a) 
Customary home occupations are those ordinarily carried on in a home which are not detrimental or injurious to adjoining property, provided that all such uses meet the following criteria:
1) 
Located in the dwelling and that no assistant, not a member of the family residing on the premises, is employed;
2) 
No sign advertising such home occupation is displayed;
3) 
This use shall not increase normal automobile vehicle traffic in the neighborhood; nor require additional off-street parking in order to conduct business;
4) 
This use shall not involve the installation or outside storage of any machinery; equipment or materials other than customary to normal household operations; and,
5) 
This use shall be deemed incidental and shall never be permitted as a principal use, but only as a secondary use, and shall never involve the conduct of a retail business;
b) 
Customary home occupations may include, but are not limited to the following uses:
1) 
The office of a notary public, accountant, bookkeeper, architect, lawyer, engineer, musician, or artist;
2) 
A place where 6 or fewer children under 16 years of age are received for care, custody or maintenance;
3) 
Dressmaking, millinery, washing or ironing;
c) 
Customary home occupations shall not include but not limited to the following uses:
1) 
Barber shops, beauty shops, hairdressers;
2) 
Carpenter shops, electrical shops, plumbing shops;
3) 
Radio and/or TV shops;
4) 
Real estate sales office;
5) 
Tin shops, auto repairing, furniture repairing, or similar uses.
6) 
Taxidermy shops, candle making or any other commercial activity utilizing corrosive, toxic, caustic, or flammable liquids.
(Ordinance 2013-24, sec. 3.5300, adopted 7/9/13)
Editor’s note–Ordinance 2015-09, adopted 3/10/15, amended Residential Landscaping, Streetscaping, and Amenity Standards in its entirety and designated such provisions as 3.5400. Prior to this amendment, such provisions consisted of section 3.5400, which derived from Ordinance 2013-24, adopted 7/9/13, as amended by Ordinance 2013-48, adopted 10/22/13. Ordinance 2015-09 contained two sections numbered as 3.5401. At the discretion of the editor, the sections have been renumbered consecutively as 3.5401, 3.5402 and 3.5403.
a) 
These standards shall apply to any single-family detached and duplex residential zoning classification. Any area within a planned development district or overlay district containing landscaping standards shall be regulated by the standards contained in those respective ordinances.
b) 
Permitted tree species shall be those identified in the City of Midlothian’s approved tree list (see Section 4.5404) and shall not be planted in utility easements or rights-of-way, nor shall be placed in an area such that the mature canopy of the tree will interfere with overhead utility lines. No trees shall be planted within 10 feet of a fire hydrant or within required visibility sight triangles at street intersections.
c) 
Native, drought-resistant tree and plant materials shall be permitted. Authorized plant materials and sizes shall be those identified in Section 4.5404 along with any other additional requirements as indicated in Section 4.5400.
d) 
All required landscaping shall be planted prior to any request for final building inspection and no Certificate of Occupancy shall be issued until such plant materials have been installed.
1) 
The Planning Director or the designated representative, may provide temporary relief from this provision in accordance with Section 4.5400.
e) 
All plant material shall be maintained in a healthy and growing condition and must be replaced with plant material of similar variety and size if damaged, destroyed, or removed, All landscape areas shall be kept free of trash, litter, weeds, dead plants and turf, and other similar deleterious materials.
f) 
An automatic irrigation system is required for all landscaping. The irrigation system shall be designed with zones to water plants based on best management practices for the sustainability of the landscaped area.
1) 
The irrigation system shall be designed with efficient water usage as an operational goal.
2) 
The installed irrigation equipment shall include appropriate shut-off devices, manual override and rain/freeze sensors.
g) 
In conjunction with new construction, all lawns and landscaping shall be irrigated by an underground automatic system.
1) 
This system shall adhere to the manufacturers’ specifications and the rules and regulations established by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) or successor agency, unless local regulations are more restrictive.
2) 
On large area lots, the area of irrigation may be limited to the front yard, side yard(s) and around the perimeter of the foundation or 12,000 square feet, whichever is more.
(Ordinance 2015-09 adopted 3/10/15)
a) 
The shrub and tree requirements listed in this Section shall constitute the minimum landscape requirements for both single-family attached and detached residential uses.
b) 
Front yard shrubs are required for each residential lot and shall be placed along the front, street-facing portion of the house near the foundation. Individual shrubs shall be a minimum of three (3) gallon in size, totaling a minimum of eighteen (18) such shrubs per residential lot.
c) 
For lots with an area less than 9,000 square feet, the following landscaping is required for each residential lot:
1) 
Two (2) shade trees in the front yard.
2) 
Two (2) overstory trees in the rear yard if the rear of the lot abuts or is adjacent to any City thoroughfare other than a local street.
d) 
For lots with an area between 9,000 and up to 14,000 square feet, the following landscaping is required for each residential lot:
1) 
Three (3) shade trees in the front yard.
2) 
Three (3) overstory trees in the rear yard if the rear of the lot abuts or is adjacent to any City thoroughfare other than a local street.
3) 
One (1) ornamental tree to be placed at the preference of the owner, builder or developer within the residential lot.
e) 
For lots with an area greater than 14,000 and up to 20,000 square feet, the following landscaping is required for each residential lot:
1) 
Three (3) shade trees in the front yard.
2) 
Three (3) overstory trees in the rear yard if the rear yard of the lot abuts or is adjacent to any City thoroughfare other than a local street.
