Purpose. The Landscaping and Screening regulations provide additional guidance on the development of sites within the City by addressing landscaping and screening requirements. They are designed to improve the appearance of the community, buffer potentially incompatible land uses from one another, and conserve the value of properties within the City and its extra-territorial jurisdiction. The Landscape and Screening regulations are further intended to expedite development approval by including predictable, uniform standards for landscaping.

Applicability. The provisions of this Section shall apply to all new development on each lot or site upon application for a building permit. The Commission, City Council, or Board of Adjustments may require buffering and screening above or in addition to the requirements of this Section during relevant application review when warranted based on evidence of adverse impacts on adjacent property or the public, except for the following:

Reconstruction or replacement of a lawfully existing use or structure following a casualty loss;

Remodeling, rehabilitation, or improvements to existing uses or structures which do not substantially change the location of structures, parking, or other site improvements; and

Additions or enlargements of existing uses or structures which increase floor area or impervious coverage area by less than twenty (20) percent of the building established on the site on the effective date of this Zoning Ordinance. Where such cumulative additions or enlargements are twenty (20) percent or greater, these provisions shall apply only to that portion where the new development occurs.

Review Procedure. The provisions contained in this Section shall be applied for each individual lot or site when an application for a building permit on such lot is made. A landscape plan shall be submitted with each application for a building permit. Such plan shall be reviewed by the Administrator for compliance with the provisions of this Section.

Plantings shall be used in required landscaped areas or bufferyards consistent with the most recent native plant species list by Iowa State University. All plant materials shall conform in size, species, and spacing with this section of this Zoning Ordinance.

No artificial trees, shrubs, plants, or turf shall be used to fulfill the minimum requirements for landscaping. Inorganic materials, such as stone or decorative pavers, may be used provided that such material does not comprise more than 35% of the minimum required landscaped area. Other concrete and/or asphalt pavement surfaces may not be used within the minimum required landscaped area, except for driveways and walkways.

Landscaping or screening installed in any landscaped area shall not obstruct the view from or to any driveway approach, street, alley, or sidewalk, and shall be consistent with the Sight Triangle definition.

All earth berm locations shall be reviewed by the Administrator, or his/her designee to determine how the berms shall relate to drainage and public utilities.

Maintenance. Upon installation of required landscape materials, each owner shall take appropriate actions to ensure their continued health and maintenance. Required landscaping that does not remain healthy shall be replaced consistent with this section and the approved landscaping plan for the project.

In any landscaped area required by the Bufferyard and Screening Provisions 165.08.06 or the Parking Lot Landscaping Requirements 165.08.05, one (1) tree of an approved species with a minimum caliper size of two (2) inches shall be planted and maintained for each 500 square feet of required landscaped area.

Existing trees shall be preserved to the greatest extent possible and when preserved shall be counted toward satisfaction of planting standards. The following efforts shall be made to retain existing trees:

Parking areas and building sites shall be located to the maximum extent practicable to preserve existing trees;

Grates or other pervious materials or surfaces shall be used within the drip line (outermost limit of horizontal branch extension) of existing trees to allow water and air to reach the tree roots;

Fill shall be prohibited in areas under the drip line of existing trees; and

Drastic changes in drainage patterns which might negatively affect existing trees shall be avoided.

Any tree of an approved species planted or maintained with a caliper of three (3) inches or above shall count as 1.5 trees toward the satisfaction of the requirements of this Section. An approved existing tree with a caliper of eight (8) inches or above preserved on a site shall count as 2.00 trees toward the satisfaction of the requirements of this Section.

No tree shall be planted under or within ten (10) lateral feet of any overhead utility line.

Parking Lot Landscaping. Unless otherwise noted, each unenclosed parking facility with a paved surface of 6,000 square feet or more and all drive through lanes shall comply with the following regulations.

Each unenclosed parking facility shall provide a minimum landscaped buffer of ten (10) feet along any street property line.

