Secondary and Cumulative Impacts Master Management Plan - 2014

Article 5: Development Standards Section 5.12. Landscaping 5.12.4. Vehicle Use Area Landscaping

Planning Director shall consider the type and location of the required landscaping materials as well as the propensity for natural re-vegetation. 431 8. All initial and replacement landscaping shall be subject to a two-year performance guarantee that ensures proper maintenance and replacement, in accordance with Section 8.1.3, Performance Guarantees. 432 H. Alteration of Required Landscaping 433 Landscaping may be altered through replacement or relocation by a maximum of ten percent over the life of the development without submittal of a revised landscape plan provided that the overall landscaping remains in compliance with this section. A revised plan shall not be required for plantings that exceed the requirements of this section. A. Applicability Except for driveways serving as off-street vehicle parking areas for single-family detached, duplex, manufactured home, and single-family attached dwellings, the vehicle use areas of developments shall include landscaping both within the interior of the vehicle use area (interior landscaping) and around its perimeter (perimeter landscaping) as a means of mitigating the vehicle use area‘s microclimate and visual impacts. B. General 1. To the maximum extent practicable, required landscaped planting areas and shade trees shall be distributed and sited within and around the vehicle use area so as to maximize shading of pavement and pedestrian routes through the parking area. Part of every parking space shall be located within 50 feet from the trunk of a shade tree. 434 2. Perimeter landscaping and interior landscaping shall be sited and designed for stormwater management purposes to the maximum extent practicable, as long as they comply with these vehicle use area landscaping standards. 435 3. Perimeter landscaping and interior landscaping may include non-landscaping features such as walkways, light or utility poles, utility lines, and fire hydrants, provided the minimum landscaping width and planting standards for vehicle use areas are met. 436 C. Perimeter Landscaping 437 Where a vehicle use area is within 50 feet of and visible from a street, other development (except another vehicle use area), or vacant property, perimeter landscaping shall be provided and maintained within the strip of land between the vehicle use area and the adjacent street right-of-way or easement or property line in accordance with the following standards, except where such strip is 5.12.4. Vehicle Use Area Landscaping 431 The last sentence is added to this carried forward standard to provide some flexibility. 432 This is a new standard requiring the posting of a maintenance guarantee to ensure the survival of required plantings for at least two years. 433 This new standard is intended to provide flexibility to accommodate minor alterations in required landscaping. 434 This carries forward the 50-foot requirement in Part C, Art. IX, Sec. 7.3 of the current Zoning Ordinance as a minimum for maximizing shading (to recognize the significant energy conservation and pedestrian comfort benefits from maximizing the shading of parking lots). 435 This new standard recognizes that parking lots can and should be designed to buffer, storage, and infiltrate stormwater runoff. 436 This recognizes that landscaping areas within and around vehicle use areas may include non-landscaping features., but not at the expense of required landscaping. 437 Part C, Art. IX, Sec. 7, Part C, Art. XII, Sec. 6.4, and Part E. Art. II, Sec. 5.1.C of the current Zoning Ordinance each requires landscaping that screens parking lots adjacent to or visible from streets. This subsection combines the adjacency and visual triggers to applicability and expands them to also require screening from adjacent developments and vacant properties.

June 2013 Page 5-124

Morrisville, NC

Unified Development Ordinance - Public Hearing Draft