The standards and criteria contained within this section are deemed to be minimum standards and shall apply to all new, altered, or repaired-construction occurring within the City, except as provided below. Additionally, any use requiring a Special Use Permit or a PD zoning designation must comply with these landscape standards. The provisions of this section shall be administered and enforced by the City Secretary or his/her designee. The landscape standards in this section apply only to nonresidential (excluding agricultural) and multifamily parcels (MH-1, MH-2, & MF).

If at any time after the issuance of a certificate of occupancy, the approved landscaping is found to be in nonconformance to the standards and criteria of this section, the City Secretary shall issue notice to the owner, citing the violation and describing what action is required to comply with this section. The owner, tenant or agent shall have thirty (30) days from date of said notice to restore the landscaping as required. If the landscaping is not restored within the allotted time, such person shall be in violation of this ordinance.

No permits shall be issued for building, paving, grading or construction until a detailed landscape plan is submitted and approved by the City Secretary. A conceptual or generalized landscape plan shall be shown as part of the site plan as required in Section 20. Prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for any building or structure, all screening and landscaping shall be in place in accordance with the landscape plan.

In any case in which a certificate of occupancy is sought at a season of the year in which the City Secretary determines that it would be impractical to plant trees, shrubs or grass, or to lay turf, a temporary certificate of occupancy may be issued. Such temporary permit shall be conditioned upon the installation of all landscaping required by the landscaping plan within six (6) months of the date of the approval of the landscape plan.

Minimum scale of one inch (1") equals fifty feet (50').

Location, size, and species of all trees to be preserved (do not use “tree stamps” unless they indicate true size and location of trees).

Location of all plant and landscaping material to be used, including plants, paving, benches, screens, fountains, statues, earthen ponds (to include depth of water), topography of site, or other landscape features.

Species of all plant material to be used.

Size of all plant material to be used.

Spacing of plant material where appropriate.

Layout and description of irrigation, sprinkler, or water systems including placement of water sources.

Description of maintenance provision.

Person(s) responsible for the preparation of the landscape plan.

Mark indicating North.

Date of the landscape plan.

The owner, tenant and agent, if any, shall be jointly and severally responsible for the maintenance of all landscaping. All required landscaping shall be maintained in a neat and orderly manner at all times. This shall include, but not be limited to, mowing (grass of six (6) inches or higher), edging, pruning, fertilizing, watering, weeding, and other such activities common to the maintenance of landscaping. Landscaped areas shall be kept free of trash, litter, weeds, and other such material or plants not a part of the landscaping. All plant material shall be maintained in a healthy and growing condition as is appropriate for the season of the year. Plant materials which die shall be replaced with plant material of similar variety and size, within ninety (90) days. Trees with a trunk diameter in excess of six (6) inches measured twenty-four (24) inches above ground may be replaced with ones of similar variety having a trunk diameter of no less than three (3) inches measured twenty-four (24) inches above the ground. However, if said landscape areas are above the minimum required landscape provisions, death of a plant or plant material which may still result in the requirements of the minimum standards being met does not necessitate replacement, except as required to maintain the integrity of the landscaping design. A time extension may be granted by the City Secretary if substantial evidence is presented to indicate abnormal circumstances beyond the control of the owner or his agent.

Failure to maintain any landscape area in compliance with this section shall result in the disapproval and revocation of any issued certificate of occupancy associated with the occupancy associated with the occupancy [sic] of said area.

All required landscaped open area shall be completely covered with living plant material. Artificial landscaping materials such as wood chips and gravel may be used under trees, shrubs and other plants.

Plant materials shall conform to the standards of the American Standard for Nursery Stock. Grass, seed, sod and other material shall be clean and reasonably free of weeds and noxious pests and insects.

Trees shall have an average spread of crown of greater than fifteen (15) feet at maturity. Trees having a lesser average mature crown of fifteen (15) feet may be substituted by grouping the same so as to create the equivalent of fifteen (15) feet crown of spread. Trees shall be of a minimum of three (3) inches in caliper (measured six (6) inches above the ground) and seven (7) feet in height at time of planting.

Shrubs not of the dwarf variety shall be a minimum of two (2) feet in height when measured immediately after planting. Hedges, where installed, shall be planted and maintained so as to form a continuous, unbroken, solid visual screen which will be three (3) feet high within one (1) year after time of planting.

Vines not intended as ground cover shall be a minimum of two (2) feet in height immediately after planting and may be used in conjunction with fences, screens, or walls to meet landscape screening requirements as set forth.

Grass areas shall be sodden [sodded], plugged, sprigged, hydro-mulched or seeded except that solid sod shall be used in swales, earthen berms or other areas subject to erosion.

Ground covers used in lieu of grass in whole and in part shall be planted in such a manner as to present a finished appearance and reasonably completed coverage within one (1) year of planting.

All required landscaped open space shall be provided with adequate and inconspicuous irrigation systems.

Any trees preserved on a site meeting the herein specifications may be credited toward meeting the tree requirement of any landscaping provision of this section according to the following table:

Due to their limited height and size, mesquite trees will receive only fifty (50) percent of the above credit for tree preservation. All other existing trees may receive credit if they are approved by the City Secretary. Should any required tree designated for preservation in the landscape plan die, the owner shall replace the tree with a three (3) inch minimum caliper tree in accordance with the credits listed above. Tree circumference shall be measured four and one-half (4.5) feet above natural grade.

