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HomeMy WebLinkAbout0290 Landscaping Municipal Code 1987CITY OF CHUBBUCK, IDAHO ORDINANCE NO. 290 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF CHUBBUCK, IDAHO, ENACTING A NEW CHAPTER 18.14 OF THE CHUBBUCK MUNICIPAL CODE TO PROVIDE FOR LANDSCAPING REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL SET-BACK AND YARD AREAS AND OFF-STREET VEHICULAR PARKING AND OPEN-LOT SALES AND SERVICE AREAS; AMENDING SECTION 18.16.040 OF THE CHUBBUCK MUNICIPAL CODE TO PROVIDE THAT THE DESIGN REVIEW PROVIDED FOR IN THAT SECTION SHALL INCLUDE REVIEW OF LANDSCAPING PLANS AND VERIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF CHAPTER 18.14; REPEALING PRIOR CONFLICTING ORDINANCES; AND PROVIDING WHEN THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHUBBUCK, IDAHO: SECTION 1: Purpose. The purpose of this ordinance is to improve the appearance of certain set-back and yard areas and including off-street vehicular parking and open-lot sales and service areas in the City of Chubbuck and to protect and preserve the appearance, character and value of the surrounding neighborhoods and thereby promote the general welfare by providing for the installation and maintenance of landscaping for screening and aesthetic qualities, since the City Council finds that the particular needs of the the City of Chubbuck justify regulations to develop the City's aesthetic appeal on a city-wide basis. SECTION 2: Landscaping Requirements. Title 18 of the Chubbuck Municipal Code is hereby amended by enacting a new Chapter 18.14, to read as follows: Chapter 18.14 LANDSCAPING Section 18.14.010. Definitions. In construing the provisions of this Chapter the following definitions shall apply: Ordinance - Page 1 ck/ja 9K-27 A. Landscaping -- Landscaping shall consist of any of the following or combinations thereof: living material such as, but not limited to, grass, ground covers, shrubs, vines, hedges, or trees; and non-living durable material limited to pea gravel, walls or fences, bark, decorative cinders, and decorative rock. Non-living durable material may be used only for accent in landscaping areas. B. Trees -- Trees shall be defined as self-supporting wood plants of species which normally grow to an overall height of a minimum of fifteen (15) feet in Bannock County, Idaho. C. Shrubs -- Shrubs required by this Chapter shall be self-supporting, woody, evergreen species, as normally grown in Bannock County, Idaho. Section 18.14.020. Landscaping Requirements for Certain Yard Areas and Off-Street Parking and Other Vehicular Use Areas. All areas used for the display or parking of any and all types of vehicles, boats or construction equipment, whether such vehicles, boats or equipment are self-propelled or not, and all land upon which vehicles traverse the property as a function of the primary use of such property, hereinafter referred to as "other vehicle uses," including, but not limited to, activities of a drive-in nature such as filling stations, grocery and dairy stores, banks, restaurants and the like, shall conform to the minimum landscaping requirements hereinafter provided, save and except areas used for parking or other vehicular uses within buildings, and parking areas serving single household dwellings and duplexes. A. Installation -- Ail landscaping shall be installed in a sound workmanlike manner and according to accepted planting procedures with the quality of plant materials as hereinafter described. All elements of landscaping shall be installed so as to meet all other applicable ordinances and code requirements. The City Building Official, or his representative shall inspect all landscaping and no certificates of occupancy or similar authorization will be issued unless the landscaping meets the requirements herein provided. B. Maintenance -- The owner, tenant and their agent, if any, shall be jointly and severally responsible for the maintenance of all landscaping which shall be maintained in good condition so as to present a healthy, neat and orderly appearance and shall be kept free from refuse and debris. All landscaped areas shall be provided with a readily available water supply with at least one hydrant located within 50 feet of all plant material to be maintained. Ordinance - Page 2 ck/ja 9K-27 C. Plant Material -- 1. Quality. Plant materials used to obtain compliance with this Chapter shall be of a high quality equivalent to that provided by local reputable nurseries. 2. Trees shall be species having an average mature spread of crown of greater than fifteen (15) feet. Trees shall be not less than 2 to 2 1/2" caliper size at time of planting. No tree or plant which may cause damage to public roadways or sidewalks or which is regarded as a "trash" tree or plant shall be planted. A list of accepted tree, shrub, and ground cover species shall be maintained by the City Building Official for review by the public. Any other tree, shrub or ground cover species may be planted only upon prior approval from the City Building official. 