17-7-4.6 Landscaping | Midvale Municipal Code

17-7-4.6 Landscaping.

Applicants for new development and existing residential property owners shall comply with the following landscaping standards:

1. Landscaping Required. Front and side yards, including park strips, that are not utilized as approved parking or access for vehicles, trailers, etc., shall be landscaped. Landscaping shall include the treatment of the ground surface with live materials such as, but not limited to, sod, grass, ground cover, trees, shrubs, vines and other growing horticultural plant material. In addition, a combination of xeriscape plantings and designs that may include other decorative surfacing such as bark chips, crushed stone, mulch materials, decorative concrete or pavers shall also meet landscaping requirements. Structural features such as fountains, pools, statues, and benches shall also be considered part of the landscaping, but such objects alone shall not meet the requirements of landscaping.

2. Installation Time Frame Requirements. Landscape materials must be installed within six months of occupancy/notice of violation. This shall apply to all new or existing residential structures that are in a blighted condition which do not comply with this chapter. This time frame will allow the owner to plant trees and other landscaping to ensure the survival of the plant material. Typically, installation of landscaping occurs in the spring or fall.

3. Maintenance. Individual(s) whether as the owner, lessee, tenant, occupant or otherwise shall be responsible for the continued proper maintenance of all landscaping materials. Landscaping shall be maintained in good condition so as to present a healthy, neat, and orderly appearance at all times. Landscaping shall be mowed, groomed, trimmed, pruned and watered according to water-wise conservation guidelines to maintain healthy growing conditions and not detract from the appearance of the immediate neighborhood. Landscaping shall be kept visually free of insects and disease, and shall be kept free from weeds and other volunteer plants. Irrigation systems shall be maintained so as to eliminate water loss due to damaged, missing, or improperly operating sprinkler system components. All unhealthy or dead plant material shall be removed or replaced within six months, or the next planting period (spring or fall), whichever comes first; while other defective landscaping features shall be removed, replaced or repaired within three months. Permanent, semi-permanent, and regular parking on landscaped areas is prohibited.

4. Hazards. Landscaping shall be maintained to minimize property damage and public safety hazards, including the removal/replacement of dead or decaying plant material, removal of low-hanging branches and those obstructing street lighting, sidewalks and traffic sight distance requirements. Trees planted in the public right-of-way must be selected from the city’s street tree selection guide. In the event a tree, shrub, or other plant causes damage to streets, sidewalks, trails, or other public improvements, the community development director and/or public works director or designee may order the removal of the offending vegetation and/or other landscape features.

5. Vegetation Protection. Development plans must show all significant vegetation within twenty feet of any proposed new development. The applicant must protect all significant vegetation during any new development activity.

6. Enforcement. Follow-up inspections and enforcement activities will be through the city’s code enforcement ACE program.

B. Multifamily Required Landscaping. All required landscaping shall be installed as a condition precedent to receiving a certificate of occupancy unless seasonal conditions make installation unfeasible, in which case the applicant shall provide cash security or its approved alternative for all landscaping, which landscaping shall be installed by the following May 31st.

1. Minimum Landscaped Area. The applicant shall landscape twenty percent of the interior of the proposed development area. Landscaped areas shall not be less than five feet wide. Building foundation landscaping is not interior landscaping. The applicant must landscape a minimum of ten feet between the side yard and the abutting property line when the side or rear yards are in public view.

2. Building Foundation Landscaping. The ground adjacent to the building foundation must be landscaped if it is visible from public vantage points.

3. Plant Materials. Areas requiring landscaping shall be planted with substantial live plant material including: plants, shrubs, trees, sod, etc., for the purpose of buffering, screening, and improving the visual quality of the site.

a. Types of Vegetation. At least twenty-five percent of the landscaping must be evergreen. Up to twenty-five percent of the landscape area can include specialty paving, street furniture, and outdoor seating areas. Trees that are planted in the park strip shall meet the specifications described in the standard construction specifications of Midvale City.

b. Size of Trees. The following standards apply to the use of plant and tree material:

i. Deciduous Trees. All deciduous trees shall have a minimum caliper size of two inches.

ii. Ornamental Trees. All ornamental trees shall have a minimum caliper size of one and one-half inches.

iii. Evergreen Trees. All evergreen trees shall have a minimum height of six feet.

