A. Purpose and objective.
1. Purpose. Landscaping promotes immediate and long-term public health, safety, economic stability and general welfare of the City. Landscaping improves the livability of residential neighborhoods, enhances the appearance and customer attraction of commercial areas, increases property values, improves the compatibility of adjacent uses, screens undesirable views, protects against erosion and reduces air and noise pollution. Uniform standards of development and maintenance of landscaping are established to promote a reasonable balance between the right of individuals to develop and maintain their property in a manner they prefer, while creating pleasant, attractive and safe surroundings for the community.
2. Objective. Required landscaped areas serve the following objectives:
a. Protect against soil erosion.
b. Reduce hazards of flooding.
c. Absorb carbon dioxide and supply oxygen.
d. Reduce the effects of noise, glare, dust and other objectionable activities.
e. Safeguard and enhance property values.
f. Promote the pleasant appearance and character of neighborhoods and cities.
g. Shade of plants promotes cooling effects.
h. Facilitate the safe movement of traffic.
i. Promote quality development.
j. Promote orderly growth.
k. Provide buffering and screening between different intensities of land use.
l. Aid in water conservation and water quality protection by requiring the use of plant material native to this climate in landscaping and retention of existing natural vegetation thereby reducing the need for irrigation, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.
B. Minimum landscape requirements.
1. Locations. The following areas of a site are required to be kept as landscaped areas:
a. Parking lot.
(1) Perimeters. The area within fifteen feet (15') of a parking lot perimeter shall be landscaped with clustered landscaped materials.
(2) Interior. Parking lots with more than twenty-five (25) parking stalls shall contain interior landscaped islands or other landscaped traffic control or natural stormwater management features making up at least eight percent (8%) of the parking lot area in size, meeting the following specifications:
(a) Islands adjacent to single vehicle perpendicular parking rows must be a minimum of five feet (5') wide and sixteen feet (16') in length; islands adjacent to double vehicle perpendicular parking rows must be a minimum of five feet (5') wide and thirty-two feet (32') in length.
(b) Islands adjacent to single vehicle diagonal parking rows must be a minimum of eighty (80) square feet; islands adjacent to double vehicle diagonal parking rows must be a minimum of one hundred sixty (160) square feet.
(c) Islands must be defined by concrete curbing.
(d) In lieu of multiple small freestanding landscaped islands, internal landscape area requirements may be met by the placement of large linear landscaped areas that define traffic lanes and break up large hard surface expanses.
b. Building perimeters.
(1) The sides of a building that face a public street or parking lot shall be landscaped for a length equal to one-half (1/2) of the building dimension, with the landscaped region having an average depth of four feet (4').
(2) Existing buildings that have difficulty providing building perimeter landscape areas because of existing site conditions, may substitute alternative landscape area designs to satisfy the requirements of this Section.
c. Boulevards and right-of-way easements.
(1) Areas shall be sodded from the curb to the property line at the time of completion of the site landscaping.
(2) Plantings and locations of materials shall have the approval of the Public Works Director or designee prior to installation. All maintenance or replacement of landscape materials is the sole responsibility of the property owner.
(3) Areas in a dedicated public right-of- way or right-of-way easement are not included in the calculations of the total minimum required landscaping or open space of a site.
d. Storage, loading and mechanical areas of a building.
(1) Screening must be provided around exterior storage, exterior loading, service and mechanical areas to screen the uses from view by adjacent property or streets.
(2) Screening may consist of fences, walls, earth berms and landscape plantings. Fencing must be a City approved fence design.
(3) Walls must be compatible with the architectural treatment of the principal structure.
2. Groundcover. Commercial, industrial or residential sites. Back of curb to rear of lot line shall be sodded.
a. Exceptions.
(1) Properties within rural residential or agricultural zoning districts may be seeded.
(2) On sites of five (5) acres or more, the City Staff may approve plantings of native prairie grasses and wildflowers in front yards, or side and rear yards adjacent to a public roadway. A long-term maintenance strategy shall be provided for approval by City Staff.
C. Landscaping materials.
1. Materials. All landscaping in required landscaped areas shall be proportionately balanced with other features on the site and shall consist of a combination of three (3) or more of the following:
a. Sod;
b. Mulch;
c. Shrubs;
d. Coniferous trees;
e. Ornamental trees;
f. Overstory trees;
g. Decorative rock;
h. Decorative site amenities;
i. Any other decorative landscape treatment; and/or
j. Berms.
2. Size. The following table lists the minimum size requirements for landscaping vegetation:
Vegetation | Caliper/Gallons | Height |
Ornamental tree | 1.5 inch | |
Overstory tree | 2.5 inch | |
Coniferous tree | 6 feet | |
Shrubs | 18 inches | |
Street Tree | 2.5 inch |
Caliper Measurements. Caliper measurements shall be taken six inches (6") above grade for trees under four inches (4") in diameter and twelve inches (12") above grade for trees larger than four inches (4").