3. Hedges. Shrubs composing hedges shall be a minimum of two (2) feet in height when measured immediately after planting. Hedges, where required, shall be planted and maintained so as to form a continuous, unbroken, solid, visual screen within a maximum of three (3) years after time of planting. D. Required Landscaping Adjacent to Public Rights of Way -- On the site of a building or open lot use providing an off-street parking area or other vehicular use area, where such area will not be entirely screened visually by an intervening building or structure from any abutting right of way, excluding dedicated alleys, there shall be provided landscaping between such area and such right of way, as follows: 1. A strip of land at least five (5) feet in depth located between the abutting right of way and the off-street parking area or other vehicular use area which is exposed to an abutting right of way shall be landscaped, such landscaping to include one tree for each fifty (50) lineal feet or fraction thereof. Such trees shall be located between the abutting right of way and off-street parking area or other vehicular use area and shall be planted in a planting area of at least twenty-five (25) square feet with a dimension of at least five (5) feet. The required landscaping shall also include a hedge or a planting of at least one shrub for each ten (10) lineal feet of the landscaped area. The remainder of the required landscaped area shall be landscaped with grass, ground cover, or other landscape treament, excluding paving. Ordinance - Page 3 ck/ja 9K-27 2. Ail property other than the required landscaped strip lying between the right of way and off-street parking area or other vehicular use area shall be landscaped with at least grass or other ground cover. 3. Necessary accessways from the public right of way through all such landscaping shall be permitted to service the parking or other vehicular use areas and such accessways may be subtracted from the lineal dimension used to determine the number of trees and shrubs required. E. Parking Area Interior Landscaping -- Off-street parking areas and other vehicular use areas shall have interior landscaping covering at least five percent (5%) of the total parking lot area for lots with ten (10) or more parking spaces. In addition, other vehicle use areas shall have one square foot of interior landscaping for each 100 square feet of paved area. Where the property contains both parking areas and other vehicle use areas, the two types of areas shall be treated separately for the purpose of determining the required amount of landscaping. Each separate landscaped area shall contain a minimum of fifty (50) square feet and shall have a minimum dimension of at least five (5) feet. The landscaped areas may be located so as to break up the expanse of paving or may be located adjacent to any structures located on the property. One tree shall be planted for every two hundred (200) square feet of interior landscaping. All remaining land in the area designated for landscaping shall be covered by shrubs, ground cover or other authorized landscaping material not to exceed three (3) feet in height. Plans showing location, size, and type of plant materials for landscaping in parking areas shall be included in all applications for a building permit or design review clearance and compliance with this Chapter shall be a condition to the issuance of such a permit or clearance. F. Sight Distance for Landscaping Adjacent to Public Rights of Way and Points of Access -- When an accessway intersects a public right of way or when the subject property abuts the intersection of two or more public rights of way, all landscaping within the triangular areas described below shall provide unobstructed cross-visibility at a level between three (3) feet and ten (10) feet, provided, however, trees or foliage extend into the cross-visibility area shall be allowed, provided they are so located so as not to create a traffic hazard. Landscaping except required grass or ground cover shall not be located closer than three (3) feet from the edge of any accessway pavement. The triangular areas above referred to are: Ordinance - Page 4 ck/ja 9K-27 1. The areas of property on both sides of an accessway formed by the intersection of each side of the accessway and the public right of way line with two sides of each triangle being ten (10) feet in length from the point of intersection and the third side being a line connecting the ends of the two other sides. 2. The area of property located at a corner formed by the intersection of two or more public rights of way with two sides of the triangular area being thirty (30) feet in length along the abutting public right of way lines, measured from their point of intersection, and the third side being a line connecting the ends of the other two lines. Section 18.14.030. Adjustments of Standards. The Design Review Committee, upon receipt of an application for adjustment of landscaping requirements provided herein, shall have the authority and duty to consider and act upon such application. The applicant shall, in the application, clearly and in detail state what adjustment of requirements are being requested and the reasons such adjustments are warranted, and shall accompany the application with such supplementary data, such as sketches, surveys and statistical information as is deemed necessary to substantiate the adjustment. The Design Review Committee may approve, modify or deny the requested adjustment, but shall approve or modify only if it determines that approval of any adjustment would not be contrary to the public interest and would be in keeping with and would preserve the intent of this ordinance and that literal enforcement of the above standards would be impracticable and would result in unreasonable and unnecessary hardship. The Design Review Committee shall act as expeditiously as possible on the application, and shall state its decision in the form of a short, concise statement of the action taken which shall be served on the applicant by mailing the same to him at the address indicated on the application. Within 10 days after service of the decision, but not thereafter, any decision of the