(A) A landscape easement shall be required as a buffer between non-compatible zones and between non-compatible land uses. The easement shall be located between the structure and all common boundaries except street frontage, unless otherwise specified.
(B) A minimum landscape easement with an average of ten feet with a minimum of five feet shall be provided in the required side yard of structures. The landscape materials shall include a combination of grass, low ground cover, shrubs and/or trees.
(C) VEHICULAR USE AREA (VUA), for the purposes of this section, refers to any area occupied in whole or in part by motorized vehicles, including, but not limited to, parking lots, parking stalls, driveways, service areas, and roadways. For the purposes of this section, VEHICULAR USE AREA (VUA) does not include areas devoted to the sole purpose of the display of merchandise for sale.
(D) A minimum landscape easement with an average of ten feet with a minimum of five feet shall be provided along the front border of parking lots. Landscaping materials shall include a combination of grass, low ground cover and shrubs.
(E) Landscaping materials located in front of parking areas shall not exceed three feet in height.
(F) Trees shall be protected from potential damage by vehicles.
(G) Thirty percent of required trees shall be placed within the perimeter of the actual parking surface area in those parking lots of over 20 spaces.
(H) All parking lots of more than five parking spaces shall include planted trees in accordance with Schedule 1 below:
SCHEDULE 1
Parking Spaces | Requirements | No. of Required Trees | Minimum Required Variety of Trees | Maximum of Any One Variety |
Parking Spaces | Requirements | No. of Required Trees | Minimum Required Variety of Trees | Maximum of Any One Variety |
1 to 5 | No trees | n/a | n/a | n/a |
6 to 30 | 1 tree for each 6 spaces or fraction thereof up to 30 spaces | 1 to 5 | n/a | n/a |
31 to 100 | 5 trees for the first 30 spaces, plus 1 tree for each additional 7 spaces or fraction thereof | 5 to 15 | 2 | 65% |
101 to 196 | 15 trees for the first 100 spaces, plus 1 tree for each additional 8 spaces or fraction thereof | 15 to 27 | 3 | 50% |
197 to 304 | 27 trees for the first 196 spaces, plus 1 tree for each additional 9 spaces or fraction thereof | 27 to 39 | 4 | 40% |
305 to 504 | 39 trees for the first 305 spaces, plus 1 tree for each additional 10 spaces or fraction thereof | 39 to 59 | 5 | 35% |
505 or more | 59 trees for the first 505 spaces, plus 1 tree for each additional 11 spaces or fraction thereof | 59+ | 6 | 30% |
(I) The following situations shall require landscape easements:
(1) When any new development adjoins any R-MH1 or R-MH2 zone;
(2) When any new development adjoins a business or industrial zone;
(3) When any new development adjoins a freeway, expressway or railroad;
(4) When any new development adjoins a utility substation, junkyard, land fill, sewage plant or similar use. For utility substations the landscape easement may be located adjacent to the enclosure;
(5) When a planned unit development (PUD) or zero lot line (ZLL) development abuts any residential zone containing one- and two-family dwelling units and abuts any commercial or industrial zone; and
(6) When any new development abuts a residential zone.
(J) Interior landscaping for vehicular use areas (VUAs). Landscaping shall be provided for vehicular use areas in accordance with the following standards:
(1) A minimum of 5% of the total VUA shall be landscaped and the landscaping shall be dispersed throughout the paved area. The VUA landscaping shall only be required for uses that have more than 20 parking spaces. This section shall not apply to parking lots used for the sole purpose of displaying merchandise for sale.
(2) The VUA landscaping shall contain a variety of plant materials and be dispersed in the form of planting islands or peninsulas throughout the VUA. The minimum size of planting areas shall be 80 square feet.
(3) Planting islands within the VUA shall be required within every other parking row, when parking rows are provided in the interior portions of the parking lot. (See Illustration #1.) Planting islands may be placed in a staggered or linear design.
(4) All planting islands shall be planted with grass, low ground cover, shrubs, flowers, trees or any combination of these. Hard surfaces or gravel are not permitted.
(5) All planting islands shall have a minimum of six-inch curbs installed to protect the planting area from vehicular traffic.
