Dive Brief:
- The city and county of Denver plans to revamp its landscaping requirements for new development and some redevelopment projects in an effort to boost climate resilience, according to a news release issued last week.
- Denver is looking at requiring native grasses, shrubs and trees for landscaping in these projects. Currently, many developments instead use “non-functional turf”: water-intensive ornamental grass in an area that the public does not use.
- Denver plans to begin its overhaul in 2025 through engagement with the public, development community and industry professionals.
Dive Insight:
Denver Councilman Paul Kashmann, who is sponsoring the landscaping requirement revamp, said in a statement that he “grew up loving a bright green, well-trimmed lawn.” But as climate change brings Denver more hot days, less snowpack in the mountains and more forest fires, “we have learned maintaining that lovely appearance leads to devastating costs that our watershed can no longer support,” Kashmann said.
Across Denver, non-functional turf covers areas along roadways and in medians and parking lots. A 2024 study finds that 74% of Denver’s turf is on private land, according to a Dec. 9 presentation by city staff to the budget and policy committee. Meanwhile, Denver’s urban tree canopy coverage is 15%, one of the lowest among U.S. cities, according to the presentation.
Numerous citywide plans, from the urban forestry strategic plan to the land use and transportation plan, have called on Denver to update its requirements to encourage landscapes that can adapt to and withstand prolonged drought and heat along with other climate change impacts. But the revamp is also spurred by a Colorado law passed earlier this year that prohibits new non-functional turf and artificial turf in commercial, industrial and institutional development.
Denver’s new rules will go beyond the requirements of that state bill to examine all landscaping in the city and county, according to a press release. The new requirements will not affect existing landscaping around homes or businesses.
