopted or amended after April 1, 2003 from requiring turf grass on an individually owned lot. Section 6.05.020 of the Municipal Code voids such covenant language as unenforceable, a direct response to traditional turf's 20 to 50 gallons of water per square foot per year documented in the Chapter's water-conservation findings.
6.05.010 - Legislative purpose. The water demand of traditional landscaping can result in an extraordinary burden on the future water resources of the Parker Water and Sanitation District and the Cottonwood Water and Sanitation District. Traditional landscapes, improperly installed and maintained over unimproved soils and requiring irrigation systems that are often inefficient and poorly managed, have been documented as using between twenty (20) and fifty (50) gallons of water per square foot each year. This is far beyond the recommended eighteen (18) gallons of water per square foot of landscaping (or twenty-nine [29] inches of applied irrigation water) each growing season. By using water-wise principles in landscaping, Town residents could reduce water use by at least twenty percent (20%). ... 6.05.020 - Prohibition. Any restrictive covenant or any amendment to a restrictive covenant that becomes effective on or after April 1, 2003, and that requires cultivated vegetation on property maintained by an individual property owner, shall not specify that any portion of the vegetation must be turf grass.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 6.05 of the Parker Municipal Code, the 'Prohibition on Restrictive Covenants Requiring Turf Grasses,' opens with Section 6.05.010's legislative findings: traditional landscaping over unimproved soils with inefficient irrigation has been documented using 20 to 50 gallons of water per square foot each year against a recommended 18 gallons (29 inches of applied irrigation), and water-wise landscaping could cut a resident's water use by at least 20 percent. Section 6.05.020 operationalizes that finding: any restrictive covenant, or any amendment to one, that takes effect on or after April 1, 2003 and requires cultivated vegetation on an individually maintained lot may not specify that any part of that vegetation be turf grass.
Section 6.05.030 makes a covenant adopted in violation of that rule invalid from the outset and unenforceable in court. Section 6.05.040 defines 'restrictive covenant' broadly, including HOA rules, regulations and guidelines implemented under covenant authority, and defines 'turf or turf grass' as continuous plant coverage of hybridized grasses that form a dense growth of leaf blades and roots when mowed. Section 6.05.050 clarifies the ordinance is not a mandate against turf: it does not restrict an owner's voluntary choice to keep turf grass on their own residential property.
Violations & Fines
There is no criminal or civil fine under Chapter 6.05. Instead, Section 6.05.030 makes any covenant provision that violates Section 6.05.020 void ab initio and unenforceable in a court of law, so an HOA cannot obtain a judgment or lien against a homeowner for refusing to plant turf grass under a post-2003 covenant.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my Parker HOA still require a turf lawn?
What happens if my HOA's covenant still has a turf mandate?
Does this ordinance force me to remove my existing lawn?
Why did Parker adopt this turf covenant ban?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Parker
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