(6) All plant material (other than grass or ground cover) located within landscape islands where vehicle overhangs are needed shall be setback a minimum of two feet six inches from the edge of pavement or face of curb.
(7) Landscaping materials shall be located between the structure and all common boundaries including the side yard and frontage of parking lots.
(8) Trees used in planting islands two to four feet wide are restricted to mature height of ten to 25 feet and defined as small sized trees. Trees used in planting islands four to eight feet wide may use small trees or trees that reach a mature height of 25 to 50 feet and defined as medium sized trees. Trees used in planting islands greater than eight feet are not restricted by size.
(K) Landscaping shall be located around the base of freestanding signs. The landscaping shall be ornamental in nature with shrubs, flowers and other ornamental plant materials. Sign landscaping is not required for free-standing signs permitted before the adoption of this chapter. The amount of landscape area required shall be one square foot of landscape area per one square foot of sign area. At least 50% of the required landscaping area shall be planted with trees and/or shrubs.
(L) Any facade or portion of a building facade not used for outdoor display, storage or loading/unloading shall be required to provide the following landscaping if the wall is visible from a public right-of-way. Blank facades shall be classified as any wall that does not have windows used for display or entry doors for employees or the general public. Buildings which are 10,000 square feet or smaller shall be exempt from the requirements of this section.
(1) Trees shall be provided on an average of at least one tree per 40 linear feet of blank facade as defined above and shrubs shall be provided on an average of at least one shrub per ten linear feet of blank facade. This landscaping is not required to be placed in a linear design, but shall be required to be dispersed throughout the length of the building facade.
(2) Facades that abut VUAs shall have a minimum eight-foot wide planting area. This planting area can be reduced by four feet if sidewalks are installed.
(M) The necessity of screening and the type of screening required varies greatly with each particular situation. Therefore, it is the intent of this section to provide a discretionary measure in deciding the appropriate height, width and type of screening necessary, with the following provisions:
(1) Required screening; height limits. Screening shall be required and adequately maintained in the following situations:
(a) Where a business zone abuts a residential zone, a screen will be required along the boundary of the business property adjacent to the residential property;
(b) Where an industrial zone abuts a residential zone, a screen will be required along the boundary of the industrial property adjacent to the residential property; and
(c) Where a business or industrial zone abuts a residential zone, a screen will be required along the boundary of the adjacent residential zone.
1. Where on any lot, or portion thereof, automobiles, appliances and their component parts are under repair or reduction, a screen shall be required.
2. Off-street parking lots shall be screened when located adjacent to or in a residential zone.
3. Mobile home parks shall provide a screen along their property lines.
4. Fences in a residential zone, which may be placed along a boundary for the purpose of providing privacy or security to the resident, shall follow the following height limitations:
a. Front yard: three feet;
b. Fences shall be of a decorative design (chain link, barbed wire, stock wire, chicken wire and similar type fences are not permitted);
c. Side yard: eight feet; and
d. Rear yard: eight feet.
(2) For the purpose of this section, FENCE shall be interpreted to include any type of fence, wall, trellis or structure placed for the purpose of this section.
(3) All fences shall be constructed of durable materials and shall be installed to withstand the elements. Fences shall be maintained in good repair at all times.
(4) Uses specified above as requiring screening shall provide a visual obstruction from adjacent properties in conformance with the following standards: The screen may be composed of view-obscuring vegetation, wall, fence or berm. The items may be used individually or in combination. Fences constructed of chain link, barbed wire, stock wire, chicken wire or other similar type fences are not permitted when used for screening. The result shall be opaque 80% screen, which obscures views from the ground to a height of the object being screened; however, the screen is not required to exceed eight feet. Plant materials shall be at least two feet tall at the time of installation and reach the desired height within three to five years. When a combination of features is proposed, one-fourth of the surface area of walls, fences or berms that face off-site must be covered with plant material within three to five years. Berms, when utilized, should not have a slope steeper than three to one (3:1). Additionally, screen areas shall be sufficient to allow for the mature growth of plant materials when used.
(Ord. 11-85, passed 12-3-1985; Ord. 24-2007, passed 8-21-2007)