Artificial turf in Sheridan, CO, where the 2026 ban spares existing homes.

The ban is aimed at new building, not the lawn you already have.

On 27 April 2026 Sheridan added a section to its landscaping code: artificial turf is prohibited in new development and redevelopment on applicable property, except where state law exempts it (Sec. 56-516.5). The code defines artificial turf as synthetic blades or fibers, infill systems included, laid in place of living ground cover.

Applicable property means commercial, institutional or industrial land, a common interest community including property an owners' association owns or maintains, and residential development of five or more units (Sec. 56-519). On those sites, the state's carve-outs for functional uses decide what is possible; our Colorado turf law guide sets them out.

An existing single-family house sits outside all of it: the landscaping article exempts existing single-family dwellings, and existing development never has to retrofit to meet rules written for new building (Sec. 56-512).

The edge is building work. A new house, or an addition that grows gross square footage by more than 25 percent, brings the article back for whatever part of the lot the building official considers affected. Settle the yard plan with the Building Department before the turf goes down.

Put two questions to the Permit Technician.

The city's permits page says a Plumbing/Mechanical/Landscaping Permit application is required for all new installations or replacements (City of Sheridan). It doesn't say whether artificial turf counts as a landscaping installation. Ask the Permit Technician on 303-438-3302 and keep the answer with your layout.

Ask the second question at the same time. The landscaping article wants an approved landscape plan before any grading, bulldozing or other extensive removal of existing vegetation (Sec. 56-517). Lifting a lawn sounds like exactly that, so get it in writing that the single-family exemption covers your job.

If a permit is needed, the building permit application asks for the contractor's City of Sheridan license number and a listing for every subcontractor (building permit application). Owner-occupants of single-family homes can apply themselves by signing a homeowner's affidavit (City of Sheridan). Ask which route the city wants for turf work.

Denver Water bills the water. The city bills the drainage.

Denver Water lists the City of Sheridan as a Total Service distributor: Denver Water owns the system, reads each meter, bills each customer, and serves you the same way as inside Denver (Denver Water). The same list names a separate South Sheridan Water and Sanitary Sewer District under Read and Bill, so check the name on your bill. It's a different setup from Englewood next door.

That puts Sheridan under Denver Water's Stage 1 drought, in effect from 25 March 2026 through 30 April 2027, with every customer asked to cut total use by at least 20%. From 1 October, watering grass and running spray irrigation are prohibited; trees and shrubs can still get a hand-held hose with a shutoff nozzle, or drip (Denver Water). A turf lawn has nothing to water. The water rebates guide covers what Denver Water will and won't pay for.

Drainage is a city charge. Every lot with impervious improvements, such as a driveway or a house, pays a monthly drainage fee, and City Council sets the amount by resolution (Sec. 70-85, Sec. 70-86). The code doesn't say how the fee is worked out, or whether turf moves it, so ask before you count on a lower bill. Our note on whether turf is impervious lists what to bring.

Check the flood map before anyone digs.

Sheridan's building design criteria answer yes on flood hazards and put the frost line at 36 inches (City of Sheridan). Both matter to a turf job.

In the city's floodplain rules, development means any man-made change to real estate, including filling, grading, paving, excavation and storing equipment or materials. A floodplain development permit is required before that work begins in a special flood hazard area, land with a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any year (Sec. 56-385). The application goes to the floodplain administrator, with scaled plans of the proposed landscape alterations (Sec. 56-388).

A turf base means digging out and bringing in fill, so ask the floodplain administrator whether your lot is mapped before the layout is final. Ground that freezes three feet down is one more reason we check the soil on the free visit, build the base for it and grade water away from the house.

A fence takes its own permit, and the grass beside the turf still counts.

Putting up, altering or rebuilding a fence in Sheridan needs a permit (Sec. 56-432). In residential districts a front-yard fence must be at least 50 percent open and no taller than 42 inches, while side fences behind the front building line and rear fences can reach six feet (Sec. 56-436). Draw the dog run's fence line to those limits, then the pet turf inside it.

Sheridan's weed rule makes turf grass or weeds over eight inches a nuisance for anyone who owns, rents or occupies the lot (Sec. 46-236). Synthetic blades never get there, but a leftover strip of grass along a fence or bed can. We lay, seam and edge the turf tight to the borders you approved, then finish with infill, cleanup and a walkthrough of the care it needs.