§ 10-4.347. Landscape design standards for perimeter and interior landscape areas.

Off-street parking facilities and other vehicular use areas shall meet the following minimum requirements:

(1)

Perimeter landscape area requirements.

a.

Front perimeter landscape area. A 20-foot wide strip of land along the entire front perimeter of a site, located between the front property line and any vehicular use area, shall be landscaped. Corner parcels where any two streets intersect shall be considered to have perimeter frontage on two sides of the site. Width of sidewalks shall not be included within the 20-foot wide front perimeter landscape area. Within the urban services area, the front perimeter may be reduced to a ten-foot width.

b.

Side and rear perimeter landscape areas. A six-foot wide strip of land along the entire side and rear perimeter of a site, located between the side and rear property lines and any vehicular use area, shall be landscaped, except that where a perimeter landscape area is between a side or rear property line and a vehicular use area used as an access way, only a four-foot wide strip of land shall be required to be landscaped.

c.

Joint landscape areas for adjacent properties. When side or rear perimeter landscape areas are required on adjacent properties, the owners of such adjacent properties may agree to the installation of only one such landscape area on the adjacent boundary, as long as such agreement is binding on both property owners and their successors in interest and is approved as part of the permit application by the county administrator or designee.

d.

Vehicular overhang areas. Vehicle wheel stops or other design features, such as curbing, shall be used so that parked vehicles do not extend more than two feet into any required landscape or buffer area.

e.

Access ways. All access ways through the perimeter landscape areas shall meet the standards established by the county for driveways pursuant to section 10-7.506. Separation between any one-way drives shall be no less than ten feet. If it is determined that access way separation minimum, or aisle width maximum, requirements will create a safety hazard or unreasonably limit safe access to and from the development, or will significantly impact protected trees, such requirements may be waived or modified by the county administrator or designee.

f.

Cross-visibility standards for perimeter landscape areas. A sight triangle shall be provided at all points where an access way intersects the right-of-way easement line of any street and also where the right-of-way or easement lines of any two streets intersect. The area within the sight triangle shall be constructed and maintained in accordance with sections 10-4.211(4) and 10-7.506.

g.

Grass ditches in perimeter landscape areas shall have back slopes no steeper than 3:1 for support of the required landscaping materials.

h.

Perimeter landscape areas shall not count as landscape islands.

i.

Perimeter landscape areas shall not be used for garbage or trash collection or any other functional use.

j.

No use shall be made of, nor development activity permitted in, the perimeter landscape areas except for:

1.

Planting material approved as part of the landscape plan.

2.

Completely underground utilities and essential, specifically approved, overhead or above-ground utilities which do not interfere with the mature growth of required plant material.

3.

Grass ditches, with back slopes no steeper than 3:1, which can support the required landscaping materials.

(2)

Interior landscape for vehicular use areas.

a.

Number. In vehicular use areas within the interior of a site, one 400 square foot (eight percent) natural or landscape planted area shall be required for every 5,000 square feet of vehicular use area, or major portion thereof. There shall be an additional 400 square feet of planting area for every eight parking spaces above the minimum number required in article VI (zoning).

b.

Size. A minimum of 80 percent of each landscape island shall be no less than 12 feet in width, exclusive of curbing. Whenever linear medians at least 50 feet long having shade trees spaced no greater than 15 feet on center are used, the minimum width may be reduced to eight feet exclusive of curbing.

c.

Location. Interior planting areas and landscape islands shall be located to most effectively relieve the monotony of large expanses of paving, reduce heat inversion, and contribute to orderly circulation of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Perimeter landscape areas shall not count as landscape islands.

d.

Landscape area credit availability. As an incentive for preserving forest communities, landscape islands within the vehicular use area encompassing urban forest shall count on a square foot to square foot basis toward the interior landscape island requirement, when preserved in a natural state. To qualify for such a waiver, the preserved natural areas must be a minimum of 800 square feet in size (which would qualify as 800 square feet of interior landscape) and be approved by the county administrator or designee as meeting the objectives of this division.

e.

Vehicular overhang. Vehicle wheel stops or other design features, such as curbing, shall be used so that parked vehicles do not extend more than two feet into any required landscape or buffer area.

f.

Grass ditches. Grass ditches shall have back slopes no steeper than 3:1 for support of the required landscaping materials.

(3)

Landscaping functional waiver. When an applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the director that strict application of this section will interfere with the function of vehicular use areas, the county administrator or designee may permit relocation of required landscaping or other substitutions which will improve functioning provided that the intent of this section is met by such modifications.

(Ord. No. 07-20, § 2, 7-10-07; Ord. No. 12-07, § 8, 5-8-12)