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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-01INDIAN RIVER COUNTY ORDINANCE NO. 78-1 BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA, THAT: SECTION I PURPOSE AND INTENT Landscaping requirements for parking lots. This ordinance shall apply to all Sections of Indian River County Ordinance 71-3, as amended, except for individual single family and duplex uses. The objective of this provision is to promote the public health, safety and general welfare by requiring the land- scaping of parking lots which will serve to reduce wind and air turbulence, heat and noise, and the glare of automobile lights; to preserve underground water strata; to act as a natural drainage system and ameliorate storm water drainage problems; to reduce the level of carbon dioxide and return pure oxygen to the atmosphere; to prevent soil erosion; to provide shade; to conserve and stabilize property values and to otherwise facilitate the creation of a convenient, attractive and harmonious community; to relieve the blighted appearance of parking lots; and to generally preserve a healthful and pleasant environment. SECTION II DEFINITIONS - For the purpose of the administration and enforcement of this Section, and unless otherwise stated, the following words shall have the definitions indicated. A. Accessway: A paved area intended to provide ingress and egress of vehicular traffic from a public right-of-way to an off-street parking area. B. Developed Area: That portion of a plot or parcel upon which a building, structure, pavement, gravel landscaping or other improvements have been placed. C. Encroachment: Any protrusion of a vehicle outside of a parking space, display area or accessway into a landscaped area. D. Frontage_ Lineal distance measured along abutting public right-of-way. E. Ground Cover: Low growing plants planted in such a manner as to form a continuous cover over the ground, such as, but not limited to English Ivy, low growing varieties of Honeysuckle and Confederate Jasmine. F. Interior: That area inside of and beyond ten (10) feet of the property line, excluding that area covered by buildings. G. Landscaping: Landscaping shall consist of any of the following or combination thereof; material such as but not limited to, grass, ground covers, shrubs, vines, hedges, trees, or palms; and non -living durable material commonly used in landscaping, such as, but not limited to rocks, pebbles, sand, walls or fences, but excluding paving. H. Mulch: Non -living small aggregate material such as gravel, rock, pebbles, bark, or pine needles used as a ground cover. I. Off -Street Parking: An area not within a building service way or other structure where motor vehicles may be stored for the purpose of temporary, daily or overnight parking. This definition shall include a motor vehicle display lot, or display of boats, trailers, and mobile homes. J. Perimeter: That area within ten (10) feet of all property lines. K. Planting Area: Any area designated for landscaping planting having a minimum of ten (10) feet square feet aid at least one dimension on any side of three (3) feet; except that wherever a tree shall be planted a minimum area of twenty-five (25) square feet, with a radius of two and three-fourths (2 3/4) feet around said tree shall be required. L. Shrub: Any low growing self-supporting woody evergreen and/or flowering species. M. Tree: Any living self-supporting woody plant having at least one well defined stem as designated in Section IV and growing to a minimum of eight (8) feet in height. N. Vines: Any of a group of woody or herbaceous plants which may climb by twining, by means of aerial rootlets or by means of tendrils, or which may simply sprawl over the ground or other plants. O. Zoning official: Authorized employee in the Indian River County Zoning Department. ECTION III LANDSCAPE PLAN A. No off-street parking area shall be constructed or enlarged in Indian River County until a landscape plan for construction or enlargement of the parking lot has been approved by the Zoning official. This ordinance shall apply only to new construction or enlargement. The Zoning official shall not approve any landscape plan unless it conforms to the requirements of this ordinance, and is submitted for site plan approval under Section 23 of the Zoning Ordinance, if required or the landscape plan must be approved by the Building Depart- ment_upon application for a building permit if site plan approval is not required. B. Landscape plans submitted pursuant to this ordinance shall be drawn to scale, including dimensions and distance, and clearly delineate the existing and proposed parking spaces, access aisles, driveways, and the location, size and description of all landscape materials including the method of watering and maintaining the landscaped area. SECTION IV A. Plant Materials: 1. Quality - Plant materials used in conformance with provisions of this ordinance shall conform to the Standards for Florida No. 1 or better as given in "Grade and Standards for Nursery Plants", Part 1, 1973 and Part II, 1975, State of Florida, Department of Agriculture, Tallahassee, or equal thereto. Grass seed shall be delivered to the job site in bags with Florida Department Of Agriculture tags attached indicating the seed growers compliance with the Department's quality control program. Plant materials which are known to be intolerant of paving environments, or whose physical characteristics may be injurious to the public, should not be specified for use under. this ordinance. 