In order to promote careful landscaping of outdoor areas, soften and enhance the manmade environment, reduce summer heat and provide shade, and to assist with stormwater drainage, the following minimum standards shall apply in all zoning districts where landscaping is required, unless otherwise noted.
(A) General standards.
(1) All required plantings installed shall be:
(a) Nursery grown stock that is free from pests or growth problems;
(b) Installed and maintained according to best management practices and standards set forth by the American Nursery and Landscape Association, ANSI Z60.1-2004, as amended;
(c) Installed in a manner that is not intrusive to above and below ground utilities; and
(d) Selected from the list of preferred plant species for Newberry County unless otherwise certified by a licensed landscape architect or arborist as suitable for Newberry County's climate and comparable in habit and growth rate to a plant included in the list of preferred plant species for Newberry County.
(2) All required landscaping shall be included in the required site plan as provided in § 153.184(G) - Site plan required.
(3) The use of native species and related cultivars is encouraged.
(4) Clustering and/or random spacing of plants and trees is encouraged to produce a natural appearance in the landscape, except where uniformity is required for opaque screening.
(5) Landscaping, including berms, shall be installed and maintained so as not to interfere with the sight distance requirements of this zoning ordinance or the sight distance needs of vehicular traffic in parking areas and at entrance and exit locations.
(6) Shrubs and trees shall be installed no closer than 2 feet to a curb, gutter, sidewalk or building. Small maturing trees shall be planted no closer than 10 feet to a building, medium maturing trees no closer than 20 feet to a building and large maturing trees no closer than 25 feet to a building, unless otherwise required in § 153.184 - Landscaping.
(7) Shrubs shall not be planted within 6 feet of tree trunks.
(8) In landscaped areas adjacent to parking spaces or street curbs, no plant material with the potential to reach over 6 inches in height may be located within 12 inches of the curb or other protective barrier. This is intended to protect planted materials from damage by car bumpers and car doors.
(9) The Zoning Administrator will conduct inspections as needed to determine that required landscaping is properly installed and maintained as provided in this chapter.
(B) Tree size. The following standards shall apply to all required trees at the time of planting.
Required Tree Size at Time of Planting | |
Type | Minimum Caliper1 |
Large Maturing Tree | 1.5 inches |
Medium Maturing Tree | 1.5 inches |
Small Maturing Tree | 1.0 inches |
1 Caliper shall be measured 6 inches above the ground | |
(C) Existing vegetation. Except when necessary to provide access to a site or to insure the safety and security of people and property, every reasonable effort shall be made to protect and retain existing vegetation in required buffers and setbacks, except in planned roadways, driveways, and drainage ways.
(1) Existing vegetation incorporated into landscaping requirements. Existing vegetation may count towards meeting the landscaping requirements of this section as long as such are:
(a) Free from pests or structural problems;
(b) Clearly shown on the site plan;
(c) Approved by the Zoning Administrator prior to development as meeting the intent of the landscaping requirements;
(d) Not considered invasive or noxious plants; and
(e) Adequately protected before and during grading and development of the site.
(2) Protection during development required. Prior to construction, grading or other land disturbing activity, substantial protective barriers shall be placed around the root protection area of all trees and shrubs to be saved and incorporated to meet landscaping requirements.
(a) Plant protection plan required. A plan for protection of existing vegetation shall be submitted and approved by the Zoning Administrator prior to clearing, grading or development of the site.
(b) Protection during development required. All existing trees included in tree requirements for parking lots must be protected from damage by the property owner by the establishment of a tree protection zone. A tree protection zone for each tree, at a minimum, shall be equal to a 2 foot radius on the ground for every inch of diameter at breast height (DBH) of the tree. The tree protection zone 2017 S-13shall be protected by a sturdy, durable, and visible fence installed before any land disturbance begins and in place during all phases of development and construction. Each tree protection zone must be designated as such with signs posted visibly on all sides of the fenced protection area, with lettering and colors that provide maximum readability in terms of distance and contrast.
(D) Irrigation. All newly-planted and relocated trees and plant material shall be watered by permanent irrigation systems and shall be watered sufficiently to ensure healthy growth and longevity in the landscape.
(E) Exceptions. The Zoning Administrator may alter the requirements of this section as long as the existing features complement or enhance the spirit and intent herein, to reasonably accommodate the following circumstances.
