As cities update their development and design language for new homes, look for more language dealing with climate change and the environmental impact of new housing developments.
In the course of updating its land development ordinances, Surprise considered not allowing grass lawns with any new homes, but councilors did not support this measure.
Surprise’s new land development ordinance and planning and engineering design standards went into effect in January 2021. While they were not a complete departure, a lot of the parameters relating to landscaping and trees in new developments was included with climate change in mind.
