7-6-303. GENERALLY APPLICABLE REQUIREMENTS.
The following requirements are applicable within all Commercial and Manufacturing Zones within the City:
(1) Sites must be developed in accordance with all requirements set forth in this Title.
(2) Parking shall not be allowed within minimum setbacks unless expressly permitted within a particular zone.
(3) All properties within Commercial and Manufacturing Zones shall meet the following Landscaping standards in addition to all other applicable Landscaping requirements:
a. Minimum required setbacks adjacent to a Street shall be permanently landscaped except for approved access drives. Fences above three feet in height shall be prohibited within the minimum required setbacks adjacent to a Street.
b. All landscaped areas shall include a perpetually maintained underground irrigation system capable of complete coverage of the landscaped area and designed to promote water efficiency.
c. All landscaped areas shall be landscaped with a mixture of ground cover, shrubs, and trees. Landscaped areas may include sculptures, patios, or fountains. Where trees are required, four shrubs per tree shall also be required.
d. Required deciduous trees must be one-and-one-half-inch caliper at installation unless a higher caliper requirement is imposed elsewhere in this Title. Required evergreen trees must be six feet tall at installation. Required shrubs must be a minimum of one gallon at installation.
e. Landscaping must include 50 percent coverage of live plant material, not including tree canopies. Artificial turf that meets the standards in Section 7-2-127 may be counted toward up to half of the required live plant material.
f. For properties adjacent to an Agricultural Zone, Residential Zone, or residential Use, one tree per 300 square feet of minimum required setback shall be required in addition to other applicable tree requirements.
g. All Landscaping shall be maintained in a healthy, neat, and orderly condition, free of weeds and litter.
h. All areas of a developed Lot or parcel not occupied by a Building or required parking shall be landscaped in accordance with City ordinances and the approved landscape plan.
(4) All paved areas, walls, and Fences shall be maintained in good repair and without broken parts, holes, potholes, or litter.
(5) Where any nonresidential Lot borders an Agricultural Zone, Residential Zone, or residential Use, a six-foot concrete or masonry wall and landscape buffer shall be installed in accordance with the following requirements:
a. The wall shall be constructed concurrently with the foundation of the first Building on the Lot.
b. The six-foot height requirement shall be measured from the Lot Grade or parking Lot asphalt Grade (whichever is higher) of the higher Lot to the top of the screen wall.
c. When future Commercial Use of the neighboring residential or agricultural property is recommended in the General Plan, a waiver or substitution for the wall requirement may be approved by the Planning Commission for Conditional Uses or the Zoning Administrator for Permitted Uses.
i. If a substitution would allow visibility into a neighboring residential property, the substitution shall not be approved unless the Owner of the residential property records a deed restriction against his or her property in a form acceptable to the City Attorney’s Office prohibiting the installation of a solid Fence.
ii. Substitutions permitting visibility into a neighboring residential property shall be constructed with a six-foot powder coated ornamental aluminum alloy or similar nonrusting product.
d. Where a six-foot concrete or masonry wall and landscape buffer does not exist on a developed, nonresidential Lot bordering an Agricultural Zone, Residential Zone, or residential Use, the wall shall be installed upon the issuance of a new Conditional Use Permit on the developed, nonresidential Lot.
(6) Where a developed Lot does not conform to all Landscaping requirements except those in Chapter 7-10, such Lot shall be brought into compliance upon the occurrence of any one of the following:
a. Any action which increases the floor area of the premises by more than 30 percent.
b. Any action which, when combined with one or more previous expansions, causes the aggregate area of expansion to exceed 30 percent of the original floor area of the premises.
c. Any change of use to a more intense use.