Example 1015 of why homeowners rules placement into real estate covenants is really a stupid idea:
It would be great if we as a community used drought-tolerant plants and groundcovers; however, while "xeriscaping" is encouraged by the Town of Cary, our own community developers have ironically written into our homeowners association covenants that fescue is required for all lawns visible from the street. Fescue is one of the thirstiest grasses available.
The reason we don't opt for a voluntary brown lawn is that we likely will be fined. If we allow grass to die off in the summer, not only could we be forced to pay a fine, we would have to re-sod or face a lien on our homes. Our next step is to reduce the size of turf grass area and replace with beds of indigenous plants requiring less water.
Yes, shame on us for buying into the American Dream neighborhood of green lawns and picket fences, but double shame on developers who put such environmentally insane rules into our covenants (which we received at closing). Maybe city governments can stop developers from placing such detrimental stipulations on homeowners.
It is astounding, the anality of requiring a specific type of grass in all lawns...
Hey, they didn't say which fescue, did they? All are more drought-tolerant that yer basic turfgrass.