§ 17.24.150. Perimeter screening requirements.

Unless supplanted by more stringent standards in Article IV of this chapter, Landscape Buffer Yard Requirements, the perimeters of parking lots shall be landscaped as follows:

A.

Parking Areas Adjacent to Public Streets. Parking areas adjacent to public streets shall be separated from the edge of the right-of-way by a perimeter landscape strip which shall be landscaped per the standards set out in subsection C of this section. The public right-of-way and areas reserved for future rights-of-way in compliance with the adopted major street plan shall not be used to satisfy the requirements of this article. Perimeter landscape strips shall be continuous and unbroken except for driveways or sidewalks required to access the parking area. No single driveway/sidewalk penetration shall exceed thirty-five feet.

1.

Perimeter landscape strips adjacent to public streets with four or more travel lanes (as classified by the major street plan) shall be a minimum of ten feet in width, unless: (a) the strip includes a permanent finished wall no less than thirty inches in height; or (b) the required trees are planted in islands between the parking spaces. In such cases the perimeter landscape strip may be reduced to five feet in width. (See Figure 17.24.150-2)

2.

Perimeter landscape strips adjacent to public streets with less than four travel lanes (as classified by the major street plan) shall be a minimum of five feet in width, unless: (a) the strip includes a permanent finished wall no less than thirty inches in height; or (b) the required trees are planted in islands between the parking spaces. In such cases the perimeter landscape strip may be reduced to two and one-half feet in width. (See Figure 17.24.150-2)

3.

Permanent landscape strips which use walls or earthen berms are desirable for the reliability of the screening effect they provide. If the proposal includes a wall or an earthen berm within the perimeter landscape strip, the continuous strip of evergreen shrubs called out in Section 17.24.150-3 (Landscape Materials) may be deleted. Berms shall not have slopes steeper than 2:1 (horizontal to vertical). Berms with slopes flatter than 4:1 may be stabilized with lawn grasses, and berms with slopes in the range of 2:1 to 4:1 shall be stabilized by a continuous perennial plant groundcover which does not require mowing in order to maintain a neat appearance. The wall or combination of berm and perennial groundcover shall be a minimum of two and one-half feet in height.

B.

Parking Areas Adjacent to Side Property Lines. A perimeter landscape strip shall separate a driveway or parking area from an adjacent side property line by one of the following standards: (a) a five-foot (minimum) wide planting strip shall be provided if required trees are to be planted within the strip; (b) a two and one-half foot (minimum) planting strip may be provided to accommodate shrubs if all required trees are planted within tree islands located adjacent to the property line; or (c) two adjacent properties may share equally in the establishment of a seven-foot (minimum) planting strip along the common property line. In instances where the common perimeter planting strip is part of a plan for shared access, each owner may count the respective area contributed toward that common planting strip toward the interior planting area requirements for the lot. All landscaping strips shall be planted to satisfy the planting requirements of subsection C of this section.

C.

Landscape Materials. In areas where the parking area and the adjacent public street or common property line are within thirty inches average elevation of one another, as measured from the centerline of the nearest travel lane and the edge of the parking area paving, a minimum of one tree shall be preserved or planted for each fifty feet of parking area perimeter, or portion thereof; for principal use parking areas located within the CC and CF zoning districts, street trees shall be installed at the rate of one tree per thirty feet of street frontage. Trees planted to meet this requirement shall measure a minimum of two inches in caliper, and six feet in height, as applicable for the type of material specified. The remaining area within the perimeter landscape strip which fronts on a street right-of way shall be planted with one continuous row of evergreen shrubs which shall be expected to mature at a height not greater than two and one-half feet, except as modified for berms or walls. The remainder of the area within all perimeter strips not occupied by trees or shrubs shall be covered by organic or mineral mulches, other shrubs, groundcover plants or grassed lawns. The use of concrete, asphalt or other impervious surfaces shall be prohibited. Variants of the above conditions for parking areas which are elevated above or depressed below the elevation of the public street are as follows:

1.

In cases where the parking area is elevated above the adjacent public street or private property by a minimum average height of at least thirty inches, the tree spacing requirement shall be reduced to one tree for each one-hundred feet of parking area perimeter, and the requirement for shrub plantings shall be increased to two continuous rows of evergreen shrubs. All other standards remain as stated above. (See Figure 17.24.150-3)

2.

In cases where the parking area is depressed below the adjacent public street or private property by a minimum average distance of at least thirty inches, the tree spacing requirement shall be increased to one tree for each twenty-five feet of parking area perimeter, and the requirement for shrub plantings shall be eliminated. All other standards remain as stated above. (See Figure 17.24.150-4)

D.

Corner Visibility. Trees and other landscaping required in the perimeter strip shall be maintained to assure unobstructed corner visibility pursuant to Section 17.20.180, Visibility.

E.

Adjacent Parking Areas with Shared Access. Parking areas on adjacent properties, which are designed to share a common access from the public right-of-way and a vehicular travelway along their common property line shall be exempt from the requirement for a parking area perimeter landscape strip along their common property line, upon the recording of an easement agreement which provides for the mutual right of ingress and egress for both property owners. (See Figure 17.24.150-5)

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

  

(Ord. BL2000-364 § 1 (part), 2000; Ord. 98-1323 § 1, 1998; Amdt. 1 with Ord. 98-1268 § 1 (part), 1998; Ord. 96-555 § 6.4(C), 1997)