Yard cops

LA Times columnist Steve Lopez has previously tackled the sometimes byzantine encounters between homeowners and City yard regulations. Today he writes about another Glendale yard cop encounter.

In the next day, I hope to examine some of the drought pressures that we're all living under - whether we realize it or not.

Here we go again, back to my favorite place in all of Southern California -- the city where no good deed goes unpunished.

Glendale.


This time it's not about the ban on frontyard fences, or a threatened $347,000 fine for a little tree trimming. This time we've got a case of City Hall yard cops cracking down on a resident who has gone native, replacing a green but thirsty lawn with drought-resistant plants.

Socially responsible?

Yes.

In compliance with city code?

Not on your life.

If this seems like déjà vu all over again, that's because the case is quite similar to the one I wrote about in February. Back then, Pete Anderson and Sally Browder were threatened with "criminal charges" after switching from water-guzzling landscaping to native California plants and a rock bed.

"No brown, all green," an ever-vigilant Glendale official had warned, but the city backed off after a little crusading here in this space.

With that in mind, Glendale resident Dvoshe Walkowiak wondered if I could make another house call.

"Please," she said in an e-mail. "Glendale is out of control."

Always happy to help.

On Monday afternoon, I drove out to the house in question. Walkowiak lives on the western edge of the city, and as I approached, I saw one green lawn after another, with sprinklers running at some houses.

In a drought, shouldn't they be the people who are cited?

Read the rest here.