3. Landscaping and installation standards.
a. Plant Materials. All plant material shall conform to and be installed in accordance with the most current edition of the American Standard for Nursery Stock as published by the American Association of Nurserymen, and professional horticultural standards as established by the most current edition of the Landscape Construction Reference Manual as published by the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association. All new trees shall be balled and burlapped for installation.
b. Species: No required overstory trees shall include the following species: any tree on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources invasive species list, ash, elm, or box elder tree.
D. Residential developments. The minimum required tree and shrub requirements for all residential developments are as follows:
Vegetation Type | Minimum Size | Single-Family Dwellings | Townhouse Developments | Multiple-Family Dwellings |
Coniferous trees | 6 feet | May be substituted for any of the overstory deciduous trees (maximum of 2) | 1 per unit, but may be substituted on a 1 for 1 basis for the overstory deciduous trees | Minimum of 30% of required overstory trees must be coniferous |
Ornamental deciduous trees | 1.5 inch (caliper) | 2 may be substituted for 1 overstory (maximum substitution equals 25% of required overstory trees) | 2 may be substituted for 1 overstory (maximum substitution equals 50% of required overstory trees) | |
Overstory deciduous trees | 2.5 inch (caliper) | On lots 60 feet wide or less: 2 per lot On lots greater than 60 feet wide: 3 per lot, no less than 2 different species | 1 per 40 linear feet of site perimeter | 1 per 40 linear feet of site perimeter, not including the street tree |
Shrubs | 18 inch height | 10 per unit | 5 per unit | 1 per 5 linear feet of site perimeter |
Street tree | 2.5 inch (caliper) | 1 per adjacent street | 1 per unit | Not required |
1. Street trees.
a. One (1) tree must be planted in the front yard right-of-way of every subdivided lot in a manner determined by the City Forester. Street trees may be planted in the street boulevard or in the front yard of the lot as determined by City Staff. On corner or double fronted lots, one (1) street tree must be planted on each side of the lot adjacent to a street.
b. The location, size and type or species of trees planted shall be of mixed varieties and shall be approved by the City Forester and shall include those with root structures unlikely to interfere with utility lines or sidewalks or otherwise cause nuisance or damage.
c. The minimum size of trees to be planted as street trees or right-of-way replacement trees shall be two and one-half inches (2 ½") caliper.
d. The City Forester shall review and approve proposed street tree locations per the approved landscape plan.
e. On streets having sidewalks, street trees will generally be planted between the curb and the sidewalk.
2. Residential landscape buffer along major roadways.
a. Purpose. The City recognizes the need to protect new residential development from the detrimental effects of adjacent principal arterials, minor arterials, and major collectors as defined in the City’s comprehensive plan (“Major Roadways”), including concerns for safety, noise, light, glare and emissions. In the interest of the health, safety, and welfare of residents, new developments adjacent to Major Roadways must provide for landscaping and screening lying outside and parallel to the road right-of-way.
b. Requirements. For new single family residential developments that trigger a preliminary and final plat and all multi-family residential developments that include rear lot frontage along a Major Roadway, the landscape plan must provide an average of a fifty-foot (50') buffer, but not less than a thirty-foot (30') buffer, running parallel to the rear lot line for the purposes of creating a barrier to the Major Roadway. The buffer shall be a combination of trees, fences and shrubs that create a minimum of fifty percent (50%) year-round opacity at maturity.
c. Maintenance. The proposed residential development shall also include a plan to protect and maintain the tree buffer. This could include a homeowners association or some other form of protection as approved by City Staff, which incorporates the buffer into rear yard landscaping.
F. Business and industrial developments.
1. Minimum vegetation requirements for open space: Each development must have at least the minimum percentage open space shown in the following table:
All Nonresidential Uses In AG and R Districts, Mixed Use, And B-1 Districts | B-2, B-3 and P-B Districts | Industrial Districts | |
Total gross development site | 30% | 20% | 15% |
2. The open space areas must not be covered by a building or other impervious surface, and must be planted with trees, shrubs, flowers, native plant species or similar plantings and covered with sod, landscape rock or mulch. Areas used for demonstrated parking cannot be used to fulfill the open space requirement.
