§ 17.24.160. Interior planting requirements.

A.

General Requirements. Except for parking lots containing fewer than thirty spaces within the urban zoning overlay district, at least eight percent of the gross area of the parking area shall be landscaped and interior planting areas are to be located within or adjacent to the parking area as tree islands, at the end of parking bays or inside seven foot wide or greater medians (where the median area is to be included as a part of the calculations for the interior planting area). Parking lots containing fewer than thirty parking spaces within the urban zoning overlay district shall be exempt from the eight per-cent landscaping requirement and the seven foot median requirement, but shall be required to install trees as described below. Interior planting areas shall be located so as not to impede stormwater runoff and provide shade in large expanses of paving and contribute to orderly circulation of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

1.

Trees shall be required at the minimum of one canopy tree for every fifteen parking spaces. All vehicular use areas located within the same block which serve one or more businesses or uses of land or share unified ingress and egress shall be considered as a single vehicular use area for the purpose of computing the required rate of trees, notwithstanding ownership. Required trees shall be at least six feet in height and two inch caliper. (See Figure 17.24.160) For principal use parking areas located in the CF district not otherwise exempt from the interior planting requirements, street frontage trees planted to satisfy the requirements of Section 17.24.150 shall count towards the interior planting requirements of this section.

B.

Minimum Size of Interior Planting Areas.

1.

Outside the urban zoning overlay district, and for parking lots containing thirty or more parking spaces within the urban zoning overlay district, a minimum of ninety square feet of planting area shall be required for each new canopy tree (See Figure 17.24.160), and a minimum planting area of one hundred percent of the drip line area of the tree shall be required for all existing trees to remain. If the applicant can demonstrate that conditions allow that the tree will be preserved with an area less than one hundred percent, lesser area may be approved by the urban forester. (See Figure 17.24.160)

 

  

2.

For parking lots containing fewer than thirty parking spaces within the urban overlay zoning district, a minimum planting or tree grate area of one hundred percent of the drip line area of the tree shall be required for all new and existing trees. If the applicant can demonstrate that the tree can remain healthy with an area less than one hundred percent, lesser area may be approved by the urban forester. (See Figure 17.24.160)

(Ord. BL2009-586 § 1(Exh. A, § 38), 2010; Amdt. 1 with Ord. 2001-750 § 32, 2001; Ord. BL2000-364 § 1 (part), 2000; Ord. 98-1323 § 2, 1998; Amdt. 1 with Ord. 98-1268 § 1 (part), 1998; Ord. 96-555 § 6.4(D), 1997)