Agenda - Planning Commission - 07/01/2004

Home

Implementation of the point-based sys- tem is complex and requires more staff time and resources to review each plan and ensure accuracy. Once the ca,co(arians are made, the landscaping must be positioned to effectively serve as a buffer. The point system would likely require that an applicant or city hire a professiollal planner or landscape architect. Standards for buffer yards a~so ma~ include Shade ~tee Medium Shrub 2 Small Shrub A 8 ~eer ~tA ~/~oo' Optional 0.4 B ia fee~l/~oo N/A Optional 0.6 C t5 /eelt/75' ~/loo' Optional o.7 D ~o feett/5o' t/too' Optional 0.8 E z5 ~eet~/5o tl75' O~tional 0.9 fences and berms. Some communities allow them to be used in lieu of standards such as decreasing the width of the buffer yard and the number of trees. Street trees. Street tree re§ulations pri- marily focus on properties that front major cor- ridors. ['tie,/also are appropriate for entry- ways into residential and commercial subdivisions. In Salt Lake City, street trees are required along parkways to protect parkway users, expand desi§n flexibility, and improve envi- ronmental conditions. Tile regulations apply to all lots fronting parkways, the back of the curb (or ed§e of pavement), and the sidewall(. The lots must provide one tree per 3o feet along the [Jarl(way, and mast be maintained by the adiacent property owner. Tile trees can be (:lustered or placed in a line. Durham, NorH1 Carolina, requires street trees for alt non-residential developments without right-of-way plantings. The trees 3re required to be 'Nithin 25 feet ot the adjacent street rl~ht-,)f-~Nay ;it a rate ,)f ,)ne tree for every 3o linear feet. Tucson also has standards for street landscape borders, which include trees. The city requires that :he strip of land have a width of at least m feet measured from the street and be [oc3ted entire(y on the site. However, at least five feet of the ~o-~oot border strip can be in the right-of-way with approval from the city engineer. The requirements for this border are similar to a buffer yard in that at least So percent of the area must be covered with shrubs or ground cover. One canopy tree must be provided for every 33 linear, feet of border. The trees can be spaced at varying distances. For landscaping ordi- nances that require street trees, most regulations are straight fop~ard. But planners who draft ordinances must understand 'eno important desi§n issues that affect the character of a street: placement of the tree and clustering ver- sus a linear pattern. ] Tree placement. Some com- munities allow trees to be placed in the right-of-way rather than on adiacent private property. In such cases is the burden of maintenance on the community or the 9roperty owner? Usually, trees in the right-of-way are the municipality's responsibility. Unfortunately, bud§ets often prevent cities from doing the maintenance and tree replacement necessary to keep the parkway landscapin§ aUve and healthy. Tree root systems a~so can damage water, sewer, fiber optic, and other pubEc works lines at a si§nific~nt cost. -~ Tree patterns. Trees can be clustered along the street frontage for a more natural look or placed in a straight Uno. The natural shape and flow of the corridor together with the communibl'S desire for enhancement should guide this decision. Parking lot landscaping. Parking lot land- scaping softens and adds texture to the hard vastness of the impervious surface. Ordinances typically address multi-family residential and non-residential uses. Landscaping in parking lots is a dual process: landscaping the perime- ter of the lot and lands(ap[n§ the tot interior, including the islands. Some ordinances man- date a standard percentage of the parking lot that should be landscaped and others base the landscaping needs on the number of parking spaces. Similar to bufferin§ standards, parking lot provisions have been around longer than some of the other standards discussed in this article, so they, and the approach to adminis- tering them, have changed to suit community needs. Des Plaines, Illinois, has provisions for both inte'.ior and perimeter lot landscaping. A flat percentage is used for the interior park- ing lot landscaping. Regardless of size, at least five percent of [he park[n§ areas must be land3caped. Des Pla[nos also has provi- sions for island [andscapin§ with minimum size requirements for each island: ]_oo square ZONING, :.. AMERICAN pLANNING ASSOCIATION