The Director shall decide all questions of soils, plant selection and care, irrigation installation and other vegetation and landscaping questions, except for trees, shrubs, vines, and evergreens in the right-of-way. The City Forester shall decide all questions of plantings in the right-of-way.

Variances to this section and appeals of administrative decisions (where this Code gives the Director discretionary authority) shall be referred to the Planning Commission.

All plants shall meet the following minimum plant sizes when installed.

All vegetation and landscaped areas must be provided with a permanent irrigation system, which may include a system supplied by water from an approved graywater treatment works.

All landscape areas (except in the right-of-way where a street side curb does not exist) shall be protected from vehicles through the use of concrete curbing, large rocks, or other similar obstructions.

If the location of utilities conflicts with the landscaping provisions, the Director may approve an equivalent alternative.

The owner shall maintain all vegetation, fences, walls, and berms so that there is no sight distance hazard nor road or pedestrian hazard. See TEDS (GJMC Title 29).

Soil in landscape areas must be amended and all vegetation planted in accordance with good horticultural practices.

This section applies to the following:

Existing landscape features such as escarpments, large trees or stands, heavy vegetative cover, ponds, and bluffs shall be identified by the applicant as part of the development review process.

All trees, except those identified as 'excluded' on the Suitable Plants List, that meet all of the following criteria as determined by a certified arborist shall be considered significant:

Replacement trees may be planted in individual lots and private common areas.

The fee in-lieu shall be based on the value of the required replacement tree(s) not planted on site, along with the total cost of installation. The City shall use this payment to purchase the required replacement trees not planted on-site and plant them on nearby public property.

Features to be preserved shall be protected throughout site development. No person shall kill or damage a landscape feature required to be preserved by this section. The developer shall protect trees from compaction.

Landscaping is required in the interior of parking lots to direct traffic, to shade cars and structures, to reduce heat and glare and to screen cars from adjacent properties. The interior of all parking lots shall be landscaped as follows:

Landscaping is required around the entire perimeter of a parking lot to assist in the abatement of heat and to reduce the amount of glare from glass and metal, and to assist in the screening of cars from adjacent properties. The perimeter of a parking lot is defined as the curb line defining the outer boundaries of the parking lot, including dumpster enclosures, bike racks, or other support facilities that are adjacent to the outer curb. Entry drives between a parking lot and the street, drives connecting two internal parking lots or building entry plazas are not included in the perimeter area. The requirements of this subsection are applicable to all public and private parking areas but not to vehicle display areas for vehicle sales, rental, and leasing light or heavy and mini-warehouse as defined in GJMC Chapter 21.04.

All parking lots abutting rights-of-way, entry drives, and adjacent properties must be screened. For this subsection, a "screen" means a berm with appropriate groundcover or shrubs.

For all development, except construction of one or two dwelling units or development within the MU-3 zone district, the owner shall provide and maintain a minimum fourteen-foot-wide street frontage landscape adjacent to the public right-of-way.

A minimum of 75% of the street frontage landscape shall be covered by plant material at maturity, including tree canopy, shrubs, and groundcover.

Landscaping within the street frontage shall include trees and shrubs. If detached walks are not provided with street trees, street trees shall be provided in the street frontage landscape, including one tree for every 40 feet of street frontage.

All unimproved right-of-way adjacent on the side abutting a development which is not in the City's ten-year capital plan to be improved must be landscaped.

For the purpose of meeting minimum plant quantities, 50% of landscaping plantings on public right-of-way shall be counted toward the landscape or open space requirements of this Code, unless specifically provided otherwise in this Code.

All right-of-way landscaping shall be irrigated and maintained by the adjoining private property owner unless the City agrees to accept it for maintenance. If it is to be maintained by the City, a separate irrigation system shall be provided.

The owner of the nearest property shall keep all rights-of-way, which are not hard surfaced, free of weeds, litter, junk, rubbish, and obstructions. To prevent weed growth, erosion and blowing dust, right-of-way areas not covered by vegetation or paving shall be covered with organic mulch, wood chips, or similar natural materials.

No tree shall be removed from the public right-of-way without the approval of the City Forester. Trees removed from the right-of-way without approval shall be subject to penalties per GJMC § 9.04.100.

Buffers shall be provided between different zone districts as indicated in Table 21.07-4. Buffer landscaping is required in addition to overall site landscaping requirements as required by this Code.

Minimum requirements for berms are as follows:

The Director may require perimeter enclosures (fences and/or walls) around all or part of the perimeter of a residential development. Perimeter enclosures shall be designed to meet the following objectives of protecting public health, safety, and welfare: screen negative impacts of adjoining land uses, including streets; protect privacy; maintain a consistent or complementary appearance with enclosures in the vicinity; maintain consistent appearance of the subdivision; and comply with corridor overlay requirements.

When required by the Director, the standards of this subsection shall apply to all residential subdivisions as well as to all mixed-use subdivisions where the square footage of proposed residential uses exceeds the square footage of proposed nonresidential uses.

A perimeter enclosure may be required if one or more of the following apply:

Unless specified otherwise at the time of final approval:

The perimeter enclosure and required landscape buffer shall be installed by the developer and included in the development improvements agreement.

All perimeter enclosures and landscape buffers must be within a tract dedicated to and maintained by the homeowners association. The developer shall refer to the perimeter enclosure in the covenants and restrictions and so that perpetual maintenance is provided for either that the perimeter enclosure be owned and maintained by the owners' association or by individual owners. The perimeter enclosure shall be identified on the plat.

If the Director finds that a lot-by-lot construction, ownership and/or maintenance of a perimeter enclosure landscape strip would meet all applicable objectives of this section and the design standards of GJMC Chapter 21.09 approved plans shall note the type and size of materials, placement of fence posts, and length of sections.

Where in conflict, the perimeter enclosure requirements or guidelines of approved overlay districts shall supersede the requirements of this section.

Required trees may be substituted for shrubs and required shrubs may be substituted for trees at a rate of three shrubs equaling one caliper inch of tree. For example: three-two-inch caliper trees equaling six caliper inches may be exchanged for 12 shrubs, or vice versa.

No more than 30% of the number of trees required may be substituted for shrubs.

Two #5 container shrubs may be substituted for four linear feet of wall when walls are required per GJMC § 21.07.050(b)(4). Shrubs substituted for walls must reach a height of at least 30 inches at maturity.

Ten percent of the required shrubs may be converted to perennials and/or ground covers at a ratio of three #1 container perennials and/or ground covers for one #5 container shrub.

The number of shrubs may be reduced in exchange for additional trees or tree size at a rate of three shrubs per caliper inch.

Existing trees preserved during development shall count toward the total tree requirement at a ratio of two inch of DBH of preserved tree is equivalent to one caliper inches of required tree plantings.

Existing significant trees preserved above the required 30% shall count toward the total tree requirement at a ratio of one inch of DBH of preserved significant tree is equivalent to three caliper inches of required tree plantings.