Design Review Committee may be appealed by the applicant to the City Council; otherwise it shall become final. The applicant shall be notified of the time and place the appeal will be heard by the City Council. The City Council may affirm, modify or reverse the~ decision of the Design Review Committee subject to the criteria and standards of this Chapter. Section 18.14.040. Other Applicable Regulations. The provisions of this Chapter shall apply only to new off-street parking uses or other vehicular uses. The provisions of this Ordinance - Page 5 ck/ja 9K-27 Chapter shall be subject to other applicable regulations where such regulations are more restrictive and are not otherwise inconsistent with the provisions of this Chapter. SECTION 3: Design Review Clearance. ~18.06.040 of the Chubbuck Municipal Code is amended to read as follows: 18.16.040 Design review. A. Ail uses in districts with which the design overlay district is combined shall be required to obtain design review clearance prior to obtaining building permits. All applications shall be accompanied by appropriate architectural and site development plans to scale which shall show structure locations, landscaping plans (including the landscaping materials to be used and the location of landscape areas), permanent existing trees, ground treatment, fences, off-street parking and circulation, location and size of adjacent streets, north arrow and property lines, drawings of major exterior elevations showing building materials and proposed color scheme, existing grade and proposed new grades. All such drawings and plans shall be reviewed by a design review committee consisting of the mayor, city engineer, a member of the city's land use and development commission, and a member of the city council and may be further reviewed by the city council upon request of the developer, any interested party or by any member of the committee or of the city council. The committee shall meet from time to time at the call of the mayor. B. The committee (and council, as appropriate) shall consider the following matters in reviewing the application: 1. Consideration relating to traffic safety and traffic congestion: (a) The effect of the site development plan on traffic conditions on contiguous streets. (b) The layout of the site with respect to locations and dimensions of vehicular and pedestrian entrances, exits, drives and walkways. (c) The arrangement and adequacy of off-street parking facilities to prevent traffic congestion. (d) The location, arrangement and dimension of truck loading and unloading facilities. Ordinance - Page 6 ck/ja 9K-27 (e) The circulation patterns within boundaries of the development. (f) The surfacing and lighting of off-street parking facilities. 2. Considerations relating to outdoor advertising: The number, location, color, size, height, lighting and landscaping of outdoor advertising signs and structures in relation to the creation of traffic hazards and the appearance and harmony with adjacent developments. 3. Considerations relating to landscaping: (a) The location, height and materials of walls, fences, hedges and screen plantings to insure harmony with adjacent developments or to conceal storage areas, utility installations or other unsightly development. (b) The planting of ground cover or surfacing to prevent dust and erosion. (c) healthy trees. The unnecessary destruction of existing (d) Compliance with the requirements of Chapter 18.14 of this title. 4. Considerations relating to structures and site layout: The consideration of exterior design in relation to adjoining structures in height, bulk and area openings, breaks in the facades and fencing on streets, line and pitch of roof and arrangement of structures on the parcel. 5. Considerations relating to drainage: The effect of the site development plan in relation to the adequacy of the storm and surface water drainage proposals. C. Promptly after receipt of an application for design review clearance, the committee shall either approve or deny such application. In approving an application, the committee may impose additional conditions or limitations as deemed necessary. Upon granting or denying the application, the committee shall specify: 1. The ordinance and standards used in evaluating the application. 2. The reason for approval or denial. Ordinance - Page 7 ck/ja 9K-27 3. The actions, if any, that the applicant could take to obtain a building permit. D. The committee's decision shall be set forth in a written memorandum lodged with the city clerk and shall become final if no written request for review has been received by the clerk prior to the conclusion of the next regularly scheduled city council meeting. If such request is received, the matter shall be reviewed by the city council at the next available meeting, with reasonable notice furnished to the developer. In approving or denying any application upon review, the city council shall follow the procedure of this subsection. SECTION 4: Repeal of Conflictinq Ordinances. The provisions of any Ordinance of the City of Chubbuck, Idaho, which are in conflict with the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict. SECTION 5: Effective Date. The rule requiring an ordinance to be read on three separate days, one of which shall be a reading in full, is hereby dispensed with, and this Ordinance shall become effective upon its passage, approval and publication as provided by law. PASSED BY THE COUNCIL AND APPROVED BY THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF CHUBBUCK, IDAHO, this 24th day of FSBRU^R¥ , 1987. ATTEST: CITY CLERK Ordinance - Page 8 ck/ja 9K-27