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Commission approves xeriscape landscaping ordinance on first reading after debate over rock coverage
Summary
On first reading the commission approved an amendment to the city landscaping code that defines xeriscape, keeps a 25% minimum landscaped area and directs staff to add intent language and require living plant material when nonorganic ground cover exceeds 20% of front yards; vote passed 3–2.
The City Commission advanced a change to Lighthouse Point’s landscaping code on first reading after a lengthy discussion about how much nonorganic (rock) ground cover should be allowed.
City Planner Dave Dixon said the ordinance would preserve a 25% minimum pervious landscaped area and, as proposed, allow xeriscape to cover up to 80% of that area. Several commissioners and members of the public expressed concern the draft could permit continuous rock yards. To address those concerns, the commission approved the ordinance on first reading with direction to add an intent statement clarifying that xeriscape must include a mix of materials and a requirement that if nonorganic ground cover exceeds 20% of front-yard landscape area, at least 25% of that area must be living plant material. The motion to approve the ordinance and direct the definition changes passed 3–2.
Planner Dixon noted that synthetic turf would remain limited to a maximum of 25% of the pervious area and that staff would return with clarified definitions for second reading. "We can add the mixture and an intent sentence," a staff member told the commission, and commissioners asked staff to return with language that will be administrable without imposing major plan‑review burdens.