3. Tree and Shrub Calculations. The number of trees and shrubs required shall be calculated by multiplying the site area in square feet by the coefficients in the following table for each landscape material:
Zoning District | Overstory Deciduous | Coniferous | Shrubs |
All nonresidential uses in all AG and R districts, B-1, Mixed Use, and (site area minus stormwater basins) | 0.0002786 | 0.0002600 | 0.0006 |
B-2, B-3 and P-B (site area minus stormwater basins) | 0.0001858 | 0.0001733 | 0.0004 |
Industrial (site area minus stormwater basins) | 0.0001392 | 0.0001300 | 0.00039 |
G. Building Permits and Certificates of Occupancy.
1. Financial Guarantee and Warranty. For new construction in industrial, business and residential districts with common lot landscaping, no building permit shall be issued until the required landscaping plan has been submitted to and approved by City Staff, and a cash escrow, or irrevocable letter of credit from an approved banking institution, has been posted and approved by the City. The required financial guarantee shall be one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the cost of the landscaping project. Once the approved and required landscape has been installed, the City shall inspect to verify completion and reduce the financial guarantee by fifty percent (50%). The remaining financial guarantee shall be in effect for one (1) year from the date of verified installation to ensure the installation, survival and replacement of the landscaping improvements. The landscaping improvements must survive one (1) full growing season from the date of the installation, and any plantings that do not survive shall be replaced.
2. Installation of Landscaping. After an escrow or irrevocable letter of credit has been posted, the landscaping material required in the approved landscaping plan shall be installed within six (6) months after the date of posting the bond or irrevocable letter of credit. A 1-month extension of the planting period may be granted by City Staff upon a demonstration by the property owner or developer that such an extension is warranted because of adverse weather conditions or unavailability of required plant materials. No more than three (3) such one (1) month extensions may be granted. The City may draw upon any posted financial guarantee if the required landscaping improvements have not been installed by the specified completion time or any plantings that have not survived a period of one (1) year have not been replaced.
H. Irrigation. Irrigation shall be provided for all sodded and landscaped areas. Said irrigation shall consist of an underground sprinkling system that is designed by a professional irrigation installer to meet the water requirements of the site’s specific vegetation. The system shall be detailed on the landscape plan. Systems are permitted in the public right-of-way. The maintenance and repair of all private irrigation systems placed in public rights-of-way shall be the responsibility of the system owner. Irrigation systems that will interfere with any improvement projects in the public right-of-way shall, upon notification, be moved by the system owner at the system owner’s expense prior to the project commencement. Any additional improvement project costs incurred as a result of irrigation systems that are not removed after notification shall be the responsibility of the system owner. Irrigation systems shall be so designed and installed that they do not spray across public streets or sidewalks.
I. Public landscaping care. The City shall have the right to plant, prune, maintain and remove trees, plants and shrubs within any public right-of-way or public grounds as may be necessary to ensure the proper health of the vegetation or surrounding vegetation, the general public safety or to preserve or enhance the symmetry and beauty of such public ground.
J. Landscape plan submittal requirements.
1. Plan required. A detailed landscape plan prepared by a professional landscape company, an accredited landscape technician or a landscape architect registered by the state shall be submitted for review and approval by the planning division with any application for a building permit for a new structure, a site plan approval, or a subdivision approval. Each landscape plan shall reflect the purpose statement of this Section and shall be prepared to meet the objectives and requirements.
2. Design emphasis shall be placed on the following:
a. Screening parking view from public roadways and adjoining properties.
b. Enhancing driveway entrance areas.
c. Promoting the maintenance of vital sightlines of the principal use on the site.
d. Mitigating the visual impacts of large areas of impervious surfaces.
e. Maintaining efficient traffic and parking control.
f. Reducing the amount of uninterrupted blank walls.
g. Reducing the amount of contiguous hard surface areas at building entrances, along sidewalks and around other highly visible areas.
3. Plan drawings. At the time of application, all of the following information shall be indicated graphically and labeled clearly on a one (1) dimension scaled drawing electronic copy for all exhibits in the plan:
a. Property lines, easements, and other pertinent boundary information.
b. Adjacent and intersecting street rights-of-way, widths, and street names.
c. Existing and proposed structures, buildings, walks, drives, landscaping and parking areas (with number of spaces noted), and any other structures. Existing items shall be differentiated from proposed.
d. Existing and proposed utilities and utility easements.
e. Existing and proposed two (2) foot contour lines.
f. Corner visibility triangle areas.
g. Tree inventory and preservation plan.
h. Proposed plantings by location, scientific name, common name, quantity, caliper and planting method.
i. Total square footage of parcel, buildings, parking lot interior, driveways, sidewalks, and required landscaped areas.
j. Location, height and material of proposed screening, fencing and berms.
k. Title block containing the following: date, name of project, name, address and phone numbers of owner, and the identity of the party who prepared the plan.
l. Legal description.
m. North arrow.
n. Graphic scale of 1-inch equals forty feet (40') or larger.
o. Adjacent land uses.
p. Fringe information within a distance of one hundred fifty feet (150') from the project.
q. Vegetation management plan for areas planted with native prairie grasses and wildflowers.
r. Property identification number.