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Request by Irgens for exemption of Section 24.12.03 Interior Vehicular Use Area Landscaping at 800 N. Mayfair Road
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A. Issue
Applicant has requested exemption from dimensional minimum requirement of 10’ for landscape median or islands.
B. Background
Code section 24.12.030 states that at least 10% of the interior of the vehicular use areas must be landscaped. The landscape areas must be islands or medians that are at least 135 square feet and 10 feet in width. Pervious areas, such as sidewalks, cannot be included in the area and dimensional calculations. An island or median is required every 15 consecutive stalls. Additionally, there is a requirement for one shade tree to be installed per 180 square feet of required planting area.
The applicant is proposing a landscape plan that overall, across all 4 properties, meets the minimum landscape area of 10%. They are requesting that 8 of the required islands not meet the dimensional minimums. Full compliance with the landscape code would result in the loss of 8 stalls in an overall site that has 630 stalls, which would be a 1.3% reduction in parking stalls. Overall the site is compliant with parking requirements for our zoning code.
The applicant is compliant with the number of required shade trees for the vehicular use area. Applicant is proposing additional shade trees directly adjacent to the parking areas to provide shade, which is one of the primary goals of the city’s landscape code.
Staff has been meeting with the applicant’s team for months regarding compliance with all city ordinances and the proposed plan currently meets the minimum for all other aspects of the landscape code, with the exception of the required dimensions.
C. Recommendation
Approval is recommended because overall the site meets the 10% requirement and mitigation is proposed.