Council continues public hearing on landscaping, water-wise and wildfire ordinance to allow staff revisions

Boulder City Council on Oct. 16 continued the public hearing on Ordinance 8721 — a package of changes to the Boulder Revised Code governing landscaping, nonfunctional turf, water conservation and wildfire-hardening — and asked staff to return with revisions at the Dec. 18 regular meeting. The council voted unanimously to continue the hearing.

The ordinance, introduced at second reading, would move technical planting, mulch and irrigation standards out of the land‑use code and into a landscape manual to be adopted by city manager rule, align local rules with state legislation on nonfunctional turf, and add wildfire-hardening provisions in line with the 2024 International Wildland-Urban Interface code. Brad Mueller, director of Planning and Development Services, and Carl Geiler, manager of code amendments, said the package aims to balance water conservation, urban cooling and wildfire safety while limiting the immediate regulatory burden on property owners.

Why it matters: Staff told the council the state’s recent bills require cities to restrict nonfunctional turf in certain land uses starting Jan. 1, 2026, and argued the ordinance is intended to help Boulder meet that deadline while also advancing city goals for heat‑island reduction…