Landscaping shall be provided for interior vehicular use areas to provide visual and climatic relief from broad expanses of pavement, and to channelize and define pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
(A) Landscape requirements.
(1) A minimum of one canopy tree, one understory tree and three shrubs shall be provided in the interior of the parking lot, within dedicated landscape areas, for every 25 paved parking spaces or fraction thereof. Parking lot landscaping shall not count towards buffer requirements.
(2) Parking lots containing more than the minimum required number of parking spaces (as set forth in Chapter 155, Appendix B
, Lake Mary Code of Ordinances) shall provide additional landscaping. For each percentage over the minimum parking space requirement, there shall be a commensurate percentage of additional parking lot landscaping rounded upward to the nearest 5 percent. For example, a parking lot containing 7 percent additional spaces shall provide 10 percent additional canopy trees, 10 percent additional understory trees and 10 percent additional shrubs.
(a) A minimum of 50 percent of the additional plant material must be planted within the interior of the parking lot. The remainder of the additional plant material shall be dispersed within the parking lot, and around the perimeter of the parking lot to provide both a visual barrier to the parking area and additional climatic relief from the pavement.
(b) In no case shall the size of the land area devoted to landscaping relieve a developer from installing all required plant material. Expansion of interior landscape islands and exterior landscape buffers may be required in order to accommodate a healthy growth environment for all required landscaping. The minimum size of a parking lot island shall be 9' x 19' to ensure proper growth and protection of the landscaping materials planted therein. A 9' x 17' island to correspond with a 9' x 17' parking space if unique conditions exist (such as two (2) foot overhang). Other sizing may be approved by the city if unique conditions exist.
(3) A minimum of 10 percent of the gross square footage of the paved parking lot area and entrance way shall be devoted to landscaping.
(4) If parking lot lighting is provided, it shall be positioned within the parking lot so that the normal growth patterns of the landscape material will not interfere with or diminish the photometric design of the light fixtures.
(B) Interior and perimeter landscaped areas shall be dispersed so as to define aisles and limit unbroken rows of parking to a maximum of 100 feet.
(1) Each landscape break shall be a minimum of 200 square feet.
(2) In no instance shall a landscape break encroach into the travel lanes.
(C) All parking garages shall be required to provide the following:
(1) Landscaped hanging baskets, flower boxes, and/or landscaped planters around the exterior of all levels of the garage structure where the facade of said structure is visible from a public right-of-way. The amount of landscape coverage of each facade shall be equivalent to 10 percent of the total square footage of each facade. Placement of landscape treatments shall be dispersed across the expanse of each facade with the intent of moderating the visual impact of the structure.
(2) A Type (A) buffer, a minimum of ten feet wide, shall be provided around the perimeter of the parking garage. The intent of this landscape buffer is to provide aesthetic appeal and a dense visual buffer to the structure. Varying heights of plant material shall be provided so as to effect vertical landscape coverage of at least the first floor of the structure. Plantings shall be dispersed within the buffer so as to effect visual depth of plant material. In order to achieve this landscaping scheme, additional planting beyond minimum requirements may be required. The planting scheme shall be specifically approved by the Planning & Zoning Board and City Commission (if the project is required to go to the City Commission), during the site plan approval process for the parking garage structure.
(D) Small lots less than 1000 square feet inclusive of driving aisle, and parking areas for detached single-family homes are exempt from these requirements.
(E) Landscaping between buildings and parking lots. Any building consisting of two or more stories shall provide a landscape buffer of at least ten feet in width located between the building and parking lot. This landscape buffer shall be provided along each side of the building fronting on a right-of-way. This buffer shall be a mixture of foundation landscaping and understory trees.
(Ord. 1601, passed 12-20-18)