Georiga City Bans Watering of Newly Installed Landscaping

Alpharetta, Ga. city officials, concerned that people are using loopholes to get around the watering ban, are clamping down on exemptions.

In an emergency measure, Alpharetta's mayor and council voted to expand the ban on outdoor watering to include newly installed residential and commercial landscaping, including the "overseeding" of lawns.

Currently, all of North Georgia is under Level 4 drought restrictions, which prohibits outdoor watering but allows a 30-day exception for new landscaping. Under Alpharetta's new rules, landscaping finished by Monday still may be watered for the 30-day period, but none installed after that.

"Everyone on the City Council realizes the gravity of the [regional water] situation," said Councilman David Belle Isle. "What hit us was the overseeding. People are overseeding their lawns and then claiming the new-landscaping exemptions. We wanted to have a bright line about who is violating the restrictions."

Alpharetta Mayor Arthur Letchas says the council is expecting substantial public input next Monday night, when the council is scheduled to ratify the emergency measure.

"I'm not in that [landscaping] business, so I want to hear from people who are," Letchas said. "My thinking right now is I don't know that you'd be doing a whole lot of planting. I don't like to drive people out of business."

One Alpharetta council member said he is willing to consider even harsher measures, including the elimination of commercial exemptions, which include car washes, pressure washing, and nurseries.

"If we allow water needed for minimum quality of life to be used for ancillary uses, then everyone will be in a bad situation and the pain will be greater and last longer," said Councilman John Monson. "I don't have a problem looking at all the exemptions. Unfortunately, the landscaping industry is taking the brunt of this. They're just the most visible."

Some landscaping companies reacted with dismay to the new restrictions. Gary McCallum, owner of Level Lawns in Marietta, which works regularly in Alpharetta, said he's weighing whether to move from metro Atlanta area and pursue another line of work.

"If other cities follow suit, we're history," he said. "I can't just sit and hope things will change for us."

Canton recently enacted restrictions similar to Alpharetta. Other metro Atlanta municipalities are keeping their options open. "We're reviewing all sorts of conservation measures internally and with our citizens," said Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker. "I'm waiting on recommendations from an internal committee. What those will be is difficult to say."

Mary Kay Woodworth, executive director of the Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association, estimated that nearly 14,000 of 80,000 landscaping workers have lost their jobs due to the drought, and she expects that number to double by the end of the year. Alpharetta police officers and firefighters are empowered to issue non-criminal and criminal citations to anyone who fails to comply with the restrictions. First offenders will be given a written warning. Second-time offenders will be subject to a $250 fine, and third-time violators can expect to be hit with a $500 fine.

Jim Coneys, an Alpharetta resident, supports the ban, saying, "We have to do this. I replant my fescue every fall, but not this year because I'll have to water it. It's a pretty serious situation."

John Makosky of Alpharetta just had his lawn overseeded last month, but despite the watering he did, it died. He's planning on having it redone this week, but he said he'll abide by the new rules.

"I guess I'll just do a rain dance and pray for rain and maybe it'll work out," he said. "If not this year, then maybe next year."

Makosky said he thinks places downstream should share the pain, adding he doesn't think the Corps of Engineers needs to release so much water for endangered species in Florida.

"I don't care about the mussels and sturgeon," Makosky said. "We have more important things to worry about."