Texas homeowner Stephen Bender, a landscaper, heeded his community’s call for residents to reduce water use and put in this xeriscaping. Photo: WFAA-TV.A homeowners association (HOA) in north Texas recently forced a resident to remove his property’s xeriscaping – landscaping specifically designed to require little or no irrigation. Stephen Bender, a landscaper, lives in the Riverchase HOA in Coppell, one of many communities across North Texas that are encouraging property owners to reduce water use as much as possible by putting in drought-tolerant plants.
But, according to WFAA-TV, Bender’s HOA said the selection of gravel, river cobble and yucca plants in his yard had to go, so he recently replaced it all with water-hogging turf, to the tune of $5,000.
At the insistence of the homeowners association in his neighborhood, Bender spent $5,000 to replace the turf he had removed to install his xeriscaping. Photo: WFAA-TV.While the HOA contends Bender did not submit plans for the xeriscaping, Bender told WFAA that in 13 years of living at Riverchase he’s completed many projects, including major landscaping changes to 20 properties in the community, and had never been required to submit plans for review.
“I’m very upset by the fact that our HOA could be so capricious,” Bender told the television station, “that they would just single out an individual – bully us. This has been going on for over a year.”
