1. The property owner shall be responsible for any future damage to a street, curb, or sidewalk caused by landscaping.

2. Landscaping shall be selected and located to deter sound, filter air contaminants, curtail erosion, contribute to living privacy, reduce the visual impacts of large buildings and paved areas, screen, and emphasize or separate outdoor spaces of different uses or character.

3. Landscaping in parking areas shall be planted in combination along the perimeter and in the interior of the lot and shall be designed to guide traffic movement and lessen the visual dominance of the lot.

4. Plants that minimize upkeep and maintenance shall be selected.

5. Plants shall complement or supplement surrounding natural vegetation and fit the climate.

6. Plants chosen shall be in scale with building development.

7. Minimum landscaping as a percent of gross site area shall be as follows:

8. Deciduous trees shall have straight trunks, be fully branched, have a minimum caliper of one and one-half (1½) inches and be adequately staked for planting.

9. Evergreen trees shall be a minimum of three (3) feet in height, fully branched and adequately staked for planting.

10. Shrubs shall be a minimum eighteen (18) inches in height and spaced not more than four (4) feet apart for planting.

11. Ground cover, defined as living material and not including bark chips or other mulch, shall be planted on a maximum eighteen (18) inches on center between plants and rows.

12. Watering systems shall be installed to assure landscaping success. If plantings fail to survive, it is the responsibility of the property owner to replace them.

13. Trees shall not be planted closer than twenty-five (25) feet from the curb line of intersections of streets or alleys, and not closer than ten (10) feet from private driveways (measured at the back edge of the sidewalk), fire hydrants, or utility poles.

14. Street trees shall not be planted closer than twenty (20) feet to light standards. Except for public safety, no new light standard location should be positioned closer than ten (10) feet to any existing street tree, and preferably, such locations will be at least twenty (20) feet distant.

15. Trees shall not be planted closer than two and one-half (2½) feet from the face of the curb except at intersections, where it should be five (5) feet from the curb in a curb return area.

16. Where there are overhead power lines, tree species that will not interfere with those lines shall be chosen.

17. Trees shall not be planted within two (2) feet of any permanent hard surface paving or walkway. Sidewalk cuts in concrete for trees shall be at least four (4) feet by four (4) feet; however, larger cuts are encouraged because they allow additional air and water into the root system and add to the health of the tree. Space between the tree and such hard surface may be covered by permeable non-permanent hard surfaces such as grates, bricks on sand, paver blocks, cobblestones, or ground cover.

18. Trees, as they grow, shall be pruned to their natural form to provide at least eight (8) feet of clearance above sidewalks and twelve (12) feet above street roadway surfaces.

19. Existing trees may be used as street trees if there will be no damage from the development which will kill or weaken the tree. Sidewalks of variable width and elevation may be utilized to save existing street trees, subject to approval by the City Engineer.

20. Vision clearance hazards shall be avoided. Refer to Diagram “A” – Vision Clearance, Section 17.09.040.

21. City or State right-of-way(s) can not be used to satisfy the required landscaping requirement.

22. Landscaping in the Central Business district and the Heights Business District can include street amenities such as park benches and planter boxes.