(A) Any application or an improvement location permit and certificate of occupancy shall require a landscape plan as described herein. No improvement location permit shall be issued without city approval of such landscape plan. Prior to the issuance of the FINAL certificate of occupancy, a certificate of compliance shall be issued for the landscaping including residential planned development's overall and individual lots, and all non-residential uses and structures as per this subchapter. All landscaping materials are to be guaranteed for a minimum of one year after the issuance of the certificate of compliance.
(B) Division (A) above, notwithstanding construction of individual single- and two-family dwelling units, shall comply with the following:
(a) Section 159.083.
(b) Section 159.085.
(c) Section 159.087.
(d) Requires sod in lawn areas
(2) Section 159.183.
(C) Failure to implement the landscape plan as approved, or failure to comply with requirements for single- and two-family lots shall be cause for revocation of the certificate of occupancy.
(D) Low Impact Development (LID) Stormwater BMP's may be incorporated into required landscaping (i.e. Bioretention, Rain Gardens, Bioswales, etc.) provided the site conditions make LID feasible and that the intent of the required landscaping is not compromised.
(E) Landscaping plans shall include provisions for the following types of landscaping, as applicable:
(1) Parking Lot Landscaping.
(a) Interior Parking Lot Landscaping.
(b) Perimeter Parking Lot Landscaping.
(2) Building Base Landscaping.
(3) Landscape Buffer Yard.
(4) Screening.
(F) All landscape plans shall contain the following information, unless specifically waived by the Director of Planning and Development.
(1) The location and dimensions of all existing and proposed structures, property lines, easements, parking lots and drives, roadways and rights-of-way, sidewalks, curbs, bicycle paths, ground signs, trash receptacle enclosures and recycling areas, bicycle parking areas, fences, freestanding electrical equipment, recreational facilities, power lines (identify type of line such as transmission), transformers, irrigation systems, and other freestanding structural features including structural Stormwater BMP's as determined necessary by the Director of Planning and Development.
(2) On the adjacent properties within 20-feet of the site, include the location of existing buildings, structures and plant materials, unless waived by the Director of Planning and Development. Include location, type, quantity, size, and name of plant materials.
(3) The location, type, quantity, size and name (both botanical and common), of all existing plant materials. The notation of all trees with a diameter of six inches or greater at a point four feet above grade, as well as details of the estimated canopy size, health, and whether the tree is to be retained or removed.
(4) The location, type, quantity, size and name (both botanical and common), of all proposed plant materials including but not limited to trees, shrubs, groundcover, annuals/perennials, and turf. The canopy spread shall be denoted on the plans for all trees.
(5) Existing and proposed grading of the site indicating contours at two foot intervals. Proposed berming shall be indicated using one foot contour intervals.
(6) Elevations of all fences and retaining walls proposed for location on the site.
(7) Elevations, cross-sections, and other details as determined necessary by the Director of Planning and Development.
(8) Summary data indicating the area of the site in the following conditions:
(a) Total area and percentage of the site in landscaped area.
(b) Total area and percentage of the site in domestic turf grasses.
(G) Where the required landscape area exceeds 1,000 square feet in aggregate, the landscape plan shall be prepared by a licensed landscape architect. A landscape contractor may prepare the landscape plan for either a ground sign application or a designation size application only.
(H) Landscaping shall not be located within drainage and/or utility easements. However, when landscaping is used as a Stormwater Best Management Practice (BMP), the BMP must be in an exclusive "BMP Easement" to prevent damage from other utility work or encroachments and/or from the space becoming reallocated for other purposes and to ensure perpetuity of the BMP. These BMPs are regulated under the Rule 13 Stormwater Program and required to be inventoried and inspected for compliance of maintenance and proper function. Drainage easements will usually adjoin a major LID practice to allow for overflow/high flow events and/or a 100-year flood event.
(I) The Director of Planning or his/her designee may allow required plant materials to be moved to alternate locations both on- and off-site, but only if there are site features or constraints that prevent installation of such materials in the required locations or it is determined that there is no appreciable improvement to the site by installing the landscape materials in the required locations. This may include the substitution of a particular type of plant material to another type of plant material. (Example: one ornamental grass as a substitute for one deciduous shrub). It should not include a shrub for a tree.
(J) Best Management Practice (BMP) can refer to structural measures (wetlands, ponds, sand filters, etc.) or non-structural measures (restrictive zoning, reduced impervious area, etc.). BMPs are designed for the benefit of water quality and quantity. All new construction under the Stormwater Rule 13 must provide Post- Construction BMPs. The BMPs that meet the required pollutant removal rate and are regulated under the Stormwater Rule 13 require MS4 review and approval, special easements, maintenance agreements, physical maintenance and inspections to ensure proper performance in perpetuity. Post-Construction BMPs are required to be inventoried and subject to inspections and maintenance.
(Ord. 64-11-08, passed 12-9-08; Am. Ord. 31-9-10, passed 9-28-10; Am. Ord. 32-10-11, passed 11-15-11; Am. Ord. 09-03-12, passed 3-27-12; Am. Ord. 22-06-13, passed 7-9-13)