Each parking facility that abuts a residential district shall provide a ten (10) foot wide landscaped buffer along its common property line with the residential district.

Any parking facility regardless of size which abuts property in a residential district shall provide a wall, landscape screen, or earth berm not less than four (4) feet in height for the length of the common boundary. A grade change, terrace, or other site feature which blocks the sight line of headlights into a residential property may satisfy this requirement, subject to the determination of the Administrator.

Each unenclosed parking facility of over 6,000 square feet within any front or street yard shall provide interior landscaped area equal to no less than five percent (5%) of the total paved area of the parking facility.

Interior landscaped areas shall be at least located at the end of parking rows.

An individual interior landscaped area shall not be smaller than forty (40) square feet.

Parking facilities within the I-1, I-2, and I-3 Districts shall be exempt from this requirement.

Interior landscaping shall be credited toward the satisfaction of overall landscaping requirements set forth in this Section.

Landscaping or screening installed in any required landscaped area shall not obstruct the view from the off-street parking facility to any driveway approach, street, alley, or sidewalk. Landscaping shall further not obstruct any views among parking spaces and circulation ways, or visibility between vehicles and pedestrians.

Bufferyards and Screening Provisions. Bufferyards are areas that include a variety of methods to screen the potential impacts of intensive uses, whereas the yards required in Section 165.06, Site Development Regulations are distance requirements.

Bufferyards are required between zoning districts which share a common lot line or are adjacent but separated by an intervening alley as indicated in Table 0, Bufferyard Requirements.

Bufferyards are required for certain uses and circumstances as indicated in this Zoning Ordinance.

Bufferyards are not required for single-family, 2-family, duplex, or townhouse use types in any district.

 

Bufferyard Screening Application. Screening is required when one or more of the following conditions in the more intensive zoning district in Table 0, Bufferyard Requirements is directly visible from and faces toward the boundary of the less intensive zoning district, or for certain uses and circumstances listed in this Zoning Ordinance:

Outdoor storage areas or storage tanks, unless otherwise screened.

Loading docks, refuse collection points, and other service areas.

Major machinery or areas housing a manufacturing process.

Major on-site traffic circulation areas or truck and/or trailer parking.

Sources of glare, noise, or other environmental effects.

Bailing or stockpiling of cardboard or other shipping or packaging materials.

Surface parking lots with 100 or more stalls directly adjacent to less intensive districts.

Each required bufferyard must be entirely landscaped and free of paved areas, access ways, storage, or other disturbances.

A six (6) foot opaque barrier shall be provided which visually screens the conditions listed in Subsubsection 165.08.06 A, Bufferyard Screening Provisions or for certain uses and circumstances listed in this Zoning Ordinance, from less intensive uses as follows:

A solid wood, PVC, and/or masonry fence or wall at least six (6) feet in height.

A landscaping screen, using evergreen or deciduous materials, capable of providing a substantially opaque, hedge-like barrier and attaining a minimum height of six (6) feet within three (3) years of planting.

A landscaped earth berm with a maximum slope of three (3) to one (1), rising no less than six (6) feet above the existing grade of the lot line separating the zoning districts.

Any combination of these methods that achieves a cumulative height of six (6) feet.

Screening shall not adversely affect surface water drainage.

Screening may be interrupted to provide access drives to service areas or for loading purposes to buildings. Such breaks or interruptions shall not exceed twenty percent (20%) of the length of the required screened area.

A development may continue to comply with the bufferyard and screening requirements in effect at the time of issuance of its original permit, regardless of whether an adjacent lot or site is subsequently rezoned to a less intensive district which would otherwise require compliance with bufferyard or screening provisions.

Perimeter parking lot landscaping is not required when the area being buffered is thirty (30) inches or more below the street elevation.

Bufferyard requirements are not required when there is an elevation difference between two adjacent properties that is six (6) feet or greater.

The City Council may approve reductions in bufferyard or screening requirements for infill development sites.