Any provisions included as a deed restriction can only be changed by the originator of the deed prior to its first transfer. Apparently, state law can supercede that. However, I believe that is a slippery slope. Homeowners often make an investment decision relying on the deed restrictions as a primary factor in their purchase. When the state forces a change in deed restrictions, it is very much like exercising eminent domain.

Oh there you go, thinking again and pushing our noodle buttons.Maybe the new law is grandfather thing? sigh...can somebody look it up?


Nevermind, I looked it up..my mother raised a monster. She sold encyclopedias. No grandfathering....law says adopt new ordinances or amend existing ones.

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/.../0373.185.html

(2) Each water management district shall design and implement an incentive program to encourage all local governments within its district to adopt new ordinances or amend existing ordinances to require Florida-friendly landscaping for development permitted after the effective date of the new ordinance or amendment. Each district shall assist the local governments within its jurisdiction by providing a model Florida-friendly landscaping ordinance and other technical assistance. Each district may develop its own model or use a model contained in the “Florida-Friendly Landscape Guidance Models for Ordinances, Covenants, and Restrictions” manual developed by the department.

Let's say someone exercises their right to enter the section which the property owner is responsible for but does not own. Let's say they get injured. Who do they sue?

I contacted a legislator and was told the Department of Environmental Protection Welcome | Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has a 52 page booklet that outlines all the do's and don'ts on the subject. I'd contact them to get the facts.

In my opinion, that would be a step backwards and toward generalities from what has been carefully crafted on the back of DEP guidelines and given us in the simple and understandable Nine Florida Friendly Landscape Practices.

Plan your landscape.
 

You hit on the law, but that is not the section I would quote.

Your original intent was to learn what you can do about landscaping your lawn.

The pertinent section, it seems to me, is:

(b) A deed restriction or covenant may not prohibit or be enforced so as to prohibit any property owner from implementing Florida-friendly landscaping on his or her land or create any requirement or limitation in conflict with any provision of part II of this chapter or a water shortage order, other order, consumptive use permit, or rule adopted or issued pursuant to part II of this chapter.
(c) A local government ordinance may not prohibit or be enforced so as to prohibit any property owner from implementing Florida-friendly landscaping on his or her land.

Let's go back to your original intent. You wanted to know what you could do with regard to landscaping your lawn.

It seems to me that you might want to work up a proposal of what you want to do to landscape your yard, using "Florida-friendly landscaping" principles; submit it to the ARB and let them know up front that you know that the law allows you to do Florida-friendly landscaping.

There's lots of information on the Internet about what plants to use in Florida-friendly landscaping. There are also a lot of photos of what others have done at https://www.google.com/search?q=flor...iw=800&bih=499

Make a plan.
 

To Kitty and everyone else interested in Florida-friendly landscaping. (FFL)

Years ago I was appointed by the governor to a term on the Southwest Florida Management District (Swiftmud) and as was pointed out by Kitty, Swiftmud was mandated by law to encourage FFL.

I decided it was a worthwhile initiative so I installed a lot of Florida-friendly landscape plants at my house at that time, and reduced how much I watered the lawn.

To me, one of the best documents being offered by Swiftmud is the brochure found here http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/public...tguide-web.pdf

It is incredibly detailed and is just one of many documents on the Swiftmud list of free publications relating to FFL. Free water conservation publications and materials

My favorite of the nine principles of FFL is Number 5.

Numbers 2, 4 and 8 brought me to the point that I hardly had to water the lawn at all.

A word of caution might be in order. Although the ARB cannot foreclose the use of FFL plants, they might still have a voice in the aesthetic application of the various plants. One shouldn't assume that they could just run over the ARB. Careful and artistic planning would be in order.

Provided that the resident/owner of the home is required to maintain that strip; and provided they are negligent in doing so in such a manner that constituted a hazard; both the home owner and the statutory owner of the land would get sued, probably along with the Developer and God, Putin and Obama.

Original post was "Purpose of Street Easement". It has morphed into "Florida Friendly Landscape".

Both are valid subjects for serious discussion. It may be worthwhile to spin off FFL into a dedicated thread.

Natural Morph
 

It morphed as a natural progression when a poster asked Kitty for the motivation behind her original post and she replied that it was because she was wondering what standing she had for landscaping the area of the front lawn that was not technically hers. It was her desire to do landscaping that was "xeriscape and hardscape."

The wandering off subject has more to do with the preoccupation with dogs toileting on the lawn near the street.

FFL does merit a dedicated thread, indeed.

Thanks Carl but the link wasn't working for me. I hope this one does: Florida-Friendly Landscaping

I went back and tried your original post again and it did work - sorry.

That is one fabulous book!! I have a hard copy. Starts with how to plan a landscape then has oodles of plant pictures with info on specifics of what the plant needs, how big it gets, etc.

I think this whole thread has been convoluted and made far more complicated than necessary. It has added to confusion. Just submit a plan to arc and see what happens. Check with arc and cdd if you feel you have trespassing problems. As the ATT add says...it's not complicated.

at least my name is simple, perrjojo! the thread was indeed convoluted and it evolved and educated me far better than I imagined as the OP; however there was a master plan from the start to get that education, however sidestepping the original topic may seem, with a minimum of misinformation and the predictable fallout re: some things that got discussed. I appreciate your contributions. I think the plan worked nicely.

As to your comments about submitting a plan to ARC, I'm not one to submit a plan without research. I'm still gathering data.