2. Trees - Trees shall be species having an average mature spread of crown of greater than fifteen (15) feet when growing in the County of Indian River, Florida, and eventually having a trunk (s) which can be maintained in a clean condition over five (5) feet of clear wood. Trees having an average mature spread of crown less than fifteen (15) feet may be substituted by grouping the same so as to create the equivalent of a fifteen (15) foot crown spread. Palms shall be considered trees and if used, they shall consist of no more than fifty (50) per cent of total new tree requirement for any area. Palms may constitute more than the fifty (50) per cent of total new tree requirement when said palms are existing on the site and either remain on site or are relocated on the same site. Tree species shall be a minimum of eight (8) feet overall height at time of planting. The number of different species of trees, other than palms, shall be as follows: Required Number of Trees Minimum Number of Species 1-10 1 11-30 2 31-60 3 61-100 4 100 -over 5 At least fifty (50) per cent of all new required trees shall be of a native species. Trees of a species whose roots are known to cause damage to public roadways or other public works or easements shall not be planted closer than twelve (12) feet to such public works, unless the tree root system is completely contained within a barrier for which the minimum interior containing dimensions shall be five (5) feet square and five (5) feet deep, and for which the construction requirements shall be four (4) inches thick concrete reinforced with #6 road mesh (6 x 6 x 6) or equivalent. The following species will not be used to fulfill requirements of this ordinance: Australian Pine - (Casuarina equisetifolia) (Casuarina lepidophlia) (Casuarina cumminghamiana) Chinaberry - (Melia azedarch) Ear pod - (Enterlobium cyclocarpum) Brazilian pepper - (Schinus terebinthifolius) Melaleuca -- (Melaleuca quinquenervia) 3. Shrubs and Hedges - Shrubs shall be a minimum of twenty-four (24) inches in height when measured immediately after planting. Hedges, where required, shall be planted and maintained so as to form a continuous, unbroken, solid screen within a maximum of one (1) year after time of planting. 4. Vines - Vines shall be a minimum of thirty (30) inches in height directly after planting and may be used in conjunction with fences, screens, or walls to meet physical barrier requirements as specified. 5. Ground Covers - Ground covers other than grass shall be planted in such a manner as to present a finished appearance and reasonably complete coverage within three (3) months after planting. 6. Grass - Grass areas may be sodded, plugged, sprigged or seeded except that solid sod shall be used in swales or other areas subject to erosion. Seed, where used, shall be of a variety that will produce complete coverage within ninety (90) days from sowing where other than solid sod or grass seed is used, nurse grass seed shall be sown for immediate effect and protection until coverage is otherwise achieved. B. Existing Plant Material - Where healthy native plant material exists on a site prior to development and provision is made to preserve same permanently, credit shall be given for such natural growth areas in meeting the requirements of this ordinance. C. Required Landscaping Adjacent to Public Rights-of-Way - On the site of a building or open lot providing an off- street parking 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 ten (10) feet in depth located between the abutting right-of-way and the off- street parking area which is exposed to an abutting right-of-way which shall be landscaped, such landscaping to include one tree for each forty (40) lineal feet or I. fraction thereof. Such trees shall be located between the abutting right-of-way and off-street parking area and shall be planted in a planting area of at least twenty-five (25) square feet with two (2) of the dimensions being at least five (5) feet, in addition, a hedge, wall, fence or other durable landscape barrier of at least two (2) feet in height shall be placed along the perimeter of such landscaped strip. If such durable barrier is of non -living material, for each ten (10) feet thereof, one shrub or vine shall be planted abutting such barrier but need not be spaced ten (10) feet apart. Such shrubs or vines shall be planted along the street side of such barrier unless they are of sufficient height at the time of planting to be readily visible over the top of such barrier. The remainder of the required landscaped areas shall be land- scaped with grass, ground cover or other landscape treatment excluding paving. 