A Tucson, Ariz. City Council vote brought to a close nine months of wrangling over an ordinance that will require half of the water used on commercial landscaping to come from rainwater.
The ordinance passed in a unanimous vote after a public hearing in which all but one speaker praised the initiative.
Even the speaker in opposition - Robert Medler of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, who condemned the ordinance as an "unfunded mandate" that will discourage businesses from settling in Tucson - spoke approvingly of the process that led to the rules.
Councilman Rodney Glassman pushed the ordinance. He organized a series of meetings in which business groups, builders associations, environmentalists and low-incoming housing advocates hammered out the details. In the process, even vociferous opponents came around.
"This ordinance that you see in front of you is in much better shape than when we started this process nine months ago," Michael Guymon, executive director of the Metropolitan-Pima Alliance, a real estate interest group, told the council during the hearing.
"The main reason MPA supports this is that . . . the 50 percent requirement for rainwater harvesting allows for options."
Developers can use a variety of methods to meet the 50-percent rainwater harvesting standard. They must submit harvesting plans to the city's Development Services Department before beginning construction.
Property owners who do not adhere to the 50-percent requirement for landscape irrigation face a fine of $250 for the first offense and $500 for any subsequent offenses within three years. The ordinance takes effect in June 2010.