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HomeMy WebLinkAbout93-02 Landscaping CITY OF PRIOR LAKE ORDINANCE NO. 93-02 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING PRIOR LAKE CITY CODE SECTION 5-5-10 AND PRIOR LAKE ZONING ORDINANCE NO. 83-6. The Council of the City of Prior Lake does hereby ordain: CITY CODE SECTION 5-5-10: SCREENING: AND PRIOR LAKE ZONING ORDINANCE 83-6 SECTION 6.10 are hereby amended to add the following language: (A) Purpose: 1. The purpose of this ordinance is to establish performance standards and minimum requirements for landscaping, buffering, and screening, that will enhance the visual, environmental, and aesthetic character of property and site development within the City. The City Staff, Planning Commission, and city Council, will utilize these standards in the review and evaluation of subdivision and site plans and development proposals. 2. The objectives of these requirements are to establish and maintain forestation of the city; to provide appropriate ground cover vegetation for controlled soil erosion; to preserve and enhance, when necessary, the natural environment, particularly in instances where the natural environment is disturbed during the course of development; and to establish standards for utilization of natural and other materials to achieve desired screening, buffering, and landscaping. 3. This ordinance sets forth minimum requirements for landscaping, and reforestation and technical limitations to assure that the result is consistent with reasonable maintenance requirements on a long-term basis and to assure that the results provide landscape amenities to the urban environment. 4. This ordinance is intended to provide standards that allow flexibility in design and individual site needs. Designers are encouraged to utilize a variety of site landscape elements (i.e.; trees, shrubs, ground covers, flowers, berms and ground form, fences, walls, existing topography and vegetation, artforms, and other similar items), in creative ways that are aesthetically pleasing yet functional where required. (8) Plan Review standard: Plan review by the City Planning Department will include such items as: choice of materials, especially plantings, to determine if they are functionally appropriate for the 1 . . .....r.~-....~.......~-_..~..~.. . intended purpose; hardiness; disease-resistance; compatible choice and mix of materials; do materials complement and/or provide pleasing contrast to on-site and off-site conditions to maintain interest; and other issues as site appropriate. Specific site plans may be required to go beyond the minimum requirements to meet the purpose and objectives of this ordinance due to unique or exceptional circumstances and conditions which are existing or proposed. (C) Application: 1. This ordinance applies to all proposed business, industrial, mUlti-family residential (projects of 3 or more dwelling units per building), public and institutional uses as may be permitted or conditional within their respective zoning districts. This applies to all new construction within all zoning districts. 2. Existing uses shall also comply with this ordinance (except as exempted herein ) -when a building permit is issued for their expansion. Exceptions include additions in which the ground building footprints in total are under 10% of the existing structures gross floor area or 4000 square feet, whichever is less. 3 . The Downtown Redevelopment District as council Resolution No. 85-07 shall be ordinance. defined by exempt from city this (D) General provisions and Landscape Requirements: 1. To help assure the best possible results, plans must be prepared and certified by a Registered Landscape Architect in the state of Minnesota for: a) business, industrial, public and institutional development projects with sites over 20,000 square feet or gross building area of 4,000 square feet or more, whichever is less; b) mUlti-family residential projects of 8 or more dwelling units per building. Projects smaller than those identified above shall be prepared by either a Registered Landscape Architect or a professional site planner with educational training or work experience in site analysis and landscape plan preparation. 2. The quantity of plant materials shown on the landscape plans of proposed developments shall meet or exceed the minimums as defined herein. 3. The City requires landscape treatment of the whole site to include the following elements: 2 a) The site perimeter. b) The "entry" focal area(s) of a development (i.e., major entity drives, corner areas, signage locations, and other similar focal points). c) The parking lot landscape. d) Screening of mechanical equipment, exterior storage, loading docks, trash storage, or visual clutter as identified by the City in the plan review process. 4. The plant materials used must meet or exceed the city standards of size and specie in order to qualify for credit towards the landscape requirement. Additional plant materials smaller than required herein may be appropriate and necessary to achieve the design effect. 