Can My HOA Stop My Xeriscape? Colorado Law Explained for Douglas, Arapahoe & Elbert County Homeowners

If you live in an HOA community in Parker, Castle Rock, or Highlands Ranch and you've been putting off a xeriscape project because you're worried about a violation notice, Colorado law is now on your side.

In 2023, Governor Polis signed **Senate Bill 23-178**, closing a long-standing loophole that let some HOAs reject drought-tolerant landscaping outright. Three years in, plenty of homeowners and a few HOA boards still don't know exactly what the law allows. Here's what you need to know before you submit a design for approval.

What SB23-178 Actually Requires

The law applies to detached single-family homes in common interest communities (the vast majority of Douglas and Arapahoe County neighborhoods). Under SB23-178, your HOA:

• Cannot prohibit xeriscape, drought-tolerant vegetative landscaping, or non-vegetative turf grass (artificial turf) on the portion of your property you're responsible for maintaining.

• Cannot require hardscape (pavers, rock, decking) on more than 20% of your landscaped area — meaning you're entitled to a design that's at least 80% drought-tolerant plantings.

• Must adopt and publish at least three pre-approved xeriscape garden designs, pulled from Colorado State University, a local municipality, or another qualified source. If you use one of these pre-approved plans, you can skip the architectural review committee entirely.

• Must allow vegetable gardens in front, side, and back yards.

In short: a well-designed xeriscape isn't a special exception anymore. It's a right, with guardrails to keep your HOA from using "no grass" as an automatic denial.

Where Homeowners Still Get Tripped Up

The law protects *drought-tolerant landscaping*, not neglect. HOAs can still enforce reasonable maintenance standards, so a design that reads as "unmaintained" — patchy dead turf, no defined bed lines, plants that were never established — is fair game for a violation. The fix is straightforward: submit a clean, intentional design with defined edges, mulch or rock ground cover, and a plant palette suited to Front Range elevations.

We also see confusion around the 80/20 rule. Some boards try to require more hardscape than the law allows, often because older HOA covenants haven't been updated since 2023. If your board pushes back, referencing SB23-178 directly (and pointing them to their own obligation to post pre-approved designs) usually resolves it quickly.

Our Approach for HOA Communities

Because we work across Douglas, Arapahoe, and Elbert County neighborhoods every week, we're familiar with which HOAs have updated their design guidelines and which ones haven't. When we design a xeriscape or drought-tolerant landscape for you, we:

1. Pull your HOA's current landscaping guidelines and pre-approved design list, if one exists.

2. Build a design that meets the 80% drought-tolerant threshold with defined, professional bed lines — the details that separate "approved" from "flagged."

3. Provide the plan documentation you need for architectural review submission.

4. Select plants proven at your specific elevation and soil type. See our guide on low-water plants for Castle Rock and Parker yards for examples.

Bottom Line

If your HOA has told you no in the past, it may be worth asking again — the law has changed even if their covenants haven't caught up. A properly designed xeriscape saves water, holds up through Front Range drought cycles, and, done right, sails through architectural review.

Ready to find out what's possible on your property? Call HI-DEF Landscapes & Design at (303) 332-2459 for a free landscape estimate in Douglas, Arapahoe, and Elbert Counties.

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Sources referenced for accuracy: Colorado General Assembly SB23-178 bill text and summary (leg.colorado.gov); Altitude Community Law SB23-178 info sheet; Colorado Division of Real Estate HOA Center guidance on lawn conversion and water-wise landscaping.