(1) In the event that unusual topography or elevation of a development site, the size of the parcel to be developed, the soil or sub-surface condition of the site, or other existing conditions on the site would make strict adherence to the requirements of this section serve no meaningful purpose or would make it physically impractical to install and maintain the required landscaping. Such alterations may occur only at the request of the property owner, who shall submit a plan to the Zoning Administrator showing existing site features that would prevent adherence to the requirements of this section, the requirements of this chapter that would be difficult or impossible to meet, and proposed alternatives to the requirements that would ensure that the spirit and intent of these landscaping regulations will be met.
(2) The Zoning Administrator may require changes to any planting schedule or plant size requirement and may require plant substitution when, in their opinion, the size, nature, and/or spacing of plantings will compromise the safety and security of the public.
(3) The Zoning Administrator may approve revisions to landscaping in an approved site plan in order to accommodate seasonal planting problems or a lack of plant availability as long as:
(a) There is no significant reduction in the quantity of plant material;
(b) There is no significant change in the size or location of plant materials; and
(c) The plant substitutions are of the same general category and have the same general design characteristics (growth rate, habit, etc.) as the materials being replaced.
(F) Landscape and tree installation and maintenance responsibility. All landscape materials required or installed voluntarily by the developer, whether used for screening, property buffers, road buffers, or other required landscaping areas shall be properly installed and maintained by the property owner. Maintenance includes all actions necessary to keep landscaping materials healthy, neat and orderly in appearance, and free of litter and debris. Any landscape material lost, stolen, or vandalized, or which has died or become irreparably or irreversibly damaged, by disease, pests, or for any other reason shall be removed and replaced unless, in the determination of the Zoning Administrator, the maturity of the remaining vegetation compensates for the loss of an individual shrub or tree, thereby causing the intent of the landscape standard to still be met without replacement.
(G) Site plan required. A site plan, drawn to scale, is required for all landscaped areas as required in § 153.184 - Landscaping. The site plan shall include the following elements.
(1) A scale bar and north arrow.
(2) Property boundaries for the project site.
(3) Location of adjacent property lines of existing residential uses and residentially zoned properties.
(4) Existing adjacent streets (including names) and rights-of-way.
(5) Existing berms, walls, fences, and natural areas/vegetation to be incorporated into the required landscaping and screening.
(6) Required buffers and setbacks on the project site.
(7) Existing and proposed above ground utility lines that would impact required tree planting.
(8) Location, dimensions, and composition (plants, ground covers, materials, etc.) of all required landscaping, to include plant species and size, and all proposed berms, fences, or walls.
(9) Proposed driveways, roads, parking lot design (including spaces, medians, walkways, curbs, etc.), additional parking not in a parking lot, loading areas, and other areas of note within required buffers and planting areas.
(H) Landscaping in the Corridor Protection Overlay District. The landscaping standards included in this section shall apply, as appropriate, to all required landscaped areas in the Corridor Protection Overlay District (CPO). Landscaping shall be provided for all new industrial and commercial uses and large subdivisions (10 or more lots) and all industrial and commercial uses expanded by more than 25% that are located within the CPO.
(1) Road buffers. The following landscaping is required within required road buffers in the CPO as identified in § 153.182(I) - Road Buffers.
(a) Large maturing trees shall be planted unless overhead utility lines or other factors require the use of medium or small maturing trees, as approved by the Zoning Administrator. Fractions generated by applying the minimum number of plants to the actual linear footage of the buffer shall be rounded up to the next whole number. (For example, 125 feet of buffer length would be required to have 2 large trees or 3 medium trees or 4 small trees.) Existing trees may be included in this calculation, if the trees are healthy and structurally sound, are more than 12 inches in diameter at breast height in size, and are located within the road buffer area. The planting schedule for road buffers shall be as follows:
PLANTING SCHEDULE FOR ROAD BUFFERS
| |
Type | Minimum Number Per Linear Foot of Road Buffer |
Large Maturing Trees | 0.015 |
Medium Maturing Trees | 0.04 |
Small Maturing Trees | 0.06 |
(b) In addition to the tree planting requirements, a minimum of 30% of the buffer area shall be planted in a combination of approved shrubs, perennials, ornamental grasses, live ground cover, or turfgrass, except that additional plantings may not be required in significant forested areas maintained within the road buffer if so approved by the Zoning Administrator. All other areas, including bare ground under trees, shall be covered in a minimum of 3 inches of mulch, turfgrass, live ground cover, or a combination of these elements. Spacing and arrangement of plant material must be primarily based on the mature dimensions of the plants. Plant materials shall be designed and installed in a manner that provides variability of height at maturity.
(c) Berms shall be allowed to augment required road buffer plantings as long as a minimum of 50% of all required trees and plantings shall be planted along the street front portion of the berm.
(I) Parking lot tree canopy. The intent of the parking lot tree canopy requirements is to break up and soften the appearance of expanses of paved areas and reduce ambient temperatures within off-street parking lots by providing shade.
