Artificial turf in Glendale, CO, for dog runs and play areas.

Glendale won't let turf stand in for the green space your site owes.

Glendale's landscaping section, Sec. 17.16.080, bars artificial plants from being used to comply with it. Open space only counts toward the requirement when living material covers at least 90% of it, and the city won't issue a certificate of occupancy where the landscaping requirements aren't met (Glendale Municipal Code, Sec. 17.16.080).

The same code sets how much a site owes. A development must set aside at least 25% of its area as usable open space. Multifamily sites give the greater of 25% or 200 square feet for each unit, for the first 500 units. Every 500 square feet of open space needs at least one tree, five shrubs and 20 square feet of perennials.

So turf can't replace the grass or beds your approved site plan counts as open space. Dead plants in required landscaping must be replaced within 60 days, and failing to maintain that landscaping is a code violation. Turf fits the ground the plan doesn't count, such as a dog run or a play area.

Mark the turf on your site plan, then ask the city in writing.

Find the approved site development plan and landscape plan for the property, and mark where you want turf. On the free visit we measure the area, so the drawing matches the site.

Send it to the Building & Permits Department at BuildingPermits@glendale.co.us (City of Glendale). Ask in writing whether turf in that spot needs review or a permit, and whether the spot counts toward required open space. Glendale's new building codes took effect on 23 June 2026 (Building & Permits), so ask again if your answer is older.

Two setbacks need a direct answer before turf goes near them. On the Cherry Creek Corridor, meaning lots fronting the south side of Cherry Creek Drive South from Colorado Boulevard to Kentucky Avenue and lots on the north side of the creek's floodplain from Colorado Boulevard to Cherry Street, setbacks may only hold landscaping and pedestrian amenities. Where a nonresidential building over 15 feet tall shares a lot line with a residential use, its 25-foot side setback can never be only nonvegetative material.

The city bills your water, and its code follows Denver's rules.

Denver Water lists the City of Glendale as a Master Meter distributor: it delivers water to the city through master meters, and the city reads your meter and bills you on its own rate schedule (Denver Water). Report water waste to the city, too (Denver Water watering rules).

Glendale's Chapter 13.06 adopts Denver's water restrictions, but its printed calendar is still dated 2013, so ask the city which schedule it enforces. Denver Water's 2026 rules put multifamily, commercial and HOA common areas on Tuesday and Friday, never between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., under a Stage 1 drought running from 25 March 2026 to 30 April 2027. On 26 August its board ended the lawn season: from 1 October, watering grass and running spray irrigation are prohibited (Denver Water).

Glendale's own penalties climb fast. After a written warning, accounts other than single-family homes face up to $500, then up to $2,000, and after a fourth violation the city may fit a flow restrictor. Appeals go in writing to the City Manager within 15 days (Glendale Municipal Code, Ch. 13.06).

The chapter sells a $25 permit to water new sod off the schedule for up to three weeks. Turf has nothing to establish, so it needs neither the permit nor a watering day.

Rinse the dog run on a watering day, and keep the water off the street.

Pet turf is made to be hosed clean, and in Glendale the rinse has rules. Chapter 13.06 lets individuals clean with water only on assigned days and outside 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., unless there's an immediate health or safety reason, and it treats water that flows into gutters, streets, alleys or storm drains as waste.

That cleaning rule sits under a power-washing heading, so ask the city whether a hose rinse of a dog run counts before you set the schedule. Either way, we build the base for your soil and set the fall so rinse water drains down, not across the walk.

Put the run where staff can reach it with a hose and where afternoon shade falls, because turf stays cooler in shade.

Courtyards and common areas answer to Colorado's turf law as well.

From 1 January 2026, SB24-005 bars local governments from allowing nonfunctional turf, artificial turf or invasive plants in new development or redevelopment on commercial, institutional, industrial or HOA common property (SB24-005). HB25-1113 narrowed that to nonfunctional artificial turf and added multifamily property with more than twelve dwelling units (HB25-1113). Published guidance differs on when the multifamily part starts, so ask the city which date it applies.

A decorative strip by an entrance is the kind of turf the law targets, and Glendale's code already goes further on required open space. Our guide to Colorado's turf law covers the definitions.