A San Diego assemblywoman’s drought-driven bill to prevent homeowners’ associations in California from banning the installation of artificial turf was signed into law Friday by Gov. Jerry Brown.

AB 349, authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, in response to the four-year-old drought, nullifies any HOA prohibition on artificial turf or any other synthetic surface that resembles grass.

Once the drought is declared to be over, the new law will prevent HOAs from requiring homeowners to remove or reverse water-efficient landscaping measures taken in response to an emergency conservation declaration such as the governor’s order for the state to reduce consumption by 25 percent.

“Across the state, Californians are making great strides to reduce their water use and hit aggressive benchmarks for conservation, and this new common sense law will give homeowners one more way to save as this drought continues,” Gonzalez said. “The grass may be fake, but the amount of water a homeowner can save by installing it is very real.”

As an urgency measure, the statute will take effect immediately.

Last year, the assemblywoman authored a law that bars HOAs from preventing homeowners from tearing out their lawns and replacing them with drought-tolerant landscapes.

— City News Service

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