2. All property other than the required landscaped strip lying between the right-of-way and off-street parking 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 and such accessways may be substracted from the lineal dimension used to determine the number of trees required. D. Perimeter Landscaping Relating to Abutting Properties - On the site of a building or structure or open lot use providing an off-street parking area where such areas will not be entirely screened visually by an intervening building or structure from abutting property, that portion of such area not so screened shall be provided with.a hedge or other durable landscape barrier not greater than six (6) feet in height nor. less than three (3) feet in height to form a continuous screen between the off-street parking area and such abutting property. Such landscaped barrier shall be located between the common lot line and the off-street parking area, and shall be planted in a planting strip no less than four (4) feet in width. In addition one tree shall be provided for each fifty (50) lineal feet of such landscape barrier or fractional part thereof. Such trees shall be located between the common lot line and the off-street parking area. Each such tree shall be planted in a least twenty-five (25) square feet of planting area with a minimum dimension of at least four (4) feet. Each such planting area shall be landscaped with grass, ground cover or other landscape material excluding paving in addition to the required tree. The provisions of sub -section D, above shall not be applicable in the following situations: 1. When a property line abuts a dedicated alley, or to those portions of the property that are opposite a building or other structure located on the abutting property. 2. Where the abutting property is zoned or used for non- residential uses, only the tree provision with its planting area as prescribed in this sub section shall be required; however, the number of trees may be reduced to one tree for every one hundred twenty-five (125) lineal feet or fraction thereof. E. Interior Coverage Requirements - Not less than four (4) per cent of the interior of the property shall be landscaped. Planting which may be required around a perimeter of a lot shall not be considered as a part of the interior landscaping requirements. Each separate landscaped area, excluding that area within five (5) feet of the main building, shall have a minimum of fifty (50) square feet, and with a mimimum dimension of at least five (5) feet and shall include at least one tree having a clear trunk with a mimimum of five (5) feet. The remaining area shall be adequately landscaped with shrubs, ground cover and other authorized landscaping material not to exceed three (3) feet in height. The total number of trees shall not be less than one (1) for each seventy-five (75) square feet or fraction thereof of required interior landscaped area. F. Encroachment - Landscape areas shall require protections from vehicular encroachment. Car stops shall be placed at least three (3) feet from the edge of such landscaped areas. Where a wheel stop or curb is utilized, the paved area between the curb/wheel stop and the end of the parking space may be omitted, provided it is landscaped in addition to the required land- scaping provided. Car stops shall be located so as to prevent damage to any planting areas by automobiles. G. Maintenance - The owners or their agents shall be responsible for providing, protecting, and maintaining all landscaping in a healthy and growing condition, replacing it when necessary and keeping it clear of refuse and debris. All planted areas shall be provided with an adequate system of a readily available water supply to insure continuous healthy growth and development. Maintenance shall include the replacement of required dead plant material. H. Certificate of Occupancy - No Certificate of Occupancy shall be given or issued to the owner or his agent until all conditions of this ordinance have been complied with and the zoning official has given an approval. I. violations of this ordinance upon conviction shall constitute a misdemeanor with penalties assessed according to law. Each day's violation can be considered a separate offense. The Board of County Commissioners may enforce the provisions of this ordinance by seeking injunctive relief or any other remedies provided by law. �. Should any section, clause, word or provisions of this ordinance, or application of a provision contained within this ordinance, be declared by the County to be unconstitutional or invalid, such declaration shall not affect the validity of the ordinance as a whole or any part thereof, other than the part or application declared to be unconstitutional or invalid. K. This Ordinance shall be effective this 14th day of February , 1978.