Green lawns, brown lawns in California

“On the same day the state approved mandatory outdoor watering restrictions with the threat of $500 fines, the Southern California couple received a letter from their city threatening a $500 penalty for not watering their brown lawn.” [AP]

4 Comments

  • If Joseph Heller were still alive he would be laughing.

  • While this sort of thing is not exclusively a California bureaucratic folly, it is not out of the ordinary for my former home state.

  • When I lived in Oklahoma in 1982-1984, a battle was going on between homeowner associations trying to enforce requirements for natural-wood roof shingles (to raise costs and maintain an appearance of excluding the rabble), and fire officials pointing out that wood-shingle roofs were prime targets of brush fires. I moved out of State before I learned how the battle turned out.

  • Same bureaucratic nightmare as UK homeowners of ‘graded’ historic buildings. Planners insist replacement windows are in character and insist on single glazing but Building Regulations insist on double glazing. Each government group insist you follow their particular regulation with threats of court action fines and prison