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<section article="grp" article_name="Real Property" number="2-125" title_number="2" title_name="Rules of Construction" subtitle_number="1">
  <level label="a">
    <level label="1">
      <text>In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <level label="i">
        <text>“Low–impact landscaping” means landscaping techniques that conserve water, lower maintenance costs, provide pollution prevention, and create habitat for wildlife.</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>“Low–impact landscaping” includes:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>Bio–habitat gardens and other features designed to attract wildlife;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>Pollinator gardens and other features designed to attract pollinator species;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="3">
          <text>Rain gardens and other features that use natural biological principles to return rainwater to the soil and to filter rainwater of excess nutrients; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="4">
          <text>Xeriscaping and other forms of landscaping or gardening that reduce or eliminate the need for supplemental water from irrigation.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>“Restriction on use” includes any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>A deed;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>A declaration;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>A contract;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>The bylaws or rules of a condominium or homeowners association;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="v">
        <text>A security instrument; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="vi">
        <text>Any other instrument affecting:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>The transfer or sale of real property; or</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>Any other interest in real property.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <level label="1">
      <text>A restriction on use regarding land use may not impose or act to impose unreasonable limitations on low–impact landscaping, provided that the property owner:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Owns or has the right to exclusive use of the property; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Maintains and regularly tends to the low–impact landscaping.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>For purposes of paragraph (1) of this subsection, an unreasonable limitation includes a limitation that:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Significantly increases the cost of low–impact landscaping;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Significantly decreases the efficiency of low–impact landscaping; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>Requires cultivated vegetation to consist in whole or in part of turf grass.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <text>Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit a restriction on use from including reasonable design and aesthetic guidelines regarding the type, number, and location of low–impact landscaping features.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <text>This section does not apply to a restriction on use on historic property that is listed in, or determined by the Director of the Maryland Historical Trust to be eligible for inclusion in, the Maryland Register of Historic Properties.</text>
  </level>
</section>
