30.25.026 Community facilities for juveniles parking lot landscaping.
(1) Parking lot landscaping is required for community facilities for juveniles with more than five parking stalls. Parking lot landscaping is in addition to any Type A or B perimeter landscaping required by SCC 30.25.020 for facilities located in a T, LDMR, or MR zone adjacent to R-7200, R-8400, R-9600, or R-5 zones.
(2) Parking lot landscaping shall be installed as follows to provide visual relief and shade in parking areas, to decrease reflected heat and glare, and to mitigate aesthetic impacts:
(a) An area equal to at least 10 percent of parking lot area shall be landscaped;
(b) Trees shall be included in parking lot landscaping at the rate of one tree for every five parking stalls or one per landscaping area or island, whichever is greater;
(c) Low growing evergreen shrubs and groundcover, not to exceed a mature height of approximately 30 inches shall be planted in each parking lot landscaping area or island. Shrubs shall be planted approximately three feet on center and groundcover shall be planted approximately 12 inches on center;
(d) Lawn may be allowed as a substitute for shrubs and groundcover in parking lot landscaping if an applicant demonstrates that the areas proposed for lawn can and will be easily maintained; and
(e) Coniferous evergreen trees shall not be planted in parking lot landscaping islands or in any other location where they could obstruct lines of sight or create a safety hazard.
(3) No passenger vehicle parking stall shall be more than 50 feet from a landscaping area.
(4) When a parking area abuts residentially-zoned property, a solid landscape screen (gaps no greater than 1/4 inch) at least 40 inches high shall be required to block headlight glare; provided that the department may modify or waive this requirement when the abutting property or existing or likely future development is separated topographically from the parking area or otherwise protected from headlight glare.
(5) For calculating the 10 percent landscaping requirement, parking lot area shall include all areas devoted to parking spaces, driveways, and aisles accessing passenger vehicle parking spaces. Truck loading areas and truck turnarounds, if not in the passenger vehicle parking areas, and outdoor storage and outdoor display areas are not included in the calculation of parking lot area for landscaping purposes.
(6) Parking lot landscaping may include landscape areas adjacent to property lines, critical areas, buildings, recreation areas, and roads if the parking area abuts these areas and provide the required visual relief for neighboring properties.
(7) If the applicant provides documentation including photos, site plans, and written description of why landscaping would have no visual relief benefits, the department director may exempt the home from such standards. (Added by Amended Ord. 05-040, July 6, 2005, Eff date Aug. 8, 2005).