Water rules altered to allow turf at child-care centers

Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2003 | 9:35 a.m.

The Clark County Commission has modified drought conservation measures passed in July to provide exemptions for cemeteries and new child-care centers.

The modifications allow for cemeteries to have small man-made lakes as long as their primary purpose is to store irrigation water and as long as the water hole covers less than 5.5 percent of the facility. Previously such functional features were permitted only at golf courses.

New child-care centers will be allowed to join previously approved schools, parks and cemeteries in having turf installed in playground areas.

Chuck Pulsipher, the county's assistant planning manager, said the exemptions were made as part of a housekeeping measure to the ordinance passed July 15 to establish conservation measures that conform to the Southern Nevada Water Authority's Drought Plan.

Pulsipher said the ordinance was modified to allow "other governmental jurisdictions" to have turf. Child care facilities are the only such entities that he knows of that fall under that category.

But, Pulsipher said, that could be expanded to include other entities, such as adult care facilities should turf be warranted at such facilities.

Without the modification, no turf would have been allowed at new child care businesses. Under the ordinance, schools and child care facilities can have up to 37 1/2 feet of turf or playground space with no restrictions on how much of that is turf, Pulsipher said.

The measure also clarified that just one fountain at a house or residential development is permitted and that such a fountain must have no more than 200 square feet of surface area. As previously written, the ordinance allowed "fountains and water features of less than 200 square feet of surface" at residences.