Fighting Turf War With Polka Dots

An upscale Florida community is right in the middle of a turf war. Not the old fashioned one with gangs, but one with actual turf.

After building a multi-million dollar home on Marco Island, just off the state's southwest coast, Ed Ehlen, owner of a flooring company, decided to surround it with plastic turf instead of sod - the kind found in baseball and football stadiums around the country. When the city said no, Ehlen painted the house pink in protest, refusing to remove the turf.

"We are in a serious war situation here and trying to conserve water and help the city out if we could," Ehlen told The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.

He didn't think installing the fake grass around his new waterfront home, valued at about $4 million, would create any problems.

"I never would of spent $19,000 to purchase it and install it, if I didn't think I was allowed to do," he said, pointing out the turf is environmentally friendly because it saves water in a part of the country that desperately needs to conserve it, and does not need any chemical treatment. The city counters that the turf is not in "the spirit" of its landscaping ordinances, if not in outright defiance of it.

Greg Niles, the city's community development director, said he does not think synthetic grass is consistent with the current landscaping code, and it isn't intended as a viable landscaping option in the island city of 15,000 year-round and 35,000 seasonal residents.

"The intent and the purpose of our landscape code of the city seeks to promote the harmony of the natural built environment; synthetic turf that Ed has placed on it is inconsistent with our landscape code," Niles said.

He noted the city conducted tests that found that heavy rains and flooding would dislodge the rubber pellets used in the turf to make the artificial fibers stand up to appear more natural. He said the city was concerned that the pellets would get into the storm-sewer system and canals, and potentially threaten birds and fish.

"We're concerned about the watershedding and the materials utilized in this turf material to make it stand erect that can migrate into our storm sewers," Niles said. "There is heat gain, and this product does not produce oxygen as natural vegetation would."

And yet residents in places like Florida and Arizona, where there have been water shortages, face the problem of being discouraged to plant grass from the front door to the sidewalk because it consumes so much water.

About that, Niles said, "We are still very concerned with water conservation and our landscape code encourages creative designs that will minimize water uses that is called landscape principles. Unfortunately, the use of artificial turf is not endorsed by these principles."

In the meantime, Ehlen has painted an entire side of his beachfront mansion pink with purple and green polka dots in protest. City ordinances allow homeowners to choose paint colors.

Since aesthetics was one of the reasons he was given as to why he couldn't use the turf, he said, "I decided if my turf wasn't aesthetically pleasing, I would would do something else that was not aesthetically pleasing and painted my house pink and purple polka dots."

So what does the city say about that?

"Well, we do not regulate painting of a single family home so it is the property owner's artistic expression," Niles said. "We have no rules or regulations against that."

Ehlen currently has a temporary certificate of occupancy from the city, but has yet to move into the new house in light of the dispute.

"In regard to the certificate of temporary occupancy," Niles said, "We did grant that to Mr. Ehlen and been working in good faith to get this resolved. He has promised to remove the turf area behind me by tomorrow and replace it with natural sod. We're also going to be working to amend our landscape code to crystalize whether or not artificial turf can or cannot be a component of a landscaped yard."

Asked how long Ehlen is going to have the polka dots up, he said, "We're trying to resolve this. Greg was correct saying we're trying to resolve it. They're working on a new landscape code, but I don't think that's going to affect me within this period of time. I'm going on the old landscape code, not what they're proposing now."

Ehlen's formal protest, and the thoughts of other community members will be heard by the city council on Jan. 21, when a new ordinance banning this specific turf will be proposed.

Ehlen has lived on the island for 26 years, and though he is the one in the middle of this fight with the city, he is not the only person with this kind of turf on his property. The city has learned that at least two other homes use sprinturf as well.

"I think the people should have their say in it because I think it's a very viable commodity on our water and I think we should be able to have sprinturf," Ehlen said. "It's not available for everybody, but for people who want it. It's used all over the country. Some communities endorse it and actually give you a tax break on it."