Hood River City Zoning Code
17.17 Landscaping
and Development Standards
Legislative History: Ord. 1774 (1999);
17.17.010 Scope.
A. Landscaping standards apply to all new multifamily, commercial, industrial uses, change of use, parking lots of four (4) spaces or more, public facilities and conditional uses.
B. For sites that do not conform to these requirements, an equal percentage of the site must be made to comply with these standards as the percentage of building or parking lot expands, e.g. if the building or parking lot area is to expand by twenty-five percent (25%), then twenty-five percent (25%) of the site must be brought up to the standards required by this ordinance.
17.17.020 Procedure.
A. A preliminary or conceptual landscaping plan shall be submitted to the planning Director at the time of application. The Planning Director shall review all landscaping plans for compliance with the provisions of this ordinance and notify the property owner of deficiencies in a submitted plan.
B. A building permit shall not be issued until a final landscaping plan has been approved by the Planning Director.
C. The required landscaping shall be in place prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy.
D. A property owner shall be responsible for the establishment and maintenance of landscaping. All required landscaped areas shall be maintained according to the approved landscaping plan.
17.17.030 Contents of landscaping plan.
A landscaping plan submitted to the Planning Director as required by this ordinance shall identify the placement and type of plant materials to provide an effective means for evaluating whether the chosen plant materials will.
1. Survive in the climate and soils of the proposed site; and
2. Satisfy the functional objectives of landscaping as detailed in this ordinance, including erosion control, screening, and shade, within a reasonable time.
17.17.040 General landscaping standards.
The following landscaping standards shall apply.
1. The property owner shall be responsible for any future damage to a street, curb, or sidewalk caused by landscaping.
2. Landscaping shall be selected and located to deter sound, filter air contaminants, curtail erosion, contribute to living privacy, reduce the visual impacts of large buildings and paved areas, screen, and emphasize or separate outdoor spaces of different uses or character.
3. Landscaping in parking areas shall be planted in combination along the perimeter and in the interior of the lot and shall be designed to guide traffic movement and lessen the visual dominance of the lot.
4. Plants that minimize upkeep and maintenance shall be selected.
5. Plants shall complement or supplement surrounding natural vegetation and fit the climate.
6. Plants chosen shall be in scale with building development.
7. Minimum landscaping as a percent of gross site area shall be as follows:
ZONE/USE | PERCENT |
|---|---|
1 Central Business District (excluding parking lots) | 5% |
Commercial | 15% |
Conditional Use – Residential Zone | 20% |
Conditional Use – All other zones | 15% |
2 The Heights Business District (excluding parking lots) | 5% |
Industrial | 10% |
Multifamily | 20% |
Public Facilities | 15% |
Parking lots | Requirement of base zone or use, as listed above |
1, 2 The Central Business District and The Heights Business District as defined in Section 17.01.060 – Definition | |
8. Deciduous trees shall have straight trunks, be fully branched, have a minimum caliper of one and one-half (1½) inches and be adequately staked for planting.
9. Evergreen trees shall be a minimum of three (3) feet in height, fully branched and adequately staked for planting.
10. Shrubs shall be a minimum eighteen (18) inches in height and spaced not more than four (4) feet apart for planting.
11. Ground cover, defined as living material and not including bark chips or other mulch, shall be planted on a maximum eighteen (18) inches on center between plants and rows.
12. Watering systems shall be installed to assure landscaping success. If plantings fail to survive, it is the responsibility of the property owner to replace them.
13. Trees shall not be planted closer than twenty-five (25) feet from the curb line of intersections of streets or alleys, and not closer than ten (10) feet from private driveways (measured at the back edge of the sidewalk), fire hydrants, or utility poles.
14. Street trees shall not be planted closer than twenty (20) feet to light standards. Except for public safety, no new light standard location should be positioned closer than ten (10) feet to any existing street tree, and preferably, such locations will be at least twenty (20) feet distant.
15. Trees shall not be planted closer than two and one-half (2½) feet from the face of the curb except at intersections, where it should be five (5) feet from the curb in a curb return area.
16. Where there are overhead power lines, tree species that will not interfere with those lines shall be chosen.
17. Trees shall not be planted within two (2) feet of any permanent hard surface paving or walkway. Sidewalk cuts in concrete for trees shall be at least four (4) feet by four (4) feet; however, larger cuts are encouraged because they allow additional air and water into the root system and add to the health of the tree. Space between the tree and such hard surface may be covered by permeable non-permanent hard surfaces such as grates, bricks on sand, paver blocks, cobblestones, or ground cover.
18. Trees, as they grow, shall be pruned to their natural form to provide at least eight (8) feet of clearance above sidewalks and twelve (12) feet above street roadway surfaces.
19. Existing trees may be used as street trees if there will be no damage from the development which will kill or weaken the tree. Sidewalks of variable width and elevation may be utilized to save existing street trees, subject to approval by the City Engineer.
20. Vision clearance hazards shall be avoided. Refer to Diagram “A” – Vision Clearance, Section 17.09.040.
21. City or State right-of-way(s) can not be used to satisfy the required landscaping requirement.
22. Landscaping in the Central Business district and the Heights Business District can include street amenities such as park benches and planter boxes.
17.17.050 City entrances landscaping and development standards.
The following standards will be required for new commercial, multi-family, industrial uses, including change of use, and parking lots of four (4) spaces or more on properties within the designated entrances to the City of Hood River.
For sites which do not conform to these requirements, an equal percentage of the site must be made to comply with these standards as the percentage of building or parking lot expansion, e.g., if building or parking lot area is to expand by twenty-five percent (25%), then twenty-five percent (25%) of the site must be brought up to the standards required by this ordinance.
A. Entrances.
1. West: Parcels fronting along Highway 30 between and including the intersection of 13th Street and Highway 30 to the intersection of Country Club Road and Highway 30.
2. South: Parcels fronting 12th Street from the northern intersection of Brookside Drive/Eliot Road and 12th Street to the southern intersection of Belmont Drive and 12th Street.
3. East: Parcels including the northern intersection of the Old Columbia River Highway and Highway 35 to and including the intersection of Front Street and State Avenue, excluding lands within the Urban Renewal District which have been addressed in this streetscape plan.
4. North: Parcels including the intersection of Oak Avenue and Second Street and along the 2nd Street extension to and including its intersection with Portway Avenue excluding lands within the Urban Renewal District which have been addressed in its streetscape plan.
B. Standards.
1. An average ten (10) foot wide landscaped area, at minimum, shall be planted along the perimeter of the parcel fronting the street right-of-way as part of the landscape requirement.
2. Street trees shall be placed at the rate of one tree for every thirty (30) feet of street frontage. Trees shall be evenly spaced with variations to the spacing permitted for specific site limitations such as driveway approaches.
17.17.060 Violation.
Failure to comply with the standards subsequent to issuance of the building permit for new construction shall constitute a violation of these regulations and be subject to the penalty and abatement proceedings in the Severability – Penalties chapter (Chapter 17.10).