5. Preservation of existing vegetation on site, if it can successfully be incorporated into the landscape plan, is encouraged and will be credited toward the landscape requirement. Existing plant material must meet or exceed the City standard in order to qualify for a one to one substitution credit. 6. Plantings at street intersections shall not block visibility within a clear view triangle. 7. Plantings shall not interfere with drainage patterns, create unreasonable conflict with utilities (i.e., frequent pruning near overhead power lines, etc.) or restrict access to any utilities. 8. Landscape coverage shall be defined as all ground areas surrounding the principal building and accessory buildings which are not garden areas, driveways, parking lots, sidewalks or patios. All ground areas shall be landscaped with grass, shrubs, trees or other approved ornamental landscape material. (E) Calculation of Requirements, Credits and Sizes: 1. The planting requirement shall be the sum of the following separate requirements. These formulas are only intended as a method to generate a quantitative performance level and not a design instruction. Creativity of design is encouraged to provide specific solutions. a) Perimeter Tree Calculation: BusinessjIndustrialjPublic/Institutional sites shall contain, at a minimum, the greater of: 1. 1 tree required per 40' of site perimeter, or 2. 1 tree per 1000 square feet of gross building area. Multi-residential sites shall contain, at a minimum, the greater of: 1. 1 tree per dwelling unit, or 2. 1 tree required per 40' of site perimeter. 3 --~.__.._........~ b) Entr~ Plantings: Each "entry" Sectlon(D)3.b). of a development landscape development (trees, numerical requirement of plants is landscape plan shall reflect the Trees required on the perimeter applicable to this design feature. and focal area. (see shall be treated with shrubs, etc.). No provided, but the proposed treatment. calculation are not Parking Lot Landscape: As identified in section (F) 1, 2~, 3, 4, 5, parking lot islands and screening shall be provided. No numerical requirement of plants is provided, but use of canopy trees to provide shade and shrubs to soften the internal sight lines and screen small storage areas is required. Other Screening : As identified in section (G) other screening shall be provided. No numerical requirement of plants is provided. The perimeter tree planting requirement may be used to provide trees for this purpose, but their effectiveness shall be as described in section (F)4.b). 2. Plant Sizes: Plants provided by the developer as credit for meeting the landscape requirement shall meet the following size criteria: c) d) a) Deciduous Canopy Trees: 2 1/2" caliper B & B (at 6" above ground). b) Coniferous Trees: 6' high B & B c) others: 1. Ornamental or half trees: 1 3/4" caliper B & B (can substitute for canopy trees at a ratio of 2 ornamental/half trees for 1 canopy tree). 2. Other shrubs: No minimum, except that they must meet the stated purpose (screening, etc.). d) All plantings shall be appropriate to the hardiness zone and physical characteristics of the site. They shall conform to the size and quality standards in the most current edition of the American Standard for Nursery Stock as published by the American Association of Nurserymen. e) All deciduous trees proposed to meet the minimum requirements shall be long-lived, hardwood species. A list of desirable and prohibited plant material species is incorporated in this ordinance and will be maintained and kept on file with the city Planning Department. f) The complement of trees fulfilling the minimum requirements shall typically be less than 25% deciduous and not less than 25% coniferous to maintain a mix of plant types. Any proposed modification to this requirement will consider the site specific design solution if site conditions are deemed appropriate and other functional requirements (screening, etc.) are met. 4 g) Installation will be in accordance with professional horticultural standards as established in the most current edition of the Landscape Construction Reference Manual as published by the American Nursery and Landscape Association. 3. Credits for Existing Materials: The developer may request credit for plant materials preserved on site provided the developer has demonstrated that the plant material has been accurately identified by specie and location on a survey. The plant materials correct location shall also be shown on the grading plan with appropriate measures to ensure their protection and survival (i.e.; snow fence barrier, appropriate distance to tree base and root structure, prunin9, watering, mulching, root protection/pruning, timing, fertillzation, tree removal plan/techniques, disease prevention, method to prevent soil compaction over root systems, etc.). This tree protection/preservation plan should be prepared by a qualified forester, Registered Landscape Architect, or arborist. a) Existing trees must conform to the minimum size requirements (identified in 2 above) to be credited. b) Plants must be of approved species as currently recorded by the City as appropriate materials. Weak wooded and disease prone species are not suitable for credit. c) The extent of credit will be based on staff review of data (plans and narrative) presented by the develo~er. criteria will include type of material, size, quallty, location and extent of site coverage. 