Artificial turf in Commerce City, CO, built for sandy, almost-flat ground.

Start with the dog’s path.

A dedicated pet area can leave room for seating or a general lawn. Put cleanup access and a water source in the plan, and discuss the proposed product’s care requirements before choosing it.

In a newer community such as Reunion or Buffalo Run, bring the current association requirements. On an older property, show us the actual access and existing landscape rather than assuming the whole lot is ready for new surfacing.

A sports area needs its own scope.

Describe the sport, traffic, equipment and maintenance routine before selecting a system. Include the required product documentation and any operational access during installation. The same turf is not automatically suitable for every field or activity.

Check the applicable City and state landscape requirements for the intended project, particularly on shared or commercial property. A decorative area and a surface used for sport raise different planning questions.

Sand, not clay, and almost no fall.

Commerce City's ground is unlike most of the metro. USDA soil data puts Vona sandy loam at the top of the list: about 66.6% sand and 10% clay, well drained, on slopes of 0 to 1%. Weld and Stoneham loams sit alongside it, and wide areas are mapped simply as urban land, or as pits from the sand and gravel workings along the South Platte (USDA).

Swelling clay isn't the problem here. Loose sand under a builder-graded yard is: it settles unevenly, and a base that's too thin shows it within a couple of seasons as dips, low spots and seams pulling apart.

The flatness is the other half. With next to no natural fall, water has nowhere to go unless the base is built to move it, and a pet-turf yard that can't drain starts to smell. We build the drainage into the base, so a rinse with the hose carries everything away.

Post-war cottages in the south, new subdivisions in the north.

The old south city, incorporated as Commerce Town in 1952, is small post-war cottages on flat, deep lots near the refinery and the rail lines (Wikipedia). Most of the city's homes are newer, built since 2000 in the Northern Range north of I-76: Reunion, Buffalo Run and Second Creek. On the city's edge, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge keeps 27 square miles of lakes, wetlands and grassland, bison herd included.

Derby, next to the refuge, is a community and census-designated place governed directly by Adams County, not by Commerce City (Wikipedia). Any city permit or landscape rule on this page is Commerce City's; a Derby project answers to the county instead, so check with Adams County rather than assume a city rule reaches it. The water utility and its restrictions below are shared, though: Derby is on the same district as Commerce City.

The northern subdivisions are builder-graded and governed by HOAs, with small, dead-flat back yards behind the patio. In Reunion and Buffalo Run the HOA's design guidelines are the real gatekeeper, and state law draws one line for them: those guidelines can't prohibit nonvegetative turf behind a detached home (SB23-178).

The Buffalo Run neighborhood wraps around Buffalo Run Golf Course, the city's own 18-hole, par-72 course designed by Keith Foster, with six sets of tees (Buffalo Run Golf Course). A green on a flat lot nearby is practice without booking a tee time.

The state's turf law still leaves room for fields.

Commerce City is home to DICK'S Sporting Goods Park on Victory Way, the Colorado Rapids' stadium, with a Fields Complex that can be rented (DICK'S Sporting Goods Park).

Since January 2026, state law has barred local governments from letting nonfunctional artificial turf into new commercial, institutional or HOA common-area landscaping. HB25-1113 defines functional artificial turf to include sports fields and playgrounds, so those stay open to it (HB25-1113); our Colorado turf law guide has the rest.

A decorative turf lawn outside a new store is off the table, while fields, practice areas and play space are not. We install sports field turf, and indoor facility turf for training spaces.