(a)
Final landscaping, irrigation and drainage plans must be approved by the city prior to issuance of a grading permit. Planting of cut and fill slopes and other disturbed areas shall conform to the following minimum requirements:
(1)
Use of fire retardant and drought resistant plant materials shall be encouraged when landscape slopes intersect with natural slopes and should generally take preference wherever appropriate and suitable;
(2)
Landscaping shall provide a variety of plant materials, including grasses and groundcovers, shrubs and trees, depending upon the extent of the cut and fill slopes and the extent of existing vegetation on the hillsides affected. Landscaping shall meet the following standards at a minimum. These standards may be modified by the discretionary review body upon approval of the landscape plan;
(A)
Shrubs shall be arranged in broad informal masses which shall be combined to produce a mounding textured slope surface, similar to natural chaparral vegetation. Diversity and integration of various types of plants with each other should be provided for in the design;
(B)
Trees shall be arranged in informal masses and shall be placed to selectively allow views from housing while partially screening buildings and reducing the scale of large, long steep slopes. Planting along the slope side of development shall be designed to allow controlled views outs, yet partially screen and soften the architecture. In general, a fifty percent screening with plant materials shall be accomplished;
(C)
Overall quantities of shrubs shall provide one shrub per seventy-five square feet of slope area planted in randomly spaced masses. At least one-third of these shrubs shall be of five gallon size. The remainder shall be of one gallon size minimum;
(D)
Overall quantities of trees shall provide a minimum of one five-gallon tree per five hundred square feet. In slope areas adjoining open space preserves or native vegetation, trees may be omitted or reduced in numbers (with shrubs substituted for trees) in order to blend new landscaping with the surrounding area;
(E)
Ground cover from flats or containers shall be spaced at three feet on-center maximum along with hydroseed material. Wide spreading shrub type ground covers such as Acacia ongerup, Myoporum pacificum, Ceanothus griseus horizontalis, etc., from liners or one gallon containers count as ground cover. These will take the place of some of the required ground covers. They should, however, be placed at the recommended spacing for further growth, i.e. six to eight feet on center. Other smaller ground covers will be required between them to achieve the required spacing;
(F)
All trees on areas sloping less than two to one (2:1) shall be a minimum fifteen gallon size with a ratio of one twenty-four inch box per three fifteen gallon trees. This standard applies throughout except on slopes two to one (2:1) or steeper where five gallon is the minimum size for trees;
(G)
Turf that requires moving shall not be used on slopes steeper than four to one (4:1). Lawn may be installed only in limited areas where it will provide for active use. The use of lawn in small strips that would be difficult to irrigate and maintain and in areas where its use is mainly aesthetic shall be avoided;
(3)
All plants required by this section shall be selected from a list approved by the city council or be native vegetation not included on the list but approved through discretionary review;
(4)
The applicant is responsible for selecting plants that will thrive in the soil conditions at the site. Work involving tract development or two or more houses shall provide soil tests for agricultural suitability and soil fertility;
(5)
Groundcover over eighty-five percent of the required planting area must be accomplished within ninety days of the initial planting. No land surface in excess of one hundred square feet may be without significant plant growth;
(6)
For multi-family developments, tract developments, or projects involving two or more single-family dwellings within three hundred feet on the same street under one ownership or designed by the same person or persons, the final landscape, irrigation and drainage plans must be prepared by a landscape architect;
(7)
Erosion control planting shall be watered, fertilized, replaced and tended such that bare soil areas will be covered with vigorous and growing plants with sufficient ground cover that only minor erosion gulleys occur. Bare surfaces and slopes that suffer damage by rainfall must be restored so that all parts on the slope are covered with healthy thriving plants and erosion gulleys do not exceed six inches in depth.
(b)
Special Requirements for Irrigation Systems.
(1)
Plans for each irrigation system shall be submitted to and approved by the city;
(2)
Irrigation piping shall be of city-approved materials;
(3)
Irrigation systems shall be designed to provide a uniform water coverage at a rate of precipitation which will allow gradual distribution of water without excessive runoff. In no event shall the rate of precipitation or duration of irrigation be permitted to create a saturated condition and cause an erosion problem, or allow the discharge of excess water into a public or private street;
(4)
A check valve and balance cock shall be installed in the system where drainage from sprinkler heads will create an erosion problem;
(5)
Adequate back flow protection shall be installed in each irrigation system as required by the plumbing code;
(6)
A functional test of the irrigation system shall be performed by the installer for every irrigation system prior to approval;
(7)
After planting is completed, if the irrigation system creates local erosion problems and adjustment does not correct the condition, the area subject to erosion shall be covered with burlap or jute blanket and be replanted;
(8)
The owner shall affect repairs by replacing soil and replanting wherever erosion occurs due to malfunctioning of the irrigation system.
(Ord. 1237 § 1, 1992; Ord. 1442 § 2, 2004)