4. variation of Plant Sizes: a) For all landscape plans, at least 10% of the coniferous and/or deciduous canopy trees must exceed the minimum size (to 8' high and 3 1/2" caliper B & B respectively) to establish some diversity in size. b) For mUlti-family projects, 20% of the required plants shall be of the larger sizes. These plants shall be used in the areas for strategic screening, softening of buildings, focal point enhancement, adjacent to recreational areas for shade, etc. (F) Parking Lot Landscape: 1. To avoid undesirable monotony, heat, and wind associated with large parking lots, such lots shall have lineal and row end internal landscaped island/traffic delineators in addition to any required traffic safety islands. Landscape islands shall be at least 5% of the paved parking lot area in excess of 6000 square feet. A parking island is considered to be 9' x 18' or 162 square feet (equivalent of one parking stall), although the shape and location will be a design option of the developer. The minimum width shall be 6 feet. 5 2. Industrial storage yards, outdoor retail display areas or similar type areas are exempted from the parking lot island requirement. 3. Landscaping of parking lot islands shall include some combination of mulch, lawn, shrubs and/or trees. The intent is to provide shade, focus or promote traffic patterns, (define drive aisles and rows of parking), limit rows of visually uninterrupted parking stalls to a maximum of 180 feet, soften ground level views, yet maintain appropriate visibility for safety. 4. Parking lot screening shall be provided on the perimeter of any new parking lot. a) Screening shall be provided using a combination of shrubs, coniferous trees, fencing, berming, etc., to minimize the effect of headlights and reflected light from bumpers, grills, and headlights. Screening must attempt to address at least 60% of the perimeter where views of the parking lot could originate. b) Effectiveness of the screening shall be 80% opacity year-round. c) Berming must achieve a 30" height to provide 80% opacity on 3' high screening. (Berms cannot be used as the only method of screening. They must be used in combination with other elements.) d) Plant materials must be spaced no more than 30" apart on single rows of deciduous shrubs, 48" apart on double staggered rows of deciduous shrubs, with initial planted height of at least 2' (spacing may vary, subject to species used). e) Coniferous trees must be placed no further than 8' apart, to be counted as screening. 5. All parking lot islands or landscape areas shall be separated from the parking surface by cast in place concrete curbs or an equal or better standard. Bituminous or precast concrete curbs or similar curbs are unacceptable. Curb will not be required for existing uses that are required to comply with this ordinance (Section C) unless more than 50% of the existing parking or paved area will be reconstructed to accommodate drainage or general maintenance. (G) other Screening: Developers shall make design efforts to fully screen service areas, trash storage, loading, mechanical equipment, and other similar areas, from view by the general p~blic or adjacent residential areas. The screening provislons for parking lots shall be followed except that berming heights must be increased to a minimum of 4' with an overall effective screening height of 6'. (Berms cannot be used as the only method of screening. They must be used in combination with other elements.) Each site will be evaluated as to its specific needs and solutions which may exceed these minimum standards. 6 (H) Grounds and Lawns: 1. All areas must be finished off with a stable landscape (trees, shrubs, turf, mulch, etc.) or hard constructed surface (concrete, bituminous, pavers, etc.). No site areas can be left unfinished or subject to erosion. Landscape rock or bark/wood chip mulch may be substituted for sod in shrub and flower planting beds and building maintenance strips. 2. All lawn areas and drainage swales shall be sodded. At least a 2-foot width of sod shall be provided between all paved/curbed areas and seeded/natural/native areas to provide a finished edge and control erosion. Seeding or reseeding is allowed for less visible or large and remote portions of a site that are unused or subject to future development. Seed mixes could include prairie grass or other appropriate low-maintenance mixes. Athletic fields may be seeded. 3. Slopes in excess of 3:1 will not be allowed in areas intended for maintained turf. Slopes of up to 1:1/2:1 may be allowed with a slope stabilization plan approved by the city; otherwise terracing and/or retaining walls will be required. 