While Los Angeles media embroiled the Golden State in the hype of "Carmageddon," Gov. Jerry Brown quietly vetoed Senate Bill 759. At issue was the mandated homeowner association approval of artificial lawn installations. What's the buzz?
* Sen. Ted Lieu introduced Senate Bill 759 on Feb. 18. It would have rendered specific homeowner association regulations void, if they forbade "the use of artificial turf or any other synthetic surface that resembles grass." The proposed law gave the associations leeway with respect to setting quality standards for turf design and also the installation of the artificial grass. The bill did not mandate that homeowners would change the bylaws of their associations through the proposal processes currently in place.
* SB 759 passed the Senate on April 25. Lieu tweeted that his measure garnered bipartisan support.
* Gov. Brown vetoed the bill on July 13. In his letter to the legislators, the governor reminded lawmakers that the right to choose real or artificial grass was a decision that homeowners associations should make. Brown opposed the legislative mandate to force these neighborhood governing bodies to approve artificial turf in addition to natural grass.
* This was the second piece of artificial turf legislation that resulted in a veto. On Feb. 10, 2010, California Assemblywoman Lori Saldana introduced Assembly Bill 1793. Championed by the water department, the backers reasoned that artificial turf was the answer to drought-prone California's use of water for irrigation purposes. This bill, too, would have made it illegal for homeowner associations to prohibit the installation of artificial lawns, provided the fake grass met their specifications. Then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill with the notation that it should be up to homeowners to change the bylaws of an association.
It is interesting to note that it was not just the homeowners associations that were standing in the way of artificial turf installations. City councils, such as the one in Glendale, Calif., voted to prohibit the installation of artificial turf wherever it could be "visible from the street."
The tide is now turning. Part of Gov. Schwarzenegger's legacy is the Green Building Standards Code, which may be interpreted to allow for the installation of artificial grass landscapes in new construction projects -- as long as it is within city codes. Were SB 759 -- and AB 1793 before it -- an attempt to circumnavigate city and county autonomy?
Sylvia Cochran is a Los Angeles area resident with a firm finger on the pulse of California politics. Talk radio junkie, community volunteer and politically independent, she scrutinizes the good and the bad from both sides of the political aisle.
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