3) 
Two (2) ornamental trees to be placed anywhere on the lot at the preference of the owner, builder, or developer.
f) 
For lots with an area greater than 20,000 square feet, the following landscaping is required for each residential lot:
1) 
Three (3) shade trees in the front yard.
2) 
Three (3) overstory trees in the rear yard if the rear of the lot abuts or is adjacent to any City thoroughfare other than a local street.
3) 
Three (3) ornamental trees to be placed anywhere on the lot at the preference of the owner, builder, or developer.
g) 
Subsections 3.5402(c)(2), (d)(2), (e)(2), and (f)(2) shall not apply if the development complies with the following:
1) 
A fifteen foot (15') wide landscape buffer easement is dedicated outside of any street right-of-way or utility easements at the rear of lots adjacent to a thoroughfare or major collector;
2) 
Prior to issuance of any building permit for any dwelling unit within the phase of the Property where a landscape buffer described in paragraph 1) above, is located, overstory trees not less than four (4) caliper inches in diameter measured not less than twelve inches (12.0") above the ground at time of planting shall be planted not greater than thirty feet (30.0') apart within said landscape buffer easement. All overstory trees shall be of the variety and planted substantially in accordance with Section 4.5404 of the Zoning Ordinance, as amended; and
3) 
The landscape buffer easement required by this subsection g) shall be maintained as a common area for the benefit of the development by a homeowners’ association or district with authority to levy assessments to provide funding for such maintenance.
h) 
At the time of planting, all trees required by this Section 3.5402 excluding subsection 3.5402(g), shall have a main trunk with diameter of not less than three (3) caliper inches measured six inches (6.0") above the ground.
Editor’s note–Ordinance 2015-09 contained two sections numbered as 3.5401. At the discretion of the editor, the above section, designated as section 3.5401 in the ordinance, has been numbered as 3.5402.
(Ordinance 2015-09 adopted 3/10/15; Ordinance 2018-19 adopted 4/10/18)
a) 
A required minimum 20-foot landscape buffer easement shall be provided adjacent to all property lines, and be exclusive of street rights-of-way or utility easements, with such buffer easement to be maintained by the property owner or a designated maintenance association or district. The following landscaping is required within the required landscape buffer easement:
1) 
One (1) shade tree (four-inch caliper minimum) shall be planted along the perimeter for each thirty (30) linear feet or portion thereof. Trees may be grouped or clustered along the street frontage to facilitate site design; the trees along all other property lines may not be grouped or clustered.
2) 
Credits may be applied towards the residential tree planting requirements and within the landscape buffer easement for the preservation of protected trees as defined in Section 4.5408.
3) 
At the time of site plan review, the width of the required landscape buffer easement may be reduced to provide for the location of public improvements subject to approval of the City Council following receipt of recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission.
b) 
Where parking lots and drives are located adjacent to the required landscape buffer, ten (10) evergreen shrubs (each five-gallon minimum size) shall be planted per five hundred (500) square feet of landscape buffer. The number of required shrubs shall be calculated solely on the area of the required landscape edge.
1) 
A berm may be placed within the landscape edge in lieu of the required shrubs except in situations where said shrubs will be required for a headlight screen.
2) 
The berm shall be 18 to 40 inches above the average grade of the street or parking lot curb, and the slope of said berm shall not exceed a three-to-one slope.
3) 
Proposed berm design shall be reviewed by the Director of Planning or designee.
c) 
Parking area landscaping:
1) 
Twenty square feet of landscaping shall be required for each parking space provided.
2) 
One (1) shade tree (three-inch caliper minimum) shall be required for every ten (10) parking spaces provided.
i) 
Ornamental trees may be substituted for shade trees at a ratio of two to one with approval of the Director of Planning or designee.
ii) 
Ornamental trees shall be 8 feet - 10 feet in height if single-trunked, or an accumulative total of three-inch caliper and 8 feet - 10 feet in height if multi-trunked.
3) 
A landscape island shall be located at the terminus of each parking row and must be at least one parking space in size (180 square feet).
d) 
One (1) shade tree (four-inch caliper minimum) for every 1,000 square feet of required open space shall be provided and be located within the open space.
e) 
All landscaped areas shall be protected by a raised six-inch concrete curb. Pavement shall not be placed closer than five feet from the trunk of a required tree.
1) 
In cases where a tree must be planted within five feet of a curb or pavement, an approved root barrier device shall be used.
2) 
The root barrier must be of a rigid material system and no chemicals or flexible mesh shall be used.
f) 
The landscape design is encouraged to include a variety of ornamental trees and flowers in addition to the required plantings. Any permeable surface not occupied by trees, shrubs, plantings beds, and areas around signs or other permitted fixtures, shall be planted with turf or other living ground cover. Gravel, bark mulch, or other similar materials are not acceptable as a primary ground cover material.
g) 
No site developed prior to the effective date of this section (March 10, 2015) shall be required to conform to the landscaping requirements of this section unless the site is redeveloped in a manner that reflects a thirty percent (30%) or more increase in the existing square footage of the building area, and/or the surface area involved in the reconstruction of an existing parking lot.
(Ordinance 2015-09[1] adopted 3/10/15; Ordinance 2016-51, sec. 1(C), adopted 12/13/16; Ordinance 2019-09, secs. 1(C)–(E), adopted 3/12/19)
[1]
Editor’s note–Ordinance 2015-09 contained two sections numbered as 3.5401. At the discretion of the editor, the above section, designated as section 3.5402 in the ordinance, has been numbered as 3.5403.