[Added 8-24-2010]
A.
Authorization and purpose.
(1)
Pursuant to § 27-a of General City Law and Article 10 of
the Municipal Home Rule Law, the Planning Board is authorized to adopt
rules pertaining to the incorporation of landscaping in any project
requiring site plan approval.
(2)
It is the determination of the City of Glen Cove that landscaping
is necessary to create more vibrant pedestrian-oriented sites and
streetscapes as well as to provide noise and visual barriers between
noncompatible land uses.
B.
General regulations.
(1)
Minimum landscaping requirements for any use requiring site plan
review are intended to provide a minimum standard only and may be
waived or varied by the Planning Board where, due to special characteristics
of the project site, the proposed use or building, or surrounding
area, such changes are necessary to ensure overall compatibility with
other zoning requirements, the City's Comprehensive Plan or general
health, safety and welfare.
(2)
Landscape buffers of height and density adequate for screening should
be provided between all nonresidential uses and lots in residential
zones. Landscape buffers shall provide significant year-round screening
of parking areas, utility areas, and areas of frequent public access.
Screens should be designed to appear natural with a mixing of deciduous
and multiple evergreen species. Single rows of densely planted single-species
evergreens are generally discouraged.
(3)
Landscaping should be a mixture of evergreen and deciduous plantings
which are of a species appropriate for the climate and intended environment.
(4)
Landscaping shall not interfere with required sight distances or
otherwise impede the safe circulation of traffic.
(5)
Landscaping as shown on the approved site plan shall be maintained in a vigorous growing condition consistent with the intent of the planting. Where necessary to meet the intent of the approved site plan, dead plants shall be replaced with healthy new plants of size, type and quality comparable to those shown on the approved plan at the beginning of the next growing season. A note to such effect will be included on the site plan (see Subsection B(8).
(6)
Sites with a front setback of less than 10 feet but more than zero
feet should provide flower boxes, raised planters, or other integrated
planter areas which may or may not be attached to the building. Signage
may be integrated into such planting areas.
(7)
Additional landscaped buffers may be required by the Planning Board
if the proposed use is likely to create greater-than-normal noise,
odors or other negative impacts which may be mitigated by such buffer
area or if the project site borders an historic site, scenic view
or sensitive environmental feature.
(8)
The following standard landscaping notes shall be included on all
nonresidential site plans unless waived by the Planning Board:
(a)
Landscape material shown on the site plan shall be maintained
in vigorous growing condition consistent with the intent of the planting.
Where necessary to meet the intent of the approved site plan, dead
plants shall be replaced with healthy new plants of size, type and
quality comparable to those shown on the approved plan at the beginning
of the next growing season.
(b)
All plant material shall be nursery grown and shall conform
to the American Association of Nurserymen's standards.
(c)
A certification shall be submitted by a qualified design professional
that all plantings have been planted under his direction and in accordance
with the landscaping plan prior to the issuance of a certificate of
occupancy.
(d)
The size, number and species of plants depicted on the site
plan shall represent a minimum standard to be maintained. The applicant/owner
may from time to time enhance or modify the types of plantings used
for aesthetic reasons, but the overall size, quality, density and
extent of the landscaped areas shall be maintained.
C.
On-site or shared surface parking facilities.
(1)
Landscaped screening shall be provided in and around all parking
facilities as necessary to shield headlights from shining onto adjacent
streets.
(2)
Landscaping shall include at least one shade tree of not less than
four inches caliper for each 14 parking spaces. Main traffic circulation
aisles shall be emphasized with such shade trees.
(3)
Trees which are known to drop excess amounts of fruit, flowers or
sap should not be planted in or around parking areas.
(4)
Where an off-street parking area contains more than 15 parking spaces,
it shall contain raised landscaped islands. Raised and curbed landscaped
islands shall be located at the ends of each parking bay, and separating
adjacent rows of parking spaces at least every second parking bay,
as determined necessary by the Planning Board to properly guide vehicle
movement, to provide adequate space for plant growth and vehicle overhang,
to provide adequate space for pedestrian circulation where appropriate
and to otherwise provide for improved traffic circulation, pedestrian
safety and aesthetics. Such raised landscaped islands and the plantings
within them shall be designed and arranged so as to provide vertical
definition to major traffic circulation aisles, entrances and exits,
to prevent indiscriminate diagonal movement of vehicles and to provide
cooling shade and relief from the visual impact, monotony and heat
of large expanses of paved areas. As an alternative to raised and
curbed landscaped islands, the applicant may provide at or below grade
landscaped areas that are incorporated into a stormwater control plan,
where the design of such areas precludes vehicular entry by providing
guardrails or partial curbs. Nonlandscaped islands will be permitted
where appropriate to allow for snow storage, pedestrian circulation
or other such purposes.
(5)
Sidewalks at least three feet in width shall be installed along all
internal drives and parking areas, and a grassed or landscaped verge
at least eighteen inches wide shall be provided between curb and sidewalk.
D.
Parking structures.
(1)
Planters or other forms of landscaping shall be provided on the top
level of all parking structures as well as at entrances and any other
viable appropriate locations to soften the appearance of the structure.
(2)
To the extent possible, parking structures shall be incorporated
into a site in a manner which prevents substantial public view by
providing usable floor area on the periphery of the site and/or by
planting substantial landscaping around the periphery of the parking
structure.
E.
Multistructure sites and multitenant shopping plazas. All such developments
will provide street trees along internal drives in addition to the
above-required landscaping. Such trees will be deciduous in nature
and be appropriate for the soil type and climate.
