The landscaping requirements of this section shall apply to land, public and private, designated as multi-family, recreational, institutional, industrial, or commercial land uses, which is required to have or provide forty (40) or more parking spaces. All those multi-family, recreational, institutional, industrial, and commercial land uses which are required to have one (1) to thirty-nine (39) nineteen spaces must comply with the street yard requirements only. All parking areas, regardless of size, shall meet buffer requirements outlined in Section 9-3077.5.
(a) Parking area landscaping requirements of this section are as follows:
(1) Landscaping shall be placed in a manner that meets the intent of this chapter and shall be maintained.
(2) Any fraction of requirements shall be rounded up to the next whole number.
(3) Landscaping shall not obstruct the view of motorists using any street, private driveway, parking aisles, or the approach to any street intersection to constitute a traffic hazard.
(4) Credit for using existing trees on site greater than or equal to those required by standards shall be two (2) trees for every one tree retained.
(5) When using an existing tree, the area under the drip line (maximum extension of branches) of the tree must remain undisturbed. This includes grading, fill, paving, etc.
(6) If an existing tree dies, it must be replaced with two (2) trees during the next planting season.
(7) If any vegetation dies, replacement is required within the next planting season.
(b) Landscaping requirements for interior areas of parking areas: (Interior areas are defined as the areas within the property used for vehicular storage, parking, or movement).
(1) Landscaped planting areas are to be located within or adjacent to the parking area as tree islands, at the end of parking bays, inside medians, or between rows of cars.
(2) There shall be one (1) large shade tree for every two thousand (2,000) square feet of the total parking area.
(3) There shall be one shrub for every one thousand (1,000) square feet of the total parking area. Shrubs must be eighteen (18) inches tall at planting and reach a minimum height of thirty (30) inches in three (3) years.
(4) All trees and shrubs are to be planted within a landscaped planting area not less than one hundred sixty-two (162) square feet in area.
(5) No vehicular parking space shall be farther than fifty (50) feet from a planting area.
(6) No more than fifty percent (50%) of the trees and/or shrubs shall be deciduous.
(c) Landscaping requirements for street yards of parking areas: (Street yards are defined as the area between the public right-of-way and interior area)
(1) Street yards are required to be a minimum of ten (10) feet in width.
(2) One (1) large shade tree is required every fifty (50) feet, or one (1) small tree is required every twenty-five (25) feet along the street frontage.
(3) Shrub beds (fifty (50) square feet minimum and a minimum of ten (10) shrubs per shrub bed) are required every forty (40) feet along the street frontage. Berms may be used instead of shrubs with the following stipulations: 1) berms must be the required height of shrubs with no more than a 3:1 slope; 2) shorter shrubs may be used in combination with berms as long as the required total height is met; 3) berms must be capped or topped with groundcover vegetation; 4) berms shall be grassed; 5) berms must occupy sixty percent (60%) of the frontage area; 6) fences may be used in combination with berms as long as the fence is compatible in materials and color to the building and is not more than forty percent (40%) of the required height.
(d) Tree and shrub specifications:
(1) "Tree" as used herein means any tree, evergreen or deciduous, whose mature height of its species can be expected to exceed fifteen (15) feet for a small tree and thirty-five (35) feet for a large tree (except in cases where this would require the planting of incompatible species with the surrounding environment, such as overhead utility lines, then acceptable species may be used). The tree, existing or planted, shall be at least eight (8) feet in height and six and one-quarter (6 1/4) inches in circumference (two (2) inches in diameter) measured at one-half (½) foot above grade for newly planted trees and measured at four (4) feet above grade for existing trees.
(2) Each shrub shall attain a minimum of thirty (30") inches in height within three (3) years of planting. All shrubs shall be a minimum of eighteen (18) inches tall when planted. All shrubs planted on berms may have lesser height, provided the combined height of the berm and plantings after three (3) years is at least thirty (30) inches in height.
(e) Abutting property landscaping requirements.
(1) Any non-residential use located or developed on property adjoining any residential district, unless separated by a public street or rail right-of-way, shall provide landscaping as outlined in Section 9-3046.1.2 Buffers. Landscaping shall be provided even if the adjoining residentially zoned property is vacant. A buffer shall be provided along the full length of any common property line and shall be maintained as long as the conditions requiring the screening exist.
(2) Screening for any parking area regardless of use or zoning district shall meet the requirements of 9-3046.1.2. (Ord. of 1/10/05; Ord. of 6/5/06; Ord. of 12/6/10; Ord. of 6/28/21)