SEC. 51A-10.125. MANDATORY LANDSCAPING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Single family and duplex uses.
(1) General. Except as provided in Section 51A-10.127, a lot containing a single family or duplex use established after May 29, 1994, must comply with this subsection before the final inspection of any building on the lot. The minimum number of trees required on a lot is determined by the lot size. The trees may be located in the public right-of-way if all private licensing requirements of the city code and charter are met.
(A) Lots 7,500 square feet or greater in area. A minimum of three large or medium nursery stock trees per lot with a minimum of two nursery stock trees in the front yard.
(B) Lots between 4,000 square feet and 7,499 square feet in area. A minimum of two large or medium nursery stock trees per lot with a minimum of one nursery stock tree located in the front yard.
(C) Lots 4,000 square feet or less in area. A minimum of one large or medium nursery stock tree per lot.
(D) Additional requirements:
(i) Nursery stock trees must be a species listed in the approved tree list maintained by the director.
(ii) Trees must have a minimum caliper of two inches.
(iii) Trees must be planted a minimum of 20 feet on center from the nearest point of an overhead electric line.
(iv) An existing, healthy, and protected tree on the lot or parkway may count as a required tree if it is not a boundary tree abutting adjacent private property.
(2) Shared access development.
(A) Shared access developments must comply with the following requirements:
(i) A landscape plan meeting the requirements of Section 51A-10.104 and Section 51A-10.123 must be approved before a building permit for grading is issued or a private development contract pursuant to Section 51A-8.612 is approved, in conjunction with construction.
(ii) The minimum required landscape area for a shared access development is determined by the number of individual lots. Landscape areas in individual lots may be included in the total landscape area measurement for developments with a maximum of 36 individual lots. Permeable pavement does not count as landscape area.
(aa) Shared access developments with a maximum of 10 individual lots must provide a minimum landscape area equal to 10 percent of the total shared access development area.
(bb) Shared access developments with a minimum of 11 and a maximum 36 individual lots must provide a minimum landscape area equal to 15 percent of the total shared access development area.
(iii) One site tree must be provided for every 4,000 square feet within the shared access development. The trunk of any site tree must be located at least two-and-one-half feet from any pavement. Site trees must be species listed in the approved tree list. Large or medium nursery stock trees may not be planted within 20 feet on center of the nearest point of an overhead electric line.
(iv) One plant group must be provided for every 40 feet of street frontage. Plant groups may be located within the front yard or parkway if all private licensing requirements of the city code and charter are met. In this subparagraph, parkway means the portion of a street right-of-way between the projected street curb and the front lot line or corner side lot line. If the director determines that a large or medium tree would interfere with utility lines, one substitute small tree from a species listed in the approved tree list may be provided.
(B) Plant groups for shared access developments must include the following:
(i) one large tree and two small trees;
(ii) one large tree and three large evergreen shrubs; or
(iii) one large tree, two small trees, and one large evergreen shrub.
(b) Other uses. Lots containing a use other than single family or duplex must comply with the following requirements:
(1) Street buffer zone. Except as provided in this subsection, the landscape area provided along the entire length of the lot adjacent to a public right-of-way, excluding paved surfaces at points of vehicular ingress and egress, must meet the following minimum requirements:
Right-of-way | Average Depth | Minimum Depth | Maximum Depth
Freeways | 15 feet | 5 feet | 50 feet
Arterials and community collectors | 10 feet | 5 feet | 30 feet
Local and residential collectors | 7.5 feet | 5 feet | 25 feet
(A) Urban streetscape. The building official may approve a landscape plan for an urban streetscape that meets the following requirements:
(i) A minimum six foot wide planting area is required that meets the minimum soil area and volume requirements in Section 51A-10.104.
(ii) The planting area may be designed with open soil areas or covered soil areas.
(iii) The planting area is measured from the property line unless the building official determines that the planting area may be measured from the back of curb if necessary due to physical restraints of the property, including conflicts with local utilities.
(iv) A minimum of one design option must be provided in the front yard or right-of-way area.
(B) Right-of-way. The right-of-way adjacent to the property line may be used to satisfy the required street buffer zone subject to:
(i) a minimum depth of five foot maintained along the property as a street buffer zone;
(ii) local utility location;
(iii) appropriate planting conditions; and
(iv) city licensing and permit requirements.
(C) Required planting.
(i) Except as provided in this subparagraph, one large or medium street buffer tree must be provided for every 40 linear feet of frontage.
(ii) For frontages less than 20 linear feet, a large or medium street buffer tree is not required.
(iii) Large or medium trees must have a minimum caliper of three inches.
(iv) When existing conditions prohibit planting large trees or medium trees, the building official may approve two small trees be substituted for each large tree or medium tree.
(D) Buffer zone reduction. Properties less than 10,000 square feet may reduce the street buffer zone to the greater of:
(i) a minimum depth of five feet; or
(ii) an area no less than five percent of the total lot area.
(2) Residential buffer zone.
