Agenda - Planning Commission - 09/04/2003

Home

Riverview Ofi'ice Suites - Site Plan August 29, 2003 Page 2 of 4 Landscaping: City Code requires one (l) tree per every, l:brt'/ (40) lineal feet of site perimeter be planted throughout the site. Of these trees, there must be at least one (1) tree planted per thirty-five ~.;5), ,e,,~ 8,~ aion~_ .any public road fronta~e~ on the property. Cit'y Code also requires, that no [ess than 25,°,4 of the trees planted be deciduous and no less than 25% be cordt'erous. ?urthermore, City Code requires that no more than 25¢/0 of the trees planted consist of ornamental ~ ~ ,~re~s. in addition ro these plantings, City, Code also requires that one (i) overstor, y tree per ten (I 0) parking spaces be installed ro provide shade -md visual relief. In addition t.o the trees that are required, City, Code requires five (5) siwabs ~br each required tree. Finally, because this site is adjacent to residentially zoned prope~ies, ~ buffeward ¢:' at [east fit-b/(50) feet is required and shall be planted /'~ ""0/' 'x with a minimum number of trees equivalent to thirty percent U>u ,,o; o~' the overall planting requirements. ~aere are no e:dsting trees identilhed on the landscaping plan; any existing trees (to remain or ro be removed) si~ouid be identified on the revised landscaping plan. Landscapin.g ~e parcel i~as roug.'~y 1,000 lineal feet of site perimeter, 'which results tn a minimum requirement of twenty-five (25) trees to be [nsrailed. Of these, a minimum of dfteen (15) need to be planted along Alpaca Sr and ,Kiverdale id (at least one r, ree per 35 feet) to satis~ the public road fi'ontage planting requirement. The remaining trees can be planted throughout tl~e prope~. The current landscaping plan shows a total of thirteen ('113) trees that will be installed, excluding the bufferyard plantings. Only seven (7) are shown to be along the public road frontage. An additional eight ($) trees ,;,/ill need to be installed' to satisfy, the public road frontage planting requirement. In addition to the public road fi:outage plantings, another ~bur (4) r,rees need to be included to meet the overall minimum planting requirement of v;venry-five (25) trees. As stated above, ao more than 2'5% of the trees planted shall consist of ornamenfal trees. However, roughly 61% percent of tl~e required landscaping trees are considered to be ornamentals. Furthermore, there is only one (1) conifer included in the plan (excluding the v;vo in the bufferyard). There can be no less r. han 25% coniferous trees that constitute the total plantings. The plan indicates that a total of fifo/-th.ree (5_3) shrubs will be installed on site. This is well short of the minimum requirement of 125 (five shrubs per eact: required tree). Since the proposed building will face two public roads (on the north and west sides), planting shrubbery along these faces or' the building would enhance the aesthetics of the site. The number of shrubs planted on the ske should be increased. While the total number of shrubs may fall short of 125,. if a reasonable attempt is made to meet this standard, Staff may deem it acceptable. All species included in the species palette are considered acceptable, as outlined in the Ramsey Tree Book, except for the Amur Maple. This is a prohibited species and must be removed fi:om the planting list. All the species included do meet or exceed the minimum size requirements stated in City, Code. 122