(a) General. All parking lots and parking areas of all commercial, industrial, public, and multi-family residential developments shall be landscaped in accordance with this article. The landscaping of the parking lots shall be both perimeter landscaping surrounding the parking lots and interior landscaping included within the parking lots.
(b) Perimeter Parking Lot Landscaping. Around the perimeter of all parking lots and areas, the following landscaping shall be provided.
(1) At a minimum, in the following zoning districts, the following front yard parking lot landscaping depths shall be provided. On corner lots, the minimum required planting strip shall be observed on both road, highway, street, or access road rights-of-way.
A. Residential. A ten (10) foot wide planting strip shall be provided between the road, highway, street, or access road right-of-way line and the parking area.
B. Commercial. A ten (10) foot wide planting strip shall be provided between the road, highway, street, or access road right-of-way line and the parking area.
C. Industrial. A twenty (20) foot wide planting strip shall be provided between the road, highway, street, or access road right-of-way line and the parking area.
(2) For all of the above-specified front yard planting strips, the ground area of the planting strip shall be natural ground cover such as grass (exclusive of rocks) or mulch and shall not be improved with impervious paving materials. Within this required planting strip, trees, shrubs, plants, and/or flowers shall be planted. At least one (1) tree shall be provided for every fifteen (15) feet of linear road frontage. The trees may be evenly spaced or may be grouped together to provide a creative site design. If trees are grouped, other areas of the frontage which are not provided with tree landscaping shall be provided with other landscaping, such as shrubs, in order to provide for the full landscaping of the frontage.
(3) At a minimum, in the following zoning districts, the following side and rear yard parking lot landscaping depths shall be provided.
A. Residential. A five (5) foot wide planting strip shall be provided for the side and rear yards which shall act as a buffer between the adjoining property and the parking lot.
B. Commercial. If adjoining or facing any residential district, a ten (10) foot wide planting strip shall be provided for the side and rear yards which shall act as a buffer between the adjoining property and the parking lot. If adjoining or facing any use within the Commercial District or any non-residential district, a five (5) foot wide planting strip shall be provided for the side and rear yards which shall act as a buffer between the adjoining property and the parking lot.
C. Industrial. If adjoining or facing any district other than the Industrial District, a twenty (20) ten (10) foot wide planting strip shall be provided for the side and rear yards which shall act as a buffer between the adjoining property and the parking lot. If adjoining or facing any use within the Industrial District, a ten (10) foot wide planting strip shall be provided for the side and rear yards which shall act as a buffer between the adjoining property and the parking lot.
(4) For all of the above-specified side and rear yard planting strips, the ground area of the planting strip shall be natural ground cover such as grass (exclusive of rocks) or mulch and shall not be improved with impervious paving materials. The buffer planting strip shall consist of both evergreen and deciduous plants and trees in order to provide year-round screening. All plants and trees shall be planted in close enough proximity to provide an adequate visual screen. A developer who proposes to place a fence between adjoining yards shall not be relieved of the landscaping requirements of this subsection.
(c) Interior Parking Lot Landscaping. Within the perimeter of all parking lots and areas in excess of ten (10) contiguous parking spaces, the following landscaping shall be provided.
(1) At least one (1) tree shall be provided per six (6) parking spaces.
(2) The placement of the aforesaid trees shall be on raised parking islands in order to protect the trees. Further, the raised parking islands shall be composed of grass or other natural ground cover such as grass (other than the exclusive use of rocks); and the area between trees shall be planted with shrubs, ground cover, or covered with mulch. The tree islands shall be evenly distributed throughout all parking lots and areas.
(3) At a minimum, in addition to the above-said required trees, at least five percent (5%) of the interior parking lot area shall be landscaped with plantings. This five percent (5%) shall be calculated by adding together all interior parking spaces and parking access aisles; however, circulation roads or access lanes which provide access to streets or roads shall not be considered in this calculation. This required five percent (5%) may be provided as landscaping islands or interior areas of the parking area which are planted with vegetation and landscaped. If feasible, these landscaping areas shall be evenly distributed throughout the parking lot and area in order to break-up the parking lot, If a developer has a creative site design which incorporates natural features of the site or other creative design techniques, City Council may approve a site which does not evenly distribute interior parking lot landscaping.
(4) Where feasible, landscaping shall be placed between buildings and parking areas. At a minimum, a five (5) foot area shall be placed between the building and parking area and shall be landscaped with shrubs and natural ground cover. Where lighting conditions or other natural conditions prohibit the placement of shrubs within this landscaping area, if feasible, the area shall be landscaped with rocks or other nonorganic landscaping materials or may be utilized as a sidewalk. This area is exclusive of the above-said five percent (5%) interior parking lot landscaping and its area shall not be considered when calculating the required five percent (5%) of interior parking lot landscaping.
(d) Location. All landscaping, to the extent feasible, shall be located in protected areas such as walkways, in center islands, at the end of parking bays, or in diamonds between parking stalls. All landscaping in parking lots and along the street frontage shall be placed so that it will not obstruct sight distances of entering or exiting motorists.
(e) Plant and Material Type.
(1) A mixture of hardy flowering, shade, and/or decorative evergreen and deciduous trees may be planted. If feasible, species of plants which are native to West Virginia shall be utilized.
(2) In areas of landscaping, rocks may be used to accent planting and ground cover, but entire areas of landscaping shall not be landscaped exclusively with rocks, The majority of the landscaping areas shall be natural ground cover, mulch, shrubs, flowers, and/or trees.