(A) A landscape area must be provided along that portion of the perimeter of a lot where residential adjacency exists. The residential buffer zone must have an average depth of 10 feet, a minimum depth of five feet, and a maximum depth of 30 feet. No portion of the residential buffer zone may exceed 10 percent of the lot depth excluding paved surfaces at points of vehicular and pedestrian ingress or egress.
(B) The residential buffer zone must include a minimum of one plant group every 40 feet. Plant groups must include:
(i) Where screening is required, one minimum three-inch caliper large or medium tree.
(ii) Where screening is not required:
(aa) one large or medium tree and three small trees;
(bb) one large or medium tree and three large evergreen shrubs;
(cc) one large or medium tree, two small trees, and one large evergreen shrub; or
(dd) one large or medium tree, one small tree, and two large evergreen shrubs.
(C) If the building official determines that the location of a local utility prohibits planting large trees or medium trees, two small trees may be planted for each large tree or medium tree.
(D) Large or medium trees must have a minimum caliper of two inches.
(3) Interior zone.
(A) Surface parking lots in industrial districts. The requirements in Section 51A-10.125 (b)(3)(B)(iv) for surface parking lots with 100 spaces or more, do not apply to industrial and warehouse uses in IM or IR districts that provide a minimum of one tree meeting the requirements for trees in the street buffer zone for each 25 feet of frontage.
(B) Surface parking lots.
(i) Required large and medium trees.
(aa) Minimum caliper is three inches.
(bb) Planting must be within a landscape area.
(cc) The center of the trunk at grade must be planted a minimum of four feet from pavement.
(ii) Minimum landscape area. Individual landscape areas must be a minimum of 160 square feet, with a minimum width of eight feet.
(iii) Parking lots with 21 to 100 spaces. No parking space may be located more than 70 feet from the trunk of a large tree or medium tree.
(iv) Parking lots with 101 spaces or more. Except as provided in Paragraph (A):
(aa) No parking space may be located more than 70 feet from the trunk of a large or medium tree.
(bb) Except as provided in this item, a landscape area must be located at each end of a single row of parking spaces and contain a minimum of one large or medium tree.
(I) The building official may waive this requirement in order to preserve existing trees and natural features or due to unique natural site features.
(II) Parking island landscape areas are not required adjacent to handicapped parking spaces.
(cc) Except as provided in this romanette, maximum number of parking spaces allowed between parking island landscape areas is 12. The building official may waive this requirement in order to preserve existing trees and natural features or due to the presence of unique natural site features.
(dd) No maximum number of parking spaces when a parking row:
(I) abuts a median landscape area running the length of the parking row with a minimum of one tree per 40 linear feet;
(II) abuts a residential buffer zone landscape area; or
(III ) abuts a street buffer zone landscape area.
(4) Additional provisions.
(A) Screening of off-street loading spaces.
(i) All off-street loading spaces on a lot with residential adjacency must be screened from that residential adjacency.
(ii) In all districts except CS and industrial districts, all off-street loading spaces on a lot must be screened from all public streets adjacent to that lot.
(iii) The screening required under Subparagraphs (A) and (B) must be at least six feet in height measured from the horizontal plane passing through the nearest point of the off-street loading space and may be provided by using any of the methods for providing screening described in Section 51A-4.602(b)(3).
(B) Site trees.
(i) One tree having a caliper of at least two inches must be provided for each 4,000 square feet of lot area, or fraction thereof, except for industrial and warehouse uses in IM and IR districts, where one tree having a caliper of at least two inches must be provided for each 6,000 square feet of lot area, or fraction thereof.
(ii) Existing protected tree species that are determined by the building official to be healthy may be used to satisfy the site tree requirement, in accordance with the tree credit chart below:
CALIPER OF RETAINED TREE | NUMBER OF SITE TREES CREDIT GIVEN FOR RETAINED TREE
CALIPER OF RETAINED TREE | NUMBER OF SITE TREES CREDIT GIVEN FOR RETAINED TREE
Less than 2 inches | 0
2 inches or more but less than 8 inches | 1
8 inches or more but less than 14 inches | 2
14 inches or more but less than 20 inches | 4
20 inches or more but less than 26 inches | 8
26 inches or more and less than 32 inches | 10
32 inches or more but less than 38 inches | 18
38 inches or more | 20
(C) Minimum sizes. Except as provided in Subsection (b) of this section, plant materials used to satisfy the requirements of this division must comply with the following minimum size requirements at the time of installation:
(i) Large and medium trees must have a minimum caliper of two inches, or a minimum height of six feet, depending on the standard measuring technique for the species.
(ii) Small trees must have a minimum height of six feet.
(iii) Large evergreen shrubs must have a minimum height of two feet.
For purposes of this paragraph, "height" is measured from the top of the root ball or, if the plant is in a container, from the soil level in the container. (Ord. Nos. 19455; 19786; 20496; 22053; 24731; 25155; 26333; 28424; 28803; 30239; 30654; 30929)
