(a) Assurance of Installation. Before issuing any Certificate of Occupancy for any application to which the provisions of this chapter apply, the Director of Building and Housing shall determine that either:
(1) Landscaping and screening required in this chapter have been fully installed; or
(2) If seasonal or weather conditions or other factors preclude such installation at the time of application, that financial sureties have been submitted to guarantee installation within nine (9) months of the date of issuance of the certificate.
Financial sureties shall be in the form of a performance bond, letter of credit, cash or property escrow, or other form approved by the Director of Building and Housing. They shall be in the amount of one hundred ten percent (110%) of the estimated cost of the materials and their installation based on figures approved by the Commissioner of Park Maintenance and Properties ("Commissioner") or a designee.
(b) Installation Procedures. All tree materials shall be installed in conformance with the most current procedures established by Best Management Standards and ANSI Standards for Arboriculture, as may be amended from time to time. All other living landscaping materials shall be installed in conformance with the most current procedures established by the American Association of Nurserymen or its successor organization. A permanently-installed underground irrigation system shall be provided for a required landscape area if it is determined by the Commissioner or a designee that such irrigation is required for proper maintenance of the type of landscape materials proposed for installation.
(c) Maintenance and Replacement. The owner, occupant, tenant, and agent of each, if any, shall be jointly and severally responsible for the maintenance, repair, and replacement of all landscaping, screening, and curbing required under this chapter so as to preserve at least the same quantity, quality, and screening effectiveness as initially installed.
A preserved existing tree that dies or is destroyed shall be replaced by:
(1) A replacement tree or trees of equal or greater diameter approved by the Commissioner or a designee;
(2) The trees recommended in the Cleveland Tree Plan as it may be amended from time to time; or
(3) The owner may make payment into the City's Tree Preservation Fund for the replacement cost of the tree as established using the Trunk Formula Method outlined in The Guide for Plant Appraisal by the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers, as may be amended from time to time, or other tree replacement analysis provided by similar publication.
All living and non-living landscaping, including fences, walls, and ornamental lighting, shall be maintained in a good condition at all times so as to present a healthy, neat, and orderly appearance and shall be kept free from refuse and debris.
Any unhealthy or dead vegetation shall be replaced with healthy living plantings no later than the end of the next applicable planting season.
(d) Removal. Installed landscaping and screening may not be removed except temporarily for replacement or maintenance unless the zoning of an abutting parcel is changed to a district that does not require a Transition Strip or unless any other condition that mandates landscaping or screening hereunder no longer applies to the property.
(Ord. No. 1121-18. Passed 12-3-18, eff. 12-5-18)