Learn your city's landscaping code

Guest Commentary
October 28, 2007

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Is your landscaping up to code? Whether you live in the unit or you own investment property you should know your city code for landscaping, parking, weed control, etc.

I will talk more about the city of Greeley standards, but if you live in Evans or any other city or town, you might want to call them and find out what their policies are.

In Greeley, officials no longer give you warnings if they find your property in violation of the city code.

They will mail to the owner a Notice of Violation with a date that you must appear for a hearing in front of the administrative hearing officer.

They will re-inspect two days prior to the hearing to determine if the violation(s) has been corrected. If this is a first violation of the listed codes within the past 365 days, you can avoid having to appear for the scheduled hearing by taking these corrective actions in the order listed:

Correct the violation(s) prior to the re-inspection, meet with the inspector to sign a stipulation of liability, pay the $25 fee at city hall, and provide proof of payment to the Code Enforcement Office prior to the scheduled hearing.

If you had a similar violation within the past 365 days, you must attend the hearing.

Failure to appear could result in a $1,000 fine. If you disagree, you also must attend the hearing.

Be prepared to pay any fines or fees when you attend the hearing. These generally range from $100-$1,000 per violation.

Now that you know what could happen to you if your property is in violation, here are some of the codes:

Remember a few years ago when we had a very bad drought? After that year, you saw a lot of home owners removing their grass and putting in rock and mulch.

One of the codes is that "a minimum of 75 percent of all landscape materials installed on a site or lot shall be live plantings. Landscape materials shall be proportionately distributed around the site." Also "bare earth shall not be considered landscaping."

Another area about your property that you need to aware of is weed control, especially if you have rental property and the tenants are suppose to be taking care of the lawn.

Make sure that there are no weeds growing along fences, rocks, alleys, sidewalks, etc.

Inspectors have the authority to perform inspections for the presence of weeds during normal business hours or other reasonable times upon receipt of a complaint, from referral by another city department, or upon observation during the normal course of duties.

The inspection may occur from any public right-of-way or neighboring property.

The last thing I want to address is parking. "No parking shall occur on unpaved surfaces or on open space or landscaped areas."

So don't park on any rock area or dirt area near your driveway or you may get a violation.

There are so many areas that we may not be aware of that are violations from your city. Just saying "I didn't know" won't help you. Before you landscape your property or your rental, ask city inspectors. They are there to help you with any questions you may have or just go to their Web site.

Diane Quigley is treasurer of the Greeley Area Realtor Association and works at True Abundance Property Management, LLC.