4. All areas to be lawn and landscaped shall have a built-in irrigation system. An irrigation plan shall be required at the time of obtaining the building permit. This plan shall indicate the overlapping pattern, head type, control type and location, source of water and connection method. The system plan shall be prepared by a qualified designer with experience designing systems for similar uses (project type and size). Permanent underground irrigation is not required for existing, new or re-established natural or native plant communities. 5. Undisturbed areas containing existing viable natural or native vegetation shall be maintained free of foreign or noxious plant materials. Top seeding or enhancement of these areas should occur as needed and appropriate to fill in thin areas and revitalize the existing vegetation. (I) Maintenance Standards: 1. All cultivated landscape areas shall be maintained by the property owner to present a healthy, neat and orderly area. This shall include: a) Maintain a healthy, pest-free condition. b) Remove dead, diseased or dangerous trees or shrubs or parts thereof'. c) Provide appropriate pruning per National Arborist Association and American Nurserymen Association Standards. d) Mowing and/or removal of noxious weeds and grasses. e) Remove trash and other debris. f) Watering to ensure plant growth and survival. 7 ....~---~.. ..~..__...~ ....-r-._....~._..~.."....._.. 2. Natural or native plant communities shall be managed in order to maintain the plant community for the purpose that it was preserved or created. This includes trimming as needed of all noxious vegetation and long grasses, removal of trash or other debris and other horticulturally appropriate maintenance methods for the specific type of plant community. (J) Performance Guarantee: 1. All plants shall be guaranteed by the developer for one year after total project acceptance. 2. The irrigation system shall be guaranteed for one year concurrent with the plant guarantee. This will assure one winter season with a fall shut down and spring start-up. 3. The developer shall notify the City prior to total project acceptance, for City concurrence on the acceptability of the complete landscape and irrigation system installation. The Cit~ shall issue a letter accepting the landscape and irrlgation system installation and therein fixing the date for guarantee purposes. 4. The developer shall post a letter of credit with the City for the complete landscape and irrigation system installation when the building permit is issued (plants, irrigation, mulch and edgers). The letter of credit shall be held by the City and used, if necessary, to effect satisfactory completion of the project in the event of incomplete or failed work. The value of the letter of credit shall be 125% of the estimated construction costs for plants, irrigation system, mulch and edgers. 5. Release of the letter of credit shall occur on the date that the City has reinstated and accepted the landscape and irrigation system and notified developer in writing of such acceptance. Such release date shall not be earlier than ten (10) days prior to the expiration of the plant guarantee specified in paragraphs (J) 2 and (J) 3 above. (K) Submission Requirements: 1. Landscape plans must be drawn to scale, show all proposed plants, quantities and sizes, seed/sod areaS/limits, etc. The plan(s) must include the entire project area. Include project name, developer, Registered Landscape Architect or landscape designer, architect, dates, existing site conditions (topography, vegetation, ponding areas or water bodies, utilities, boundary data, walks, etc.), proposed site conditions, (grading plan, tree preservation/protection plan, etc.), site lighting, off site conditions approximately 100 feet beyond the site, and other site conditions that would be expected to affect landscaping. 8 ..,-.-.----- --.->>,..----------. r 2. Calculations to evaluate compliance with the ordinance provisions including: area in square footage and percentage in total area for building, parking lot (including driveways), landscape areas and total area; and quantities of trees and shrubs required and planted or preserved. 3. Supportive plans, details, written narrative notes, cross-sections or other information as may be required by the Planning staff that is reasonable and necessary to demonstrate the design intent and general compliance with this ordinance, including, but not limited to, items listed under Section (C). 4. Fifteen copies of all plans shall be submitted. This Ordinance shall become effective from and after its passage and publication. Passed by the City Council of the City of Prior Lake this 15th day of MARCH, 1993. ATTEST: .~t1)OJj~t!~. Acting Mayor the Prior Lake American on the 22 day of March , 19~ Drafted By: Greg Kopischke Westwood Professional Services, Inc. 14180 West Trunk Highway 5 Eden Prairie, MN 55344 (612)937-5150 9 .........>..44~_....._.>_.__.___.4.._.-__....._.4_..____.___--r-______..