(A)
A planting plan on all commercial, office and institutional, industrial, multi-family, planned unit developments and non-residential uses in a residential district shall be required according to the following minimum specifications:
(1) Of developments less than one acre, 20% of the total lot area shall be planted;
(2) Of developments of one acre or more, 25% of the total lot area shall be planted;
(3) Of developments of two acres or more, 20% of the total lot area shall be planted; and
(4) Of developments of three acres or more, 15% of the total lot area shall be planted.
(B) Planting plans shall be prepared by a landscape architect licensed in the state or persons with a minimum of three years' experience in the preparation of planting plans for commercial developments. Planting plans shall be drawn at the same scale as the site plan or larger. Said planting plan may be found on the site plan.
(C) All areas that call for grass planting on a planting plan shall be planted in accordance with generally accepted practices.
(D) Parking areas in all commercial, office and institutional, industrial, multi-family, non-residential uses in a residential district and planned unit developments which have ten or more parking spaces shall be planted as follows.
(1) (a) For every ten spaces provided, one planting area of not less than nine feet by 18 feet shall be required. This area shall either be spaced between each ten parking spaces or otherwise randomly combined or spaced within the parking area to provide a planting area which shall be planted consistent with good design standards as provided in this subchapter.
(b) The intent of this division (D)(1) is to provide uniform planting of trees and other plant material within a parking area, rather than have all required planting space combined into one area or along the perimeter of the parking lot.
(4) Shrubbery, hedges and other live plant material may be used to complement the tree planting, but shall not be substituted for the tree.
(5) Landscape plantings used in parking areas as required in this division (D) and § 153.256 of this chapter may be used in satisfying the planting requirements of division (A) above.
(E) The owners, their heirs and assigns shall be responsible for protecting and maintaining all planting in a healthy growing condition, replacing it when necessary, and keeping it free of refuse and debris.
(F) All planting plans shall provide the following general information.
(1) Approximate locations of all required plant material to be planted on the site.
(2) Information on the quantity and caliper of all trees to be planted or retained on the site.
(G) The Chief Building Inspector may not issue a permanent certificate of occupancy for an approved site-specific development plan or part thereof, until all required seeding, trees and plant material have been placed in accordance with the approved planting plan. A temporary certificate of occupancy may be issued for a period of up to 180 days under extenuating circumstances that would affect the seeding or planting of the site or until the proper planting season is reached to complete the planting requirements. The Zoning Administrator may require the developer to provide an irrevocable letter of credit to the town to cover the costs of planting prior to the Building Inspector's issuance of a temporary certificate of occupancy.
(Ord. passed 4-9-2013; Ord. 2021-03, passed 6-8-2021)