The city of Duncanville is considering loosening its landscaping restrictions to allow residents to grow native plants in their yards.
A proposed ordinance making its way to the city council would create a two-year pilot program allowing approved residents to grow specific native vegetation in their yards.
The Department of Parks and Recreation wants to find a balance between the wants of naturalists and the current Duncanville ordinance, which doesn’t allow grass or other types of vegetation to be over 12 inches tall.
“[We’re] trying to change the perception of what beautification and beauty looks like,” Tyler Agee, assistant director of Parks and Recreation, told council members at a meeting last week.
Agee said the program could help the city reduce its greenhouse emissions, provide a habitat for native wildlife, and improve the city's water quality while decreasing its usage.
Water has been a growing issue in North Texas for a number of reasons, such as water loss due to aging infrastructure, increased demand for a growing population, and yards that aren’t suited for Texas’s heat.
Agee pointed to the city of Lewisville's Roots For Wings program as an inspiration for the proposal.
Duncanville's proposed plan and Lewisville’s “Roots for Wings” share similar steps — residents would have to attend a workshop on maintaining a pollinator garden. Then, city officials would approve the residents' yards before they can plant any of the native vegetation.
Residents would be given a yard sign to show they are a part of the program and would have to reapply every three years.
Unlike Lewisville's program, Duncanville's proposal would be a new city ordinance. Duncanville Mayor Barry Gordon said this direction would be easier to enforce and would avoid conflict with homeowners associations.
“This has been a topic we have discussed for a couple of years,” Gordon said. “I’m pleased to see that now we’re bringing this to something we can codify.”
Duncanville officials are drafting the language for the permits and forms for the program and preparing a list of approved plants. The ordinance could go before the city council for a vote by this spring.
Juan Salinas II is a KERA news intern. Got a tip? Email Juan at jsalinas@kera.org. You can follow Juan on X @4nsmiley