4. Criteria for Reduced Landscaping. To encourage design excellence, the community and economic development director may decrease the minimum landscaped area, upon the following criteria:

a. Professionally designed landscaping, designs of special merit, xeriscaping and preserving existing mature, “healthy,” and desirable tree species are highly encouraged and considered in an applicant’s request to reduce required landscaping.

b. The community and economic development director may grant a reduction of an applicant’s landscape requirement by a total of up to twenty-five percent upon an applicant’s demonstration of the criteria listed below:

i. Professionally Designed Landscaping. Up to ten percent if the applicant implements a landscaping plan designed and prepared by a licensed landscape architect.

ii. Landscape Designs of Special Merit. Up to twenty percent if the overall landscape design is of special design merit. Special design merit is interpreted to include but not be limited to such things as utilizing unique or rare plant species, civic art such as sculpture, and features using recycled water.

iii. Existing Mature Trees. Up to twenty-five percent if the applicant proposes to save and integrate existing mature trees into required landscape areas. For each tree greater than two inches of caliper size, one-half of one percent of the total landscaped area requirement can be subtracted with a maximum of five percent for each tree.

iv. Berms. Up to ten percent through the use of berms according to the following specifications. For parking lots adjacent to any public right-of-way, seventy percent of the street-side landscaping requirement shall be in the form of a berm for screening. The berm shall have a slope of one to four (one foot high per four feet wide) with a maximum height of four feet.

5. Irrigation/Planting Plan. The applicant must submit a landscape plan documentation package. The landscape documentation package shall be submitted to and approved by the city prior to the issue of any permit. A copy of the approved landscaped documentation package shall be provided to the property owner or site manager. The landscape plan documentation package shall consist of the following items:

i. Project Data Sheet. The project data sheet shall contain the following:

(A) Project name and address;

(B) Applicant or applicant’s agent’s name, address, phone and fax number;

(D) Landscape contractor’s name, address, phone and fax number, if known.

ii. Planting Plan. A detailed planting plan shall be drawn at a scale that clearly identifies the following:

(A) Location of all plant materials, a legend with botanical and common names, and size of plant materials;

(B) Property lines and street names;

(D) Existing trees and plant materials to be removed or retained;

(E) Designation of landscape zones; and

(F) Details and specification for tree staking (trees less than a two-inch caliper must be double staked until the trees mature to two-inch caliper), soil preparation, and other planting work.

iii. Irrigation Plan. A detailed irrigation plan shall be drawn at the same scale as the planting plan and shall contain the following information:

(A) Layout of the irrigation system and a legend summarizing the type and size of all components of the system;

(B) Static water pressure in pounds per square inch (psi) at the point of connection to the public water supply;

(C) Flow rate in gallons per minute and design operating pressure in psi for each valve and precipitation rate in inches per hour for each valve with sprinklers; and

(D) Installation details for irrigation components.

iv. Grading Plan. A grading plan shall be drawn at the same scale as the planting plan and shall contain the following information:

(A) Property lines and street names, existing and proposed buildings, walls, fences, utilities, paved areas and other site improvements; and

(B) Existing and finished contour lines and spot elevations as necessary for the proposed site improvements.

i. Plant Selection. Plants selected for landscape areas shall consist of plants that are well suited to the microclimate and soil conditions at the project site. Plants with similar water needs shall be grouped together as much as possible. For projects located at the interface between urban areas and natural open space (nonirrigated), extra-drought tolerant plants shall be selected that will blend with the native vegetation and are fire resistant or fire retardant. Plants with low fuel volume or high moisture content shall be emphasized. Plants that tend to accumulate excessive amount of dead wood or debris shall be avoided. Areas with slopes greater than thirty-three percent shall be landscaped with deep-rooting, water-conserving plants for erosion control and soil stabilization. Parking strips and other landscaped areas less than four feet wide shall be landscaped with water-conserving plants.

