[Amended by Ord. No. 2004-22, 8-23-2004]
This division is intended to establish a landscaped area adjacent
and parallel to any public street right-of-way. This street yard shall
be planted with live, healthy trees to provide a pleasing appearance,
a continuity of vegetation, a reduction in impervious surfaces, a
reduction in stormwater runoff, improvements in air quality and increased
shaded areas.
[Amended by Ord. No. 2004-22, 8-23-2004]
(a)
Generally. Street yards shall be landscaped with live vegetation
and maintained by the property owner. Such landscaping may be used
to help satisfy the requirements for buffer areas (division 2) and
vehicular use area landscaping (division 3).
(b)
Impervious surfaces. Access driveways shall cross the street yard
as near to a 90-degree angle as is practical given the shape and topography
of the property. No other impervious surfaces may be used in calculating
the street yard area requirements.
(c)
Tree quantity. Street yards shall contain at least one canopy tree
for every 50 linear feet of street yard, or fraction thereof, for
the entire frontage of the site. Trees may be grouped together to
enhance the appearance of the site and enhance the design of the landscaping,
but no trees shall be installed closer than ten feet on center. No
more than 25 percent of the required trees shall be evergreen.
(d)
Tree size. Trees shall be a minimum of 1 3/4 to two inches in
caliper measured one foot above grade and a minimum of eight feet
in height at installation and shall be expected to achieve a minimum
height of 35 feet at maturity unless the canopy of such a tree will
be impaired by utility lines, in which case two small trees may be
substituted therefor.
(e)
Existing trees. Existing trees may be used to satisfy the requirements for street yard planting, provided that these trees meet the size requirements of subsection (d) above and are maintained in a healthy growing condition before, during and after development of the site.
(f)
Street yard width and area requirements. All new developments shall
provide a street yard that averages at least ten feet in width and
is no less than six feet in width at any point along its street frontage
as measured perpendicularly to the public street right-of-way. The
minimum area of the street yard in square feet shall be equal to the
length of the property along the right-of-way in linear feet times
ten. Street yard widths in excess of 20 feet shall not be calculated
in determining the minimum area. Access drives are excluded in calculating
the length of the street yard.
