. Apr. 10, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
In the upper middle class Whisper Creek neighborhood, almost every other home seems to have a small front lawn, and none of them looks as lush and deep dark green as the one at Patrick Fitting's house.
Fitting's lawn would look even better right now if it weren't draped with a tarp and hidden away beneath a layer of decorative rock.
On the same day Clark County officials held a ceremony at the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign to celebrate the installation of synthetic grass along the Strip, Fitting was busy covering his fake turf because neighborhood bylaws do not allow it.
The artificial lawn was already there when Fitting and his wife, Lisamarie, bought the 3,800-square-foot house on Weeping Springs Avenue bordering Floyd Lamb State Park in March 2004. Fitting said the previous owner told him he put it in without knowing it was against the rules and warned him it could be a problem.
Fitting certainly can vouch for the second part.
In addition to replacing his lawn, Fitting also is being forced to pay more than $3,200 in legal fees and other costs, after an arbitrator sided with the Whisper Creek Homeowners Association.
The retired Air Force master sergeant, who now works as a defense contractor, said he understands why he lost the case. What he doesn't get is why homeowners associations are allowed to impose rules against synthetic grass in the first place, especially in a desert community during a time of drought.
"It's not detracting from the community," Fitting said of his lawn a few days before he covered it. "It's not blue like the ( Boise State University) football field.
"It's more drought-tolerant than desert landscaping. With this, I use zero water."
But association President Stephen Joseph said the board's position had nothing to do with conservation or aesthetics.
In fact, the five-member board liked the look of Fitting's lawn and supported his desire to keep it, Joseph said. Unfortunately, the neighborhood's codes, covenants and restrictions simply did not allow them to rule in his favor.
Joseph said they even tried to eliminate the ban on artificial turf, but both times it was put to a communitywide vote, the measure failed to gain the necessary two-thirds majority because so many homeowners failed to return their ballots.
"We tried everything under the sun to help Mr. and Mrs. Fitting and synthetic grass, and we were soundly defeated every time," Joseph said. "That's tough, but that's what our CC&Rs say."
The dispute dates to last year, when Fitting asked the association board to grant his grass a variance and was denied.
He then took his case to the Nevada Ombudsman for Owners in Common-Interest Communities, a state office created in 1997 to help settle disputes between homeowners and their associations.
When that didn't help, Fitting sought arbitration.
Though he could have appealed the arbitrator's decision in District Court, Fitting said what convinced him it was time to throw in the towel was a conversation he had with Chuck Hauser, general counsel for the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
Basically, Hauser told Fitting that he was going to lose the case eventually and that if he quit right away, he would avoid thousands of dollars more in legal fees.
"I wish I could have had better advice for him," Hauser said. "My best advice for him was to stop digging."
On March 31, Fitting rounded up son Michael and friend Dave Boesch, and the three men buried the roughly 400-square-feet of fake grass beneath shovels full of salmon-colored rock.
What is especially frustrating, Fitting said, is that none of his neighbors ever complained about his lawn.
It is the same basic turf, if not the exact same brand, that was used to landscape Wynn Las Vegas and the medians along the Strip, he said.
The water authority has yet to wade into the artificial turf issue, but that day could come. General Manager Pat Mulroy and several members of the agency's board have vented frustration in the past about HOAs that restrict fake grass and other drought-tolerant landscaping. Mulroy has even suggested that the water authority sponsor legislation to prohibit associations from standing in the way of conservation.
Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, tried just that last session.
Among the provisions of his Senate Bill 325 was a ban on HOA rules that would prevent a homeowner from installing drought-tolerant landscaping, including artificial turf. Before SB325 was voted into law, however, an Assembly committee removed the artificial turf language at the request of a lobbyist for the Howard Hughes Corporation, owner of Summerlin.
That was a disappointment, Schneider said, because he felt the measure needed to be as specific as possible to prevent the associations from finding a way around it.
"These people will wriggle their way out of anything," he said. "They're out of control. Their attorneys are out of control and giving them very bad advice."
Schneider plans to redouble his efforts in 2007.
"The next session is going to be a very ugly session for homeowners associations," he said. "I'm coming after these people."
In the meantime, Fitting plans to keep his turf right where it is in anticipation of the day when the neighborhood changes its rules or Schneider succeeds in nullifying them.
"I'm hoping someday to be able to put it back down," he said. "To me, it adds value to the house."
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