ii. Mulch. After completion of all planting, all irrigated nonturf areas shall be covered with a minimum four-inch layer of mulch to retain water, inhibit weed growth, and moderate soil temperature. Nonporous material shall not be placed under the mulch.

iii. Soil Preparation. Soil preparation will be suitable to provide healthy growing conditions for the plants and to encourage water infiltration and penetration. Soil preparation shall include scarifying the soil to a minimum depth of six inches and amending the soil with organic material as per specific recommendations of the landscape designer based on the soil conditions.

iv. Turfgrass. Turf areas shall be on a separate irrigation zone from other landscape zones.

v. Trees. Trees less than a two-inch caliper must be double staked until the trees mature to a two-inch caliper.

i. Pressure Regulation. A pressure-regulating valve shall be installed and maintained by the consumer if the static service pressure exceeds eighty pounds per square inch (psi). The pressure-regulating valve shall be located between the meter and the first point of water use, or first point of division in the pipe, and shall be set at the manufacturer’s recommended pressure for the sprinklers.

ii. Automatic Controller. All irrigation systems shall include an electric automatic controller with multiple program and multiple repeat cycle capabilities and a flexible calendar program. All controllers shall be equipped with an automatic rain shut-off device, and the ability to adjust run times based on a percentage of maximum Eto.

iii. On slopes exceeding thirty-three percent, the irrigation system shall consist of drip emitters, bubblers or sprinklers with a maximum precipitation rate of 0.85 inches per hour and adjusted sprinkler cycle times to eliminate runoff.

iv. Each valve shall irrigate a landscape with similar site, slope and soil conditions and plant materials with similar watering needs. Turf and nonturf areas shall be irrigated on separate valve. Drip emitters and sprinklers shall be placed on separate valves.

v. Drip emitters or a bubbler shall be provided for each tree unless located in a turf area. Bubblers shall not exceed one and one-half gallons per minute per device. Bubblers for trees shall be placed on a separate valve unless specifically exempted by the city due to the limited number of trees on the project site.

vi. Sprinklers shall have matched precipitation rates with each control valve circuit.

vii. Check valves shall be required where elevation differences will cause low-head drainage. Pressure compensating valves and sprinklers shall be required where a significant variation in water pressure will occur within the irrigation system due to elevation differences.

viii. Filters and end flush valves shall be provided as necessary for drip irrigation lines.

ix. Valves with spray or stream sprinklers shall be scheduled to operate between six p.m. and ten a.m. to reduce water loss from wind and evaporation.

x. Program valves for multiple repeat cycles where necessary to reduce runoff, particularly on slopes and soils with slow infiltration rates.

xi. Spacing of irrigation heads shall not exceed fifty-five percent of coverage diameter.

i. As part of the site plan approval process, a copy of the landscape plan documentation package shall be submitted to the city for review and approval.

ii. Following construction and prior to issuing the approval for occupancy, an inspection shall be scheduled with the planning department to verify compliance with the approved landscape plans.

iii. The city reserves the right to perform site inspections at any time before, during or after the irrigation system and landscape installation, and to require corrective measures if requirements of this ordinance are not satisfied.

6. Vegetation Protection. The property owner must protect existing significant vegetation during any development activity. Development plans must show all significant vegetation within twenty feet of a proposed development. Prior to certificate of occupancy, the property owner must demonstrate the health and viability of all large trees through a certified arborist.

7. Removal. No landscaping may be removed without replacement of equal or better quality. This shall include the installation of healthy plant materials as well as a tree-for-tree replacement as governed by this section.

8. Enforcement. Failure to maintain required landscaping in a condition substantially similar to its original approved condition or alteration of any buffer without prior approval of the community and economic development department shall be a violation of this title and shall be a class B misdemeanor. (Ord. 2022-03A § 1 (Att. D); Ord. 6/20/2006O-8 § 1 (part); Ord. 12/03/2002A § 1 (part); Ord. 11-13-2001 § 2 (part))