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Hernando Today

Landscape Rules Followed At Bayport, Officials Say

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By TONY MARRERO Hernando Today

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 5, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - When county officials gathered last month to celebrate the reopening of Bayport Park, Commissioner Diane Rowden said she felt compelled to mention the lush sod.

The park is beautiful and had been expanded with the environment in mind, Rowden said.

"Except for all the Floratam grass," she added, then looked over to Parks and Recreation Director Pat Fagan and said, "Sorry, I couldn't help it."

Last month, Hernando Planning and Zoning Commissioner Robert Widmar sent an e-mail asking county planning staff about the use of the "thirsty grass." He wondered whether "the county followed its own rules," referring to a beefed-up landscaping ordinance that further limits the amount of thirsty grass varieties.

Al Toler, senior project manager for the parks department who oversaw the Bayport renovations, said he has heard similar questions and comments about the sod that covers about two acres of the now five-acre park completed May 1.

Why, some have asked, did the county use that variety when the county's new landscape ordinance is requiring new homes and businesses to reduce the amount of such varieties?

The question is a "good one" and the "concerns are valid," a county planning staffer replied to Widmar in an e-mail, but the county met the requirements of the new ordinance and had reasons for going with Floratam grass.

The ordinance requires that more than 50 percent of landscaped area be in a high water use zone. As well, no more than half of the landscaping can be turf grass unless drought tolerant varieties are used. Any turf grass beyond that cannot be watered with a permanent irrigation.

Any preserved natural vegetation is considered to be a drought tolerant zone, according to the ordinance.

The county put down Floratam grass on about two acres of the park, but did not install an irrigation system, Jackie Hartley, environmental planner for the county planning department, wrote to Widmar.

It also saved enough palm trees and other natural vegetation to meet the 50 percent rule, Hartley wrote.

Even if it hadn't, though, the county still would have complied with its own ordinance because of the lack of an irrigation system.

"Part of the County's goal was to preserve as much of the existing, natural vegetation as possible," she wrote.

There was another reason to install Floratam, Hartley wrote.

Bahia may be more drought tolerant, but it likely wouldn't tolerate the amount of shade that covers much of the park.

Bahia doesn't tolerate salt water, either. Floratam can, and that's important in a place like Bayport Park, where storms will inevitably bring high tides, Toler said.

"If that place flooded and we had Bahia, no more bahia," he said.

Toler also noted that Floratam grass had been growing naturally in the park, and the county never had to water it because of the naturally moist soil in the area.

"That soil is not like in Spring Hill," he said. "Not even close."

The county brought tanker trucks in to water the sod as it took root, but likely won't have to do again except perhaps occasionally during the dry season, Toler said.

"Once the rainy season kicks in," he said, "we'll be in good shape."

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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