Artificial turf in Roxborough Park, CO, while new cool-weather lawns are barred.

The rule on new lawns comes from a city Roxborough isn't part of.

Roxborough Park is unincorporated Douglas County (Roxborough Park), but its water is Aurora's. The district buys raw water from the City of Aurora, takes its contracted share from Strontia Springs Reservoir just west of Roxborough, and under an agreement revised in 2017 must apply the drought restrictions Aurora sets (Roxborough Water and Sanitation District).

Aurora's Stage 1 surcharges reached the district on 7 April 2026 and stay until Aurora announces they have ended. The district's Stage 1 list comes with them: outdoor irrigation two days a week on assigned days, nothing between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., no new cool-weather turf installation, no filling private pools (topping off is allowed) and no decorative water features. A first violation brings a warning, the second a fine on your water bill, and repeats bring escalating fines and potential service interruption (Roxborough Water and Sanitation District).

If you were planning to sod or reseed, ask the district office before anything is delivered. Its summer schedule graphic still sends you to the office for a watering permit for spring plantings, seed or new sod, while the Stage 1 list rules out new cool-weather turf. The list says nothing about artificial turf, which needs no watering at all. Aurora's storage table read 43% full, rated Low, on 7 September 2026 (Aurora Water).

Which part of Roxborough you're in sets your two days.

The district's schedule runs 1 May to 1 October. Homes in Roxborough Park and Ravenna water Friday and Tuesday. In Roxborough Village, homes west of Rampart Range Road water Saturday and Wednesday, and homes east of it, including Chatfield Acres, Chatfield East, Chatfield Estates and Plum Valley Heights, water Sunday and Thursday. Mondays need a permit. Hand watering and drip systems are always allowed (Roxborough Water and Sanitation District).

That shapes the plan. Beds and trees you keep can stay on drip; decide which sprinkler zones stay before the layout is drawn. Don't budget on a rebate: the district's rebates are for high-efficiency washers and toilets. Our water rebates guide covers the rest of the metro.

On a Foundation lot, synthetic turf is allowed with approval.

Not every Roxborough address belongs to the Roxborough Park Foundation, so check your closing papers first; its governing documents are public. For Foundation lots, the Design Review Document revised on 19 September 2024 says non-vegetative turf grass shall not be prohibited, subject to reasonable aesthetic criteria and prior approval. It means synthetic grass of at least a medium pile, approved in writing by the Design Review Committee, and it bars outdoor carpeting or anything the committee finds doesn't pass for grass (Roxborough Park Foundation DRD).

Landscaping changes at an existing home need the committee's approval before work starts, and turf isn't on the short list of exceptions. Send the Request for Design Approval form, with drawings showing property lines and setbacks, dimensions and material samples, to the office at least three business days before a regular committee meeting. A letter follows within three business days, and nothing starts until it approves. Approved changes to existing landscaping must be finished within seven months.

Call the design review coordinator to ask whether your change needs a formal landscaping plan. If it does, it's drawn over the site plan at one inch to ten feet and shows existing and proposed grading. Outside the Foundation, ask whether an association covers your lot; our Colorado HOA turf guide explains what one can decide.

Rock at the edges, and the drainage left alone.

The DRD says Foundation homes sit in the Wildland-Urban Interface. Its fire guidelines say to avoid wood mulch within five feet of the house, never to use highly flammable rubber mulch, and to break up vegetation with earth-tone rock, gravel and stepping-stone paths. Where turf meets the house, an earth-tone rock border fits those guidelines better than bark. The rubber rule is written about mulch, so ask the committee which infill it accepts before you choose one (Roxborough Park Foundation DRD).

The same document lists landscape-planning items to consider, and they're not all rules. Existing natural drainage paths shall be preserved is the one mandatory line. The rest is guidance: avoid large, manicured areas, and conserve rock formations and unique landscape features. A turf area sized to how you'll use it, framed by rock and native grass, fits all three.