Earthen berms shall have side slopes not to exceed 33.3 percent (three (3) feet of horizontal distance for each one (1) foot of height). All berms shall contain necessary drainage provisions as may be required by the City Secretary.

For all nonresidential, MH-1, MH-2, and MF parcels with less than two hundred fifty (250) feet of frontage adjacent to a dedicated public right-of-way, at least fifteen (15%) percent of the street yard shall be permanent landscape area. Nonresidential and multifamily parcels having two hundred fifty feet (250') or more of frontage shall have at least twenty percent (20%) of the street yard in permanent landscape area. A minimum of ten percent (10%) of the entire site shall be devoted to living landscape which shall include grass, ground cover, plants, shrubs or trees. The street yard shall be defined as the area between the building front and the front property line. For gasoline service stations, a requirement of a minimum ten (10%) percent landscape area for the entire site, including a six hundred (600) square foot landscape area at appropriate intersection corners, if applicable.

A minimum fifteen (15) foot landscape buffer “interior parkway” adjacent to right-of-ways of any street is required. If the lot is a corner lot, two frontages shall be required to observe the fifteen (15) foot buffer. If more than two frontages exist, then the other right-of-way frontages shall be required to have no more than seven and one-half (7.5) feet of landscaped area. Developers shall be required to plant one large tree, as prescribed in Section 32.6.3, per forty (40) linear feet or portion thereof of street frontage. The landscaped portion of interior parkways may be included in the required landscape area percentage. The interior parkway is defined as that area on private property between the street right-of-way line and the curb of the parking area or building area.

Landscape areas within parking lots should generally be at least one parking space in size, with no landscape area less than fifty (50) square feet in area. There shall be minimum of (1) tree planted in the parking area for every four hundred (400) square feet or fraction thereof of landscaped area in the parking lot. Within parking lots, landscape areas should be located to define parking areas and assist in clarifying appropriate circulation patterns. Landscape islands shall be located at the terminus of all parking rows, and should contain at least one tree. All landscape areas shall be protected by a monolithic curb or wheel stops and remain free of trash, liner [litter], and car bumper overhangs. Landscape areas shall be no less than five (5) feet wide and shall equal a total of at least sixteen (16) square feet per parking space. There shall be a landscaped area with at least one (1) tree within sixty (60) feet of every parking space.

All existing trees which are to be preserved shall be provided with a permeable surface under the existing dripline of the tree. All new trees shall be provided with a permeable surface under the dripline a minimum of four (4) feet by four (4) feet.

At least seventy-five (75) percent of the frontage of parking lots, adjacent to a public right-of-way, within the street yard, shall be screened from public streets with evergreen shrubs obtaining a minimum height of three (3) feet or a low masonry wall of equal height. Use of a wall for parking lot screening should be accompanied with landscape planting in the form of low shrubs and ground cover to soften the appearance of the wall.

A minimum of fifty (50) percent of the total trees required for the property shall be large trees as specified in section 32.6.3. Small trees shall be used under existing or proposed overhead utility lines.

Necessary driveways from the public right-of-way shall be permitted through all required landscaping. The maximum width for driveways shall be: forty (40) feet for multifamily and nonresidential two-way movements; thirty (30) feet for multifamily two-way movements; twenty-five (25) feet for multifamily and nonresidential one-way movements; and fifteen (15) feet for multifamily one-way movements.

Whenever an off-street parking area or vehicular use area abuts an adjacent property line, a perimeter landscape area of at least five (5) feet shall be maintained between the edge of the parking area and the adjacent property line. Whenever the adjacent property is used or zoned for residential use, a landscaped area of at least ten (10) feet shall be provided and planted with one large tree for each forty (40) linear feet or portion thereof of adjacent exposure.

During any construction or land development, the developer shall clearly mark all trees to be maintained and may be required to erect and maintain protective barriers around all such trees or groups of trees. The developer shall not allow the movement of equipment or the storage of equipment, materials, debris or fill to be placed within the dripline of any trees.

During the construction stage of development, the developer shall not allow cleaning of equipment or material under the canopy of any tree or group of trees to remain. Neither shall the developer allow the disposal of any waste material such as, but not limited to, paint, oil, solvents, asphalt, concrete, mortar, etc., under the canopy of any tree or groups of trees to remain.

Rigid compliance with these landscaping requirements shall not be such as to cause visibility obstructions and/or blind corners at intersections. Whenever an accessway abuts the intersection of two (2) or more public rights-of-way, a triangular visibility area, as described below, shall be created. Landscaping within the triangular visibility area shall be designed to provide unobstructed cross-visibility at a level between three (3) and six (6) feet. Trees may be permitted in this area provided they are trimmed in such a manner that no limbs or foliage extend into the cross-visibility area. The triangular areas are:

Landscaping, except required grass and low ground cover, shall not be located closer than three (3) feet from the edge of any accessway pavement.

In the event other visibility obstructions are apparent in the proposed landscape plan, as determined by the City Secretary, the requirements set forth herein may be reduced to the extent to remove the conflict.