§ 14-4. General requirements and conditions.

14-4.1.

Certificate of occupancy. A conditional certificate of occupancy may be issued by the UDO administrator for the temporary use and occupancy of a building, structure or land for a maximum period 180 days from the date of the issuance of such certificate whenever the landscaping requirements of this ordinance are not complied with on time for the intended use and occupancy of a building, structure or land. Should these landscaping requirements not be complied with in full upon the expiration of such conditional certificate of occupancy, the use of the property for which such certificate was issued shall be discontinued and further use of said property beyond the expiration date of such certificate shall constitute an illegal use and occupancy of such property.

14-4.2.

Alternate methods of compliance.

(A)

It is not the intent of this section to prevent the use of a material or method of construction not specifically prescribed by this article especially whenever a stream, natural rock formation or other physiographic obstacles make conventional compliance extraordinarily difficult or impossible. Alternate materials and methods may, therefore, be utilized to satisfy these requirements, provided that any proposed alternate is suitable for the purpose intended, and is at least the equivalent of that specifically prescribed by this article in quality, effectiveness, durability, hardiness and performance. The UDO administrator may require that sufficient evidence and data be submitted to substantiate any claim that may be made in this regard.

(B)

Existing trees that meet or exceed the minimum standards, as established herein, may be used to satisfy these requirements and credits for the preservation of existing trees may be applied at the following rate:

Caliper of Existing Tree	No. of Required Trees
2"—6"	1 Large Maturing Tree
6.1"—12"	2 Large Maturing Trees
12.1"—18"	3 Large Maturing Trees
18.1"—24"	4 Large Maturing Trees
Over 24"	5 Large Maturing Trees

 

In order to qualify for the above credits, each existing tree to be preserved must be uniformly encircled with an effective protected ground area which shall extend at least seven feet from the base of the tree trunk in all directions, or at least one foot per inch of caliper of the tree trunk measured at grade, whichever is greater.

During construction, all protected ground areas shall be clearly marked and identified on the site by effective barriers, such as a fence at least three feet high using two-inch by four-inch posts not more than ten feet apart with one-inch by four-inch horizontal rails and/or covered with orange polyethylene laminar safety fencing, or other effective barriers. No credit will be allowed if there is any encroachment of construction, construction activity, or construction materials within the protected ground area.

(C)

Landscaping shall not obstruct the view of motorists using any street, private drive, parking aisle or other approaches to street intersections so as to constitute a condition endangering the public safety upon any such street, driveway, parking aisle or street intersection.

(D)

All required planting and landscaped areas shall be maintained at all times in good, stable and healthy condition.

(E)

These landscaping requirements are intended to be performance-oriented and the failure of trees and plantings to achieve adequate growth and development shall constitute noncompliance.

(F)

When screening is required by this article or by other provisions of this ordinance and the site design, topography, unique relationships to other properties, lot configuration, spatial separation, natural vegetation, or other special considerations exist relative to the proposed development, the developer may submit a specific plan for screening to the UDO administrator. This plan must demonstrate how the purposes and standards of this ordinance will be met by measures other than those listed in sections 14-5 and 14-10. If approved by the UDO administrator, the alternative screening plan may be utilized to meet the requirements of this ordinance.

(G)

A combination of natural vegetation, fences, walls and berms may be utilized to achieve the screening requirements of sections 14-5 and 14-10 provided that the following standards are met:

(1)

Walls (a minimum of 5 feet in height and constructed of masonry, stone or pressure treated lumber) or an opaque fence (a minimum of five feet in height) may be used to reduce the widths of the buffer yards required in subsections 14-5.1(D) and 14-10.1 by ten feet.

(2)

Understory or large maturing trees may be substituted for canopy or small maturing trees if, in the opinion of the UDO administrator upon conferring with the electrical utility provider, a conflict exists with overhead utility lines.

(3)

Wall planters shall be constructed of masonry, stone or pressure treated lumber and shall have a minimum height of 30 inches. The minimum height of shrubs in wall planters shall be six inches. The effective planting area of the wall planter shall be four feet in width (seven feet if the wall planter contains trees).

(4)

Any berm utilized for screening purposes shall have a minimum height of three feet, a minimum crown width of three feet, and a side slope no greater than 3:1.

(Ord. No. 1-2006, § 1, 1-9-2006)