(1) Applicability. The following standards shall apply to all new off-street parking areas with 10 or more parking spaces and all expansions to existing parking areas which add 10 or more spaces, unless otherwise noted. In an expansion, only the area of expansion is required to be included in the calculations provided in this section.
(2) Required trees.
(a) Large maturing trees must be provided in each of-street parking lot at a minimum average density of 1 tree for every 10 parking spaces in the lot. Fractions shall be rounded to the nearest whole number.
(b) Existing trees. Existing trees may be included in this calculation, if the trees are healthy and structurally sound, are more than 12 inches in diameter at breast height in size, and are located within the tree planting area as described in divisions (3) and (6).
(3) Parking lot perimeter. A buffer of at least 10 feet in width immediately surrounding the off-street parking area, except where the lot is permitted to abut or directly adjoin a building and excluding access points, is required for all off-street parking as regulated by this section. Large maturing trees as required in division (I)(2) - Required Trees may be planted in such buffer areas, as specified in the following subsections.
(4) Responsibility for installation. The property owner of the developing property shall be responsible for all required tree installation and maintenance.
(5) Tree size. Required trees shall be large maturing trees, however smaller trees must be substituted for required large trees whenever a larger tree would interfere with existing overhead utility lines.
(6) Tree location. A minimum of 1 large maturing tree shall be located within 100 feet of every parking space. The measurement shall be taken at breast height for each tree.
(a) No tree may be planted closer than 3.5 feet to the back of a curb or the paved portion of the parking lot.
(b) No required tree shall be planted or installed within an underground or overhead utility easement or a drainage easement without the consent of the county and the easement holder at the time of site plan approval.
(7) Tree planting areas. Each planting area for a required tree shall be pervious, a minimum of 100 square feet in size, and no less than 6 feet in width at any point, with an average width of 8 feet.
(8) Planting areas - design and materials. The area between and immediately surrounding required trees and in tree islands shall be designed and installed in an orderly and attractive manner conducive to the ongoing health of the plant materials, and shall include ground cover, mulch, or plantings including, but not limited to: small maturing shrubs (no more than 2 feet tall at maturity), annuals, perennials, ornamental grasses, turf grasses, or a minimum of 3 inches of landscaping mulch. Bare ground, including areas under trees, shall not be visible within these areas.
(9) Tree planting, maintenance and replacement. Required trees shall be properly maintained by the property owners. Maintenance includes all actions necessary to keep trees healthy, neat and orderly in appearance.
(a) Any trees lost, stolen, vandalized or irreparably or irreversibly damaged, to include disease or pest infestation, or dead shall be removed and replaced. In the event that any tree functioning to meet the standards of division (I) is severely damaged due to an unusual weather occurrence or natural catastrophe, the owner shall have 1 growing season to replace or replant.
(b) Any tree with a diameter at breast height of at least 12 inches which is damaged or removed shall be replaced with a tree which at maturity will have a diameter at breast height of equal size to that tree it is replacing. The size at planting of such replacement tree shall meet the requirements of division (I)(5) - tree size. Replacement trees shall be planted within close vicinity of the tree they are replacing. If the area is too small or in any way not conducive to the health and growth of the new tree, the Zoning Administrator may approve a more suitable location on the site.
(c) All trees shall be installed and maintained to current industry standards as provided by American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and/or the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Best Management Practices Series.
(d) In no instance will Newberry County be responsible for the maintenance of any vegetation located on any property that is not owned by the county.
(J) Time for installation of required landscaping and trees.
(1) Time limit. All landscaping as required by this zoning ordinance shall be completed in accordance with the approved site plan prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the site.
(2) Extensions and exceptions. The Newberry County Zoning Administrator may grant exceptions and extensions to the above time limit under the following conditions:
(a) Extensions may be granted due to unusual environmental conditions, such as drought, ice, over-saturated soil (deep mud), or inappropriate planting;
(b) Exceptions may be granted due to the substitution or unavailability of tree or plant species or acceptable tree size as specified on the site plan; and
(c) Exceptions may be granted due to circumstances beyond the developer's or property owner's control, such as incomplete construction or utility work to occur in a proposed landscaped area within 30 days after expected site completion. Exceptions may be granted provided that the developer or property owner submits a letter from the utility company to the county stating the estimated installation date.
(3) Inspections. A permanent certificate of occupancy for the development shall not be issued unless the landscaping required under this section is installed in accordance with these standards and in accordance with the approved site plan or subdivision plat.
(Ord. 06-11-16, passed 9-21-2016)