BEWARE THE LAWN POLICE NEIGHBOR GRIPE IS TRIGGER.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Unkempt front yards - choked with weeds, or just bare dirt - are now banned in Palmdale.

A divided City Council has voted to approve a new law that requires homeowners to maintain their house's curb appeal.

``The conditions are loose enough to where anybody can comply. We are not looking to be punitive. We are looking for compliance,'' Mayor Jim Ledford said. ``For most people, it is not an issue.''

Opponents see the new ordinance as unnecessary, impinging on rights of property owners, and shortsighted, given rising utility costs.

``We're passing an ordinance to address very few people, but taking freedoms away from a lot of others,'' said Councilman Mike Dispenza, who favored encouraging people to keep up their lawns voluntarily.

After much discussion spread over three meetings, the Palmdale City voted at Wednesday's meeting to approve the new lawn ordinance in a 3-2 vote, with council members Dispenza and Rick Norris dissenting.

The ordinance will take effect a month after a second reading in 30 days.

It will add Palmdale to the list of other California cities that have adopted similar ordinances, including Rialto, which adopted a green-lawn measure in 1999, and King City, which adopted one last year.

The city will not expend time and effort to search for hardscrabble lawns but will only enforce the ordinance if a complaint is lodged against someone's front yard, officials said.

A city code enforcement officer will cite the homeowner if his or her yard is not up to snuff - a determination that Dispenza complained is a ``very subjective thing'' - and give them 18 months to comply.

Homeowners still found in violation after 18 months could face maximum penalties of a $500 fine, six months in jail, and a lien placed on their homes to cover the cost of the city coming in to install landscaping, Dispenza said.

The mayor, a proponent of the lawn ordinance, said compliance, not punishment, is the city's objective.

He said he is confident code enforcement officers and homeowners will be able to resolve problems through a series of meetings. He added that any decision to take a homeowner to court requires a council vote first.

What's considered acceptable as far as front yards go may differ from person to person, officials admit.

A xeriscaped lawn, which stresses water conservation and use of native plants, is OK, but not just a yard covered with gravel, Ledford said.

``We're not looking for that kind of xeriscaping. Xeriscaping is not just putting gravel in the yard. You need some type of green or some type of rock and it would have to be designed,'' Ledford said.

Dispenza said yards can consist of rocks and some dirt - if it looks good.

``As long as it looks like you have pride in your lawn,'' Dispenza said.

Residents are as divided as the council on the issue.

``I feel that you should keep your yard up because otherwise its gonna, like, mess up the neighborhood. I think they should enforce you to keep it looking nice,'' said resident Peggy Armstrong, interviewed outside the Palmdale post office.

But she said the city should help out people who can't afford or are not capable of maintaining a front yard.

Katrina Morales, also interviewed outside the post office, disapproves of the lawn law.

``I don't think they should make that law because what if people don't have money? They can't afford to be doing that. It's their property,'' Morales said. ``It's their property; they're paying for it. What if you don't have the money, you have other bills you have to pay off?''

Resident David Lopez said he maintains his lawn, as do most people in his neighborhood.

``It's not expensive to keep them maintained like that,'' Lopez added.

The version of the lawn law approved Wednesday by the council places more stringent requirements on new developments, but eased rules for existing homes, council members said.

Owners of existing homes will be required to maintain their front yard landscaping but need not install automatic water sprinkler systems or plant the shrubs and trees recommended for new homes, Ledford said.

``The fear was the city could come in and say, `Pull up that tree.' We wanted to let existing owners know that plant material existing is acceptable and we are asking them to maintain it,'' Ledford said. ``They don't have to replace plants that are illegal.''

New homes must have front yard landscaping, sprinklers, and trees and plants from an approved city list. For new homes, there must be one tree in every front yard and two more on the sides of corner lots.

Dispenza said he voted against the ordinance because so few Palmdale homeowners are neglecting their lawns.

``The actual homes that were involved in this were very few. We're talking about people who have refused to take an interest in their lawn. There are a few of that, probably I'd say 50 homes where people refuse to keep up their yards,'' Dispenza said.

Many other houses with dead lawns are Housing and Urban Development Department foreclosures, which makes them not subject to city laws, Dispenza said.

Another reason for voting against the new ordinance was the uncertainty about how high water prices will be, Dispenza said. ``Trying to maintain a lawn might cost people lot of money,'' Dispenza said.

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Photo:

Tyler Sica, 7, helps mow the lawn in front of his Palmdale home. Under a new city law, all lawns must be kept spruced up.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer