Golf greenery triggers turf war

Thursday, Feb. 3, 2000 | 10:57 a.m.

A new ordinance prompted a turf war during a zoning board meeting of the Clark County Commission Wednesday.

Commissioners approved a new landscaping ordinance but not before delaying action on rules that would have restricted new golf courses to less than 75 acres of grass -- a rule vehemently protested by golf course developers and supervisors and course landscapers and architects at the commissioners' zoning meeting.

The golfers said they had no input on the new ordinance and that the turf limit would kill good, new par-five courses. The limit would mean each hole would only have about 5 acres of turf, said Bill Fielder, a course supervisor at Spanish Trail Country Club.

"If you know anything about golf, a championship course is dominated by par 4s and 5s," Fielder said. "Five acres is simply not enough to design a proper par-5 hole."

The ordinance was mainly designed to reduce air pollution from dust and allergenic plants, an issue on the minds of many officials as they wrestle with a federal decree to clean up the Las Vegas Valley's air.

But folded into the ordinance were the golf course rules, which are designed to save water. The golfers insist they are already doing a lot to conserve water or reuse "gray water," partially treated waste water.

Golfers said they use just a fraction of the water consumed every day for residential uses, and argued that the grass on golf courses helps pull out pollutants and carbon dioxide from the air.

Commissioners Dario Herrera and Myrna Williams told the golfers that everybody needs to do more to conserve water -- and that residential uses come before golf.

The "overwhelming majority" of his constituents would rather see water use restricted for golf courses before restricting residential use, Herrera said.

Valley residents "can live without golf but can't live without water in their houses," Williams said.

Herrera said he golfs, but he added that many world-class golf courses, including some in the Las Vegas Valley, use significantly less turf than 75 acres. He said desert landscaping, such as that used on the South Shore course at Lake Las Vegas, can be used to improve the look of the course and reduce water use.

"You have to look at the larger picture," he said. "We live in the desert."

Herrera, who was involved in heated conversations with the golfers outside the commission chamber, said the real reason golf course managers and owners want to have wall-to-wall grass is that developers can get a better price on homes next to a grassy fairway.

The golfers responded that less turf makes it more expensive to maintain golf courses because workers mowing the lawn save time by cutting large open areas.

In the end, the commissioners agreed to hold the problematic parts of the ordinance to get further input from golfers, course landscapers and architects. But Williams warned that the temporary compromise might not change the eventual turf restriction.