Upland Man Could Face Steep Fines For Allegedly Failing To Water Lawn

UPLAND (CBSLA.com) — An Upland resident could go to trial as early as Monday on misdemeanor charges for allegedly failing to water his lawn.

As KCAL9's Kaj Goldberg reports, Fernand Bogman stopped watering his grass in an effort to preserve water given current drought conditions.

"Under the current circumstances, I don't believe that that is acceptable that we waste water," Bogman told Goldberg.

The situation unfolded a few weeks back after Bogman was told a neighbor complained about his yard to the city.

That phone call led city officials to demand that he keep his grass green.

Bogman has opposed their demands and could face steep fines, if found guilty.

"The city has tried everything to try to get his willing compliance," said Dan Peelman, an Upland deputy city prosecutor. "These are two misdemeanor charges. With penalties and assessments, unfortunately, a $1,000 fine becomes $4,000."

Although Bogman could face jail time over the matter, the prosecution insists it's very unlikely.

"My objective was certainly not to resolve this in court. I told this also to the city, 'Let's resolve this outside the court'," Bogman said.

Peelman says Bogman's problem could've been resolved a long time ago.

"I offered to dismiss these charges against him twice and if he would fix the yard, I would dismiss the charge," Peelman said.

The parties, though, still have time to come to a compromise but Bogman says he'll do whatever it takes to conserve water.

"There are hundreds of people here in the city of Upland that are not willing anymore to water their lawn so we have to come to a solution," Bogman said.