(A) General site requirements. All developed portions of the site shall conform to the following general landscaping standards, except where specific landscape elements, such as a greenbelt, berms or screening are required:
(1) All unpaved portions of the site shall be planted with grass, ground cover, shrubbery or other suitable live plant material, which shall extend to any abutting street pavement edge. Grass areas in the front yard of all non-residential uses shall be planted with sod or hydro-seeded.
(2) A mixture of evergreen and deciduous trees shall be planted on non-residential parcels at the rate of one tree per 3,000 square feet or portion thereof of any unpaved open area for which specific landscaping requirements do not appear later in this subchapter. Required trees may be planted at uniform intervals, at random or in groupings.
(B) Landscaping adjacent to roads.
(1) Planting requirements.
(a) Where required, landscaping adjacent to roads shall comply with the following planting requirements (see diagram):
Type | Requirements |
Deciduous or evergreen tree | 1 per 40 lineal feet of road frontage |
Shrubs | 8 per 40 lineal feet of road frontage |
(b) For the purposes of computing length of road frontage, openings for driveways and sidewalks shall not be counted. Trees and shrubs may be planted at uniform intervals, at random or in groupings.
[Reserved for Landscaping Adjacent to Roads illustration]
(2) Location and dimensions. Required landscaping adjacent to roads shall be located totally on private property within a planting strip adjacent to the road right-of-way. The minimum width of the planting strip shall be 15 feet.
(C) Berms. Where required, berms shall conform to the following standards:
(1) Dimensions. Unless otherwise indicated or appropriate, required berms shall be measured from the grade of the parking lot or flat ground adjacent to the berm, and shall be constructed with slopes no steeper than one foot vertical for each three feet horizontal (33% slope), with at least a two-foot flat area on top. Berms may undulate in height, subject to review and approval of berm design as shown on the site plan. Unless otherwise indicated, the maximum height of required berms shall be three feet.
(2) Protection from erosion. Any required berm shall be planted with sod, ground cover or other suitable live plant material to protect it from erosion so that it retains its height and shape. The use of railroad ties, cement blocks and other types of construction materials to retain the shape and height of a berm shall be prohibited unless specifically reviewed and approved by the Planning Commission.
(a) Berms located in the front yard of non-residential parcels. Berms located in the front yard of non-residential parcels shall be landscaped in accordance with the requirements for landscaping adjacent to roads, division (B) above.
(b) Berms used for screening other than in the front yard. Berms used for screening other than in the front yard shall be landscaped in accordance with the requirements for screening, division (E) below.
(4) Measurement of berm length. For the purposed of calculating required plant material, berm length shall be measured along the exterior edge of the berm.
(D) Greenbelts. Where required, greenbelts shall conform to the following standards.
(1) Measurement of greenbelt length. For the purposes of calculating required plant material, greenbelt length shall be measured along the exterior edge of the greenbelt.
(2) General planting requirements.
(a) Grass or ground cover requirements. Grass, ground cover or other suitable live plant materials shall be planted over the entire greenbelt area, except where paved walkways are used.
(b) Tree and shrub requirements. Except where the greenbelt is used for screening, a minimum of one deciduous or evergreen tree shall be planted for each 30 lineal feet or portion thereof of required berm, or, alternatively, eight shrubs may be substituted for each required tree. Trees and shrubs may be planted at uniform intervals, at random, or in groupings.
(c) Distance from sidewalk. Plant materials shall not be placed closer than four feet to the right-of-way line where the greenbelt abuts a public sidewalk.
(3) Greenbelts used for screening. Greenbelts used for screening shall be landscaped in accordance with the requirements for screening, division (E) below.
(1) General screening requirements. Unless otherwise specified, wherever an evergreen or landscaped screen is required, screening shall consist of closely-spaced evergreen plantings (i.e., no farther than 15 feet apart) which can be reasonably expected to form a complete visual barrier that is at least six feet above ground level within three years of planting. Deciduous plant materials may be used; provided that, a complete visual barrier is maintained throughout the year. Wherever screening is required adjacent to residentially zoned or used property, the screening must be installed prior to the beginning of site grading and general construction, except where such activity would result in damage to the screening.
(2) Screening of equipment. Mechanical equipment, such as air compressors, pool pumps, transformers, sprinkler pumps, satellite dish antennas and similar equipment shall be screened on at least three sides. Insofar as practical, the screening shall exceed the vertical height of the equipment being screened by at least six inches within two years of planting.
(F) Parking lot landscaping. In addition to required screening, all off-street parking areas shall be landscaped as follows.
(1) Landscaping ratio. Off-street parking areas containing greater than ten spaces shall be provided with at least 20 square feet of interior landscaping per parking space. Whenever possible, parking lot landscaping shall be designed to improve the safety of pedestrian and vehicular traffic, guide traffic movement and improve the appearance of the parking area.
(2) Minimum area. Landscaped areas in parking lots shall be no less than five feet in any single dimension and no less than 200 square feet in area. Landscaped areas in or adjacent to parking lots shall be protected with curbing or other means to prevent encroachment of vehicles.
(3) Other landscaping. Required landscaping elsewhere on the parcel shall not be counted in meeting the parking lot landscaping requirements.
(4)
Required plantings. Requirements for plant material shall be based on the location, size and shape of the parking lot landscaped area. A minimum of one tree shall be planted per 300 square feet or fraction thereof of interior landscaped area. At least 50% of each interior landscaped area shall be covered by living plant material, such as sod, shrubs, ground cover, or trees. Plantings within parking lots shall comply with the requirements for unobstructed sight distance set forth in § 156.028. The landscape plan shall indicate the types, sizes and quantities of plant material proposed for the area. (G) Landscaping of rights-of-way. Public rights-of-way located adjacent to required landscaped areas and greenbelts shall be planted with grass or other suitable live ground cover, and shall be maintained by the owner or occupant of the adjacent property as if the rights-of-way were part of the required landscaped areas or greenbelts. No plantings except grass or ground cover shall be permitted closer than three feet from the edge of the road pavement.
(H)
Maintenance of unobstructed visibility for drivers. No landscaping shall be established or maintained on any parcel or in any parking lot that will obstruct the view of drivers. Accordingly, all landscaping shall comply with the provisions concerning unobstructed sight distance set forth in § 156.028. (I) Potential damage to utilities. In no case shall landscaping material be planted in a way that will interfere with or cause damage to underground utility lines, public roads or other public facilities. Species of trees whose roots are known to cause damage to public roadways, sewers or other utilities shall not be planted closer than 15 feet from any such roadways, sewers or utilities. Trees shall be set back from overhead utility lines as indicated in the following chart:
Tree Height | Minimum Distance from Center of Trunk to Nearest Utility Line |
Up to 15 feet | 10 ft. |
15 to 25 feet | 20 ft. |
Over 25 feet | 30 ft. |
(J) Landscaping of divider medians. Where traffic on driveways, maneuvering lanes, private roads or similar vehicle accessways is separated by a divider median, the median shall be curbed and have a minimum width of ten feet. A minimum of one deciduous or evergreen tree shall be planted for each 30 lineal feet or portion thereof of median. Trees may be planted at uniform intervals, at random, or in groupings, but in no instance shall the center-to-center distance between trees exceed 60 feet.
(K) Irrigation. The site plan shall indicate the proposed method of watering landscaped areas. Although not required, installation of an in-ground irrigation/sprinkler system is encouraged, particularly in front yards.
(Ord., § 5.02, passed - -)
