All portions of the site not devoted to buildings and pavement shall be landscaped, and screening shall be provided in order to remove, reduce, lessen or absorb the impact between one use or zone and another; reduce the impact of large parking areas; provide interest and lessen the monotony of the streetscape; and obscure the view of waste receptacles, parking areas and loading areas.
(1) Landscaped areas having a width of nine feet or more, including, but not limited to, areas devoted to required setbacks and interior parking lot landscaping, shall be included as meeting the open space requirements.
(2) Landscaped areas having a width of less than ten feet, but not less than five feet, which are located adjacent to buildings or walls, may be included as meeting the open space requirement when the Planning Commission determines that the area is of sufficient size and shape to provide for a suitable landscaped area.
(b) Landscaping Along the Street Frontage. All areas within the required building and parking setback, excluding driveway openings, shall be landscaped. The following minimum plant materials shall be provided and maintained.
(2) A minimum three foot high continuous planted screen shall be provided along the parking lot perimeter where the parking lot is adjacent to any residential district or a public street. Screen shall be comprised of at least fifty percent evergreen species.
(3) Grass, ground covers or other live landscape treatment, excluding paving or gravel.
(c) Screening of Parking Lots Along Public Streets. Whenever parking areas consisting of five or more spaces are located such that the parked cars will be visible from a public street, screening shall be provided and maintained between the parking area and the street right-of-way. To the extent that the provisions of Section 771.33(b) have not satisfied the provisions of this section, additional screening shall have a minimum height of three feet and shall be placed along the perimeter of the parking area to effectively obscure a minimum of fifty percent of the view of the parking area. A wall that is provided in compliance with Section 738.09(a) may also fulfill this requirement.
(d) Landscaping on the Interior of Parking Lots. For any parking area that is designed to accommodate forty or more vehicles, a minimum of ten percent of the parking lot area shall be planted as landscaped island areas. These areas shall be reasonably distributed throughout the parking lot so as to provide visual and climatic relief from broad expanses of pavement.
(1) Each landscaped island shall be a minimum of nine feet in any horizontal dimension.
(2) Within the landscaped islands, one major shade tree shall be provided for every ten parking spaces. Each tree, at the time of installation, shall have a clear trunk height of at least six feet and a minimum caliper of two and one-half inches. Trees shall be spaced no more than 100 feet apart.
(3) Landscaped areas adjacent to the perimeter of the parking area shall not be counted as interior parking lot landscaped areas.
(e) Landscaping.
(1) Required landscape treatment shall be provided to emphasize a pedestrian environment, separate pedestrian ways from parking areas, enhance architectural features, provide shade, and strengthen vistas and important axes between the development and other locations near the Cedar/Warrensville or Mayfield/Green intersection.
(2) Trees and shrubs shall be arranged to create varied and attractive views.