Intent: The intent of this section is to provide landscaping within and adjacent to parking facilities (lots), thereby reducing heat and noise, glare of automobile lights, lower the level of carbon dioxide emissions, prevent soil erosion, and provide shade; therefore, creating an attractive and harmonious community and generally preserve a healthy and pleasant environment.
The landscaping requirements of this section shall apply to land, public and private, designated as multi-family, recreational, institutional, industrial and commercial land uses which are required to have or provide twenty (20) or more parking spaces.
1. Parking area landscaping requirements of this section are as follows:
a. Credit for using existing trees on site greater than or equal to those required by standards shall be two (2) trees for every one (1) tree retained.
b. When using an existing tree, the area under the drip line (maximum extension of branches) of the tree must remain undisturbed. This includes grading, fill, paving, etc.
c. If an existing tree dies, it must be replaced with two (2) trees during the next planting season.
d. If any vegetation dies, replacement is required within the next planting season.
e. Landscaping shall be placed in a manner, which meets the intent of this chapter, and shall be maintained.
f. Any fraction of requirements shall be rounded up to the next whole number.
g. Landscaping shall not obstruct the view of motorists using any street, private driveway, parking aisles or the approach to any street intersection so as to constitute a traffic hazard. Landscaping shall not obstruct sign faces.
2. Landscaping requirements for interior areas of parking areas (Interior areas are defined as the area within the property used for vehicular storage, parking and movement):
a. Landscaped planting areas are to be located within or adjacent to the parking area as tree islands, at the end of parking bays, inside medians, or between rows or cars.
b. There shall be one (1) large shade tree for every twenty (20) parking spaces.
c. There shall be one (1) shrub for every ten (10) parking spaces. Shrubs must be eighteen (18) inches tall at planting and reach a minimum height of thirty (30) inches in three (3) years.
d. All trees and shrubs are to be planted within a landscaped planting area not less than one hundred sixty-two (162) square feet in area.
e. No vehicular parking space shall be farther than one-hundred (100) feet from a planting area.
f. No more than forty percent (40%) of the trees and/or shrubs shall be deciduous.
g. For parking areas over 40,000 square feet, a minimum ten (10) foot wide continuously planted median shall be installed along the length of the longest interior parking row, to break up large areas of pavement. Parking areas over 80,000 square feet shall require two of the described medians. This does not apply to vehicular sales or rental sales.
3. Landscaping requirements for street yards of parking areas (Street yards are defined as the area between the public right-of-way and interior area. The street yard width or location may have to be adjusted to avoid planting in conflict with utility lines):
a. Street yards are required to be a minimum of ten (10) feet in width. The street yard bed may have to be shifted back or made wider in some places to give street yard trees extra clearance from utility lines.
b. One (1) large shade tree is required every one-hundred (100) feet or one (1) small tree is required every fifty (50) feet along the street frontage.
c. Shrub beds (fifty (50)) square feet minimum and a minimum of ten (10) shrubs per shrub bed) are required every forty (40) feet along the street frontage. Berms may be used instead of shrubs with the following stipulations: 1) berms must be the required height of shrubs with no more than a 3:1 slope; 2) shorter shrubs may be used in combination with berms as long as the required total height is met; 3) berms must be capped or topped with groundcover vegetation; 4) berms shall be grassed; 5) berms must occupy sixty percent (60%) of the frontage area; 6) fences may be used in combination with berms as long as the fence is compatible in materials and color to the building and is not more than forty percent (40%) of the required height.
d. Protection of utility lines: Small trees may not be planted closer than 15 feet to utility lines. Shrubs may not be planted closer than 6 feet to utility lines.
4. Tree and shrub specifications:
a. Tree as used herein means any tree, evergreen or deciduous, whose mature height of its species can be expected to exceed fifteen (15) feet for a small tree and thirty-five (35) feet for a large tree (except in cases where this would require the planting of incompatible species with the surrounding environment, such as overhead utility lines, then acceptable species may be used). The tree, existing or planted, shall be at least eight (8) feet in height and six and one-quarter (6 1/4) inches in circumference (two (2) inches in diameter) measured at one-half (½) foot above grade for newly planted trees and measured at four (4) feet above grade for existing trees.
b. Shrub shall attain thirty (30) inches in height when mature. All shrubs shall be a minimum of eighteen (18) inches tall when planted. All shrubs planted on berms may have lesser height provided the combined height of the berm and plantings after three (3) years is at least thirty (30) inches in height.
(Ord. of 12-7-04, No. 37-02; Ord. of 6-6-16, No. 22-15; Ord. of 12-5-16, No. 13-16)