(A) Street frontage. Trees, shrubs and groundcover shall be installed in accordance with the following:
(1) Minimum quantity and size of plants. See Vol. II, § 1-8-6, Table 8-1.
(2) Groundcover. The street frontage planting strip shall include vegetative ground cover (1-gallon minimum) and be covered with inorganic mulch such as crushed decorative rock, river run and/or boulders. An impervious weed barrier or pre-emergent chemical treatment shall be applied to the bare ground prior to the placement of inorganic ground cover materials.
(3) Planting strip. Required trees and shrubs shall be planted within a 10 foot wide planting strip adjacent to and parallel with the street right-of-way. No trees or shrubs shall be planted within the public road right-of-way without approval from the Public Works Department.
(4) Parking lot screen wall. See Vol. II, § 1-8-6(B)(1).
(5) Substitutions. Twenty (20%) percent of the required shade trees may be substituted with minimum 10 foot high Saguaro cactus.
(6) Existing landscaping. Existing trees and shrubs located within the street frontage landscaping area may be counted as part of the street frontage landscape requirement if the existing tree(s) meets the minimum size requirement.
(7) Flexible design. The Zoning Administrator may approve a more natural landscape distribution of trees and shrubs rather than the regimented plant spacing provided in Vol. II, § 1-8-6, Table 8-1.
(B) Screening. See Vol. II, § 1-6-3(D)(5).
(C) Open space area landscaping. Any part of a site not utilized for structures, parking, driveways or sidewalks is defined as open space and shall be covered with either vegetative ground cover (1-gallon minimum) or inorganic ground cover such as decomposed granite, crushed decorative rock, river run and/or boulders. An impervious weed barrier or pre-emergent chemical treatment shall be applied to the bare ground prior to the placement of inorganic ground cover. Additionally, open space areas shall be landscaped with plantings in accordance with Vol. II, § 1-8-6, Table 8-1.
(D) Interior parking lot landscaping. Parking lots containing 10 or more parking spaces shall comply with the following:
(1) Minimum quantity and size. See Vol. II, § 1-8-6, Table 8-1.
(2) Coverage. A minimum of 10% of the parking lot shall be landscaped. This landscaping shall consist of landscaped islands and peninsulas located within the parking lot. The parking lot is defined as the interior area within the perimeter of the curbs or the edge of pavement framing the parking lot area.
(3) Landscape island spacing and size. Landscape islands or peninsulas shall be installed at least every 12 consecutive parking spaces with a minimum 5 foot width and minimum 50 square foot area.
Landscape Area | Minimum Amount | Minimum Size |
Street Frontage | 1 tree and 5 shrubs per 30 ft. of frontage | Trees: 24" box Shrubs: 5 gallon |
Interior Parking Lot | 1 tree and 5 shrubs per 10 stalls | Trees: 24" box Shrubs: 5 gallon |
Open Space | 1 tree and 5 shrubs per 1,000 sq. ft. | Trees: 15 gallon Shrubs: 5 gallon |
(E) Retention basin landscaping. Retention basins shall be landscaped in accordance with excepted engineering standards to manage erosion.
(F) Irrigation. All landscaping shall be serviced with a permanent underground automated irrigation system designed in compliance with the "Minimum Standards for Landscape Irrigation" by the Arizona Chapter, American Society of Irrigation Consultants, which is on file with the Director or designee.
(G) Curbing. In order to control storm water flows and minimize damage to plantings by vehicular traffic, all landscaped areas adjacent to vehicular parking and access areas shall be protected by 6 inch vertical concrete curbing, anchored wheel stop, decorative bollards or other alternative approved by the Director or designee.
(H) Desert plants. All trees and plant material shall conform to the current recommended low water using plant list of the Arizona Department of Water Resources Phoenix Active Management Area. Furthermore, landscape plans shall comply with Vol. II, § 1-8-13 of this Chapter. Limited turf areas may be allowed for accent areas subject to approval of the Director or designee.
(I) Intersection visibility triangle. Plant material installed within the site triangle at roadway intersections shall not exceed 3 feet in height at maturity. The site triangle requirements are further defined in Vol. II, § 1-6-13.
(J) Landscaping in utility easements. Landscaping planted in utility easements shall comply with the requirements established by utility company policy.
(K) Relocation of overhead wires and equipment.
(1) Intent and purpose. The intent and purpose of requiring certain overhead wires and equipment to be placed underground is to enhance the visual aesthetics of the city and to protect the views of the Superstition Mountains, while taking into consideration the financial burden on the property owner and/or developer due to the cost of burying overhead lines.
(2) Applicability. All new or existing overhead lines and equipment (i.e., poles, towers, supports, wires, conductors, guys, stubs, platforms, crossarms, braces, transformers, insulators, cutouts, switches, communication circuits, appliances, attachments and appurtenances used for electrical, communication, entertainment, and information transmission purposes) located along the property's road frontage shall be placed underground at the developer's or property owner's cost as a condition of subdivision, development and/or redevelopment approval, if all of the following conditions apply:
(a) Electrical power lines are 12 kilovolt (kV) or less capacity;
(b) The width of property (i.e., development site) frontage exceeds 150 feet; and
(c) The proposed subdivision, development or redevelopment is located along a principle arterial, Old West Highway, Apache Trail, State Route 88, any new private and public streets or within an adopted redevelopment area.
(3) Exemptions. All requests for exemption from this requirement must be presented in writing to the Director or designee prior to development or redevelopment approval by the city. The Director or designee may exempt or conditionally exempt a proposed development or redevelopment from the requirement to place new and/or existing overhead wires and equipment underground after review and determination of the following:
(a) The adjacent land on both sides of the proposed development/redevelopment property is developed with existing structures or buildings and has existing overhead lines and equipment located along the property's public or private road frontage;
(b) The character of existing development within the immediate area exhibits a dominant pattern of existing overhead lines and equipment;
(c) The proposed development/ redevelopment does not qualify as a substantial improvement;
(d) The proposed development results in a minor subdivision of 3 or less lots; or
(e) The developer demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Director or designee that undergrounding overhead lines and equipment will result in the proposed development not being constructed.
(f) In no case, however, shall new utility service extensions from existing service/transmission lines to a proposed subdivision or nonresidential development or redevelopment be exempted from the undergrounding requirement.
(Ord. 1402, passed 5-6-2014; Ord